Because our name is Rita, we've always been interested in the woes of beleaguered meter maids everywhere -- so let's hope that the fears of the DPW DPT [sorry! Our brain freeze on the acronyms.] workers interviewed in today's Chron article about the effects of the parking enforcement penalty hikes don't come to pass: are people going to be more likely to beat up parking enforcement people because of a $10 increase in the fines?

One parking control officer says yes, saying he got punched in the face last year over a $50 ticket. After that provocative statement, though, the article goes on to state that the DPT's union says that physical assaults are infrequent but verbal attacks are very routine, and that the union will make sure DPT officers learn how to defend themselves and how to defuse tense situations.

So what's the damage? Well, parking in the wrong place on a street cleaning day will be $50, neighborhood parking permits are going up to $74, and getting a boot taken off will be $205. San Francisco currently makes $90 million in parking fines, and this will increase their money by $13 million. Oooh, the parking/opera blog The Standing Room is not going to be happy about this!

Picture of illegally-parked DPT mobile by Brett L, off flickr.

really