Damascus, Va., Mayoral Candidate Proposes Parking Fees For Revenue

DAMASCUS, Va. – Chad Byron, who is challenging Mayor Creed Jones for his job in the May 6 election, says he wants to keep all six of the town’s police officers – and pay for the service with a downtown parking fee.

Earlier this week, Jones said the officers aren’t doing their job, and he wants to fire the entire department and rebuild from the ground up.

The majority of town council candidates at a forum on Tuesday called for at least two officers to be cut from the six-member department to save money.

"I think the whole issue doesn’t make any sense at all," Byron said Friday of the mayor’s statement.

"I mean, your town charter says that in order to remain a town you must have two things, one being a fire department and one being a police department, so for the mayor to say he wants to get rid of the entire police department doesn’t make any sense."

Byron says the town can pay its bills by adding a $2 downtown parking fee, which he says will generate upwards of $120,000 per year in revenue.

"All these tourists come in here during the summertime," Byron said. "If each of them had to pay $1 or $2 instead of a $25 parking ticket, I’m sure that a dollar or two is not going to keep them from coming to town."

He said cutting police officers would cost the town just as much money in overtime – and would drive up homeowners’ insurance rates with the decreased police presence.

Jones said Byron’s parking fee proposal will require a major effort.

"We’d have to go through VDOT to do that. We’d also have to go through a public hearing and get the people’s opinion," Jones said. "We don’t have the authority right now to do that. If he wants to do that, let him try."

Downtown business owners had varied reactions to the parking fee proposal.

"I would agree to charging tourists $2, but local people no," said Vickie Statzer, manager of Trails Consignment.

Glen Triplett, owner/operator of T&J Hometown Hardware, said fees should not be charged in existing parking areas – but the town should provide more parking.

"I think the town needs to purchase some property and build a parking deck or parking lot," Triplett said, "and if they need to charge to pay for the property that they purchased or for the parking lot, then so be it."

Bill Leonard, vice president of Adventure Damascus, said the issue is a "double-edged sword."

"The town needs the money, but I think that it’s going to put a cramp in everybody’s trade and stuff downtown," he said of the proposed fee. "I don’t really understand why that boy’s running for office, to be honest with you. ... He’s proposing a lot of really weird stuff that I just don’t understand 99 percent of."

Byron said his opponent and town council candidates are blaming the police department unfairly for the town’s financial problems.

"Everything’s being taken out on the police department," Byron said. "Well, nobody put the town in the position it’s in right now except for the people you have in office right now."

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