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Memorial Day parade not all roses in Somerville

This morning, before the parade, the city DPW went along the route cutting bikes away from bike stands and pole, to pile them into a truck for removal.

Tiffany Montogomery, herself a veteran, found her car towed - and when she complained, a cop threatened to arrest her. And then, when she got to the tow lot, they wouldn't give her her car without a "release ticket" from police, which meant a trip to the police station - after taking a cab there in the first place.

She reports:

"I am a veteran. With military plates and they towed my car from a legal space. For the Memorial Day parade."

Montgomery said the meters on one side of the street had "No parking" signs, but not the ones on the side where she parked.

When she found the cop who ordered her car towed, she said she tried to point out the lack of signs on the side of the street where she'd park.

"I told him I'm a veteran. He said 'what difference does it make?' "

"The difference is that I am actually spending this time to remember fallen comrades. I thought that was obvious."

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Baldwin reported a problem with the T:

"Due to parade in Somerville MBTA buses didn't show up and there are no signs to say where to pick up bus."

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Comments

..can be found just beneath that gentrification crust of varying thicknesses.

It was long a gold medalist for Massholery and such accolades and habits aren't readily abandoned.

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Go fuck yourself.

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I love it that Howie Winter was shadow mayor for a good part of the time I lived there in the 80s.

The place has been endless free comedy throughout my lengthy romance with it.

As it is, I traverse Union square regularly to visit my beloved Market Basket and will get another sandwich at Sessas before my dirt nap.

True love, after all, is all about being appreciative of your loved ones warts as well as their assets..

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You liked it here so much you moved to the Southern US -- and now and again tell us how much better it is there than here. Why can't people who actually still live here criticize (even angrily) things they don't like here?

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I don't know, why can't people in Boston recognize sarcasm when they read it?

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... this is the kind of thing that is said totally non-sarcastically on a not-infrequent basis here (within this region)..

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Go f.... oh, never mind.

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I thought Memorial Day was about veterans... not on universal hub. Sorry for the inconvenience to cyclists... wow.

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Cutting someone's expensive bike lock from an actual bike rack without any signage is wrong.

This happened to me a few years ago and all I got was "well we sent out an alert to residents"which would have been helpful if I was a somerville resident!

As much as I tried I didn't get reimbursed for their illegal seizure of my property either.

I wasn't terribly pleased

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There's nothing about bikes in the headline, but thanks for playing.

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Memorial Day is about those that never got the chance to be veterans.

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"I told him I'm a veteran. He said 'what difference does it make?'" Who does the cop think he is, Hillary Clinton, post Benghazi? Actually, Ms. Montgomery should have said that she is an illegal alien, not a veteran. Mayor Curtatone has ordered police to give illegals carte blanche in Somerville. US military veterans? Not so much.

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You know, like the GOP legislators complaining about the VA scandal when they blocked legislation to fund improvements to the VA, or endlessly chanting "Benghazi" when they blocked funding for improved embassy security. Or Allen West, the loon who was lucky to get himself drummed out of the military instead of being court-martialed, then questions the patriotism of veterans who were wounded in combat, like Tammy Duckworth. You know, your basic brass-plated hypocrites. There are other, choicer words for them.

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"blocked legislation to fund improvements to the VA" "blocked funding for improved embassy security"

Both lies, the budget was there and the appointed administrators at the VA and state department chose to spend the money on other nonessential garbage.

But enjoy your imaginary Rethuglicans under the bed are totally responsible for everything bad hater-aid. It seems to work so well for turning a blind eye to the systemic corruption which can only happen in one party states when no politician fears accountability from their own majority.

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Both lies, the budget was there and the appointed administrators at the VA and state department chose to spend the money on other nonessential garbage.

Citations please.

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Right back at you. I notice you never have to prove your assertions with links but everyone else does.

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"Democrats enacted $1.803 billion for embassy security, construction and maintenance for fiscal 2010, when they still controlled the Senate and House. After Republicans took control of the House and picked up six Senate seats, Congress reduced the enacted budget to $1.616 billion in fiscal 2011, and to $1.537 billion for 2012." http://thehill.com/homenews/house/250237-gop-embassy-security-cuts-draw-...

A GOP member of the House admitted they were responsible for the cuts on CNN: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/jason-chaffetz-embassy_n_195491...

Senate Republicans blocked a VA funding bill with a procedural maneuver in February: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/199480-gop-blocks-veterans-...

Too bad about reality and its notorious liberal bias, eh?

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Straight from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs:
http://veterans.house.gov/budget

Using CBO numbers (which, by law, every Congressional budget resolution must use), the GOP budget assumes discretionary spending (i.e., VA medical care, construction, claims processing and national cemetery administration, etc.) on veterans in FY 2013 at exactly the amount requested in the President’s Budget. In both budgets, this translates to a 4.3% increase above the FY 2012 funding level for VA, as recommended in the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs’ bipartisan Views and Estimates letter.

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contest, and actually RTFAs before cutting and pasting your talking points.

You didn't address either of my pesky facts, so you must be conceding that the GOP has been responsible for hundreds of millions in cuts to embassy security over the last few years. If Dems were smarter, they would bring this up every time some rightie putz with Benghazi Tourette's had an eruption.

