PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh's Mayor Bill Peduto called for changes with marathon parking after he personally squared off with tow truck drivers around midnight on Saturday.
Channel 11's Rick Earle talked with Mayor Peduto about the situation. The Mayor said a lot of people, including him, were pretty upset Saturday night. The 'no parking' signs said 11:00 p.m., but the Mayor said he thought it would not be enforced until midnight.
Mayor Bill