PARK IT! — Lou Matrazzo addresses Albany Common Council. — Photo by John Epting Permit parking battle heats up in Albany By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY The battle over parking in the city of Albany is heating up again. The city’s top legislative body took the first step in February to try to gain approval of a permit-parking system in downtown residential areas. The Common Council introduced a “home rule” resolution at its February 21 meeting, asking the state Legislature to give the city the authority to establish a permit-parking system. Proponents of the plan want to restrict parking for commuters — many of whom are state workers — to a maximum of 90 minutes during the week. PEF Region 8 Coordinator Lou Matrazzo spoke on behalf of the union and urged lawmakers to turn down the resolution. “This home-rule resolution ignores the needs of state employees and eliminates their voice from the parking debate,” Matrazzo told the Council members. “PEF firmly believes that commuters working in Albany neighborhoods and residents of those neighborhoods share a common problem and must work toward a common solution.” Matrazzo added that parking in Albany is a problem both day and night, and imposing further restrictions on on-street parking in one neighborhood during the day would only exacerbate parking shortages in other neighborhoods. And Matrazzo said the proposal should be defeated because the impact of relocating 2,000 employees of the state Comptroller’s Office has not yet been fully assessed. “Although the comptroller’s new building has a garage, many of the employees who will be allowed to park in that garage merely had their parking rights transferred there from another parking facility,” the Region 8 leader said. “And many of those old parking spaces are unavailable to additional employees, because the state will use the old parking lot as a staging area for equipment used in the Alfred E. Smith building renovation. When that renovation is complete, Albany can expect another 2,000 employees who will be looking for parking.” Despite the union’s objection, the council voted to approve the resolution. Last year, a bill to allow permit parking in Albany was approved in the state Assembly but died in the Senate. WELL DONE — PEF Region 8 Coordinator Lou Matrazzo and President Roger Benson thank PEF Executive Board Member Mike Harrigan for serving as interim Region 8 coordinator during the election to fill the vacancy resulting from the death of Jeff Satz. Benson presented Harrigan with a plaque of appreciation at this March meeting of the Region 8 Stewards’ Council. — Photo by Sherry Halbrook