My comment about GOP hypocrisy on the VA was not about discretionary spending from general appropriations, but their torpedoing of Bernie's Sanders's February 2014 bill, which would have expanded veterans' healthcare programs, restored the COLA for vets, and protected them from losing their benefits in the event of another government shutdown by the GOP. It also would have authorized the construction of 27 new clinics and medical facilities, and would have provided tuition assistance to post-9/11 vets.

Which you'd know if you'd bothered to read the article. That point stands, too.

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Always some right wing idiot who wants to see everything in black and white (and on the side of the white). Go back to the Herald's comments section.

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Not everyone wants to whip out a calendar to see what day 5/25 is; and since the signs just said "Memorial Day" I can understand that some people might guess wrong.

Can someone put together some sort of GoFundMe to pay Tiffany's fees?

Thank you for your service, Tiffany.

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This is the New Somerville Veteran status buys her nothing. But if she was an illegal (oops, UNDOCUMENTED) alien that would be an entirely different story.

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Quack quack! Moooo! Bahhhh. FOX NEWS SAID bahhh!

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Okay, all you geese please open your catechism and repeat after Swirly....

This is a pleasant place most times, but if you step outside the PC dogma as defined by the Church of The One Thirty-Second Cherokee and good Governor Patrick, you immediately become a hand maiden of the Koch Brothers.

Hey Swirly, dispute the issue on it's merit for a change, rather than pulling a Karl Rove and going the "You're a Fauxer! You're a Fauxer!" deflection route, eh? Do you think that Joe Curtatone is going to call a presser immediately to apologize to this woman and waive the fees for city-issued parking tickets? Or is he going to announce ore national immigration policy changes from City Hall?

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Just one talking point short of Bingo.

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Sanctuary for Illegals. Screw jobs for the Veterans.
What a city!!

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This is Memorial day, not Veterans day. So, no, it doesn't make a difference that you are a veteran. On the other hand, if you have died in service to our country then you can park anywhere you want.

Veteran or not, it would be really crappy if they forgot the 'no parking' signs. I hope she took some photos and disputes the fines.

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Typical surly Masshole cops - ill-equipped to police the cities they're employed by. When police harass, threaten, and fail to help law-biding citizens, they're making their own jobs all that much harder.

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There have been signs all along the parade route for almost a week now, so while I feel sorry that her car got towed I also find it hard to believe that there was no signage where she parked. The city practically papered every telephone poll, parking meter, garbage can, and bench along the route.

I hope she took pictures and has an understanding hearing officer, if she fights the ticket. Getting towed is an awful experience no matter what.

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I took plenty of photos. They put signs over all the meters on the right side of the street but not on the left where I parked. Why not sign all the meters

I know it isn't Veterans Day, but I've got military plates and I'm remembering my fallen classmates and soldiers. You'd think they would have been a little less awful to me, given that. Also that I was parked legally.

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Thank you for your service to our country, Tiffany. I hope you win your appeal, but I also hope that it's based on the fact that you were parked legally and not based on your vehicle plate type or military status.

You deserve our respect and gratitude, but you don't deserve to be treated differently than the guy parked next to you. Sorry, but you've got that part wrong. Think about it in terms of the US being a country based on laws, order, and equality. Or should a handicapped plate trump a veteran plate?

PS: I do believe that the cop was disrespectful to you and also disgraced HIS position by speaking to you that way, and you might write a letter to his superiors AFTER you win your appeal...it's common behavior from many cops, but it's not acceptable!

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They towed maybe 3 or 4 cars in front of me, all parked legally, and I hope we all win appeals. It's complete and utter nonsense, and I'm not the only one who got screwed that day.

I never expect special treatment. I just expect fairness. The unfortunate irony didn't escape me, though.

But let's forget about it and instead spend this time honoring my friend and partner - CPT Matt Ferrara - http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/army-capt-matthew-c-ferrara/3180685

Be thou in peace.

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.. and that looked like a hell firefight.

He was only 24 and 4 others were lost that day in that moment.

http://www.stripes.com/news/vicenza-nco-receives-silver-star-for-saving-...

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Yes, and his RTO recently received the Medal of Honor for actions on that day.

http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/white/profile/index.html

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The list of parking-restricted streets is here, and I'm interested to know which one you parked on where the signage was inadequate.

(not all of these streets are on the parade route -- some of them are residential side streets near the parade's start or end)

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Well I saw plenty of signs and felt well informed about the parking and bike ban.

If you were trying to watch the parade why did you think you could park on the parade route? I don't think I've ever seen that allowed...

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Some were side streets near the parade start or end, presumably to allow the parade room to assemble and disperse.

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The email alert says this:

Bicycles locked to sign poles along the route must be moved by 9 a.m. Sunday. Any bicycles along the route not locked to bike racks will be removed and taken to DPW, for public safety reasons.

Can anyone confirm that bikes in racks were taken too?

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I can't speak for this year, but a few years ago mine was cut from an actual bike rack

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That she was a veteran herself adds a little spice to the story, but I hope it doesn't actually make a difference. Possibly there was a lack of signs, and she shouldn't have had her car towed; neither should the car of a non-veteran. Possibly there was adequate signage she missed and she was properly towed; in that case so should the car of a non-veteran. So in that respect the cop was absolutely right.

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Are there other local parades which don't remove bikes? I can't see how bikes locked on a parade route would be an actual problem.

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