I got a parking ticket in Sacramento even though I paid for parking

I’ve received more parking tickets than there are Tupac albums (including posthumous) during my driving days in Sacramento. But last week was a first: I paid for a parking spot but an enforcement officer still wrote me a ticket.

On Thursday afternoon, I bought about an hour's worth of time at one of those green “pay and display” towers. You know, the ones where it takes four years for your credit card to process, then you put the sticker on your car window. Not long ago, these were supposed to be the future of Sacramento parking. Now, apparently, they're obsolete and need to be replaced.

Anyway, the city allows drivers to park at coin-meter spots with pay-and-display stickers. Or should I say allowed: This had been the rule for years because most people don't have enough quarters in their ashtrays, and the green towers let you use cards.

Well, new rule, Sacramento: You can't use pay-and-display stickers at the city's new “smart” meters.

This policy has been in place since February: The recently installed meters accept the same payment as those green towers, so you can't use the pay-and-display stickers at them. Only at those old dumb meters. Got that?

I cussed my way to City Hall, paid for more parking, waited a half-hour, and filled out a form to contest my $42.50 ticket. An employee, a really nice guy, said it would be “three to six months” until I hear back regarding my appeal.

What?! Turns out, even though there are “123.5 full-time employees” in the city's Parking Services Division, only one of them handles citation appeals.

I'm hoping the city cuts me a break. But I get it: Gotta pay for that new arena somehow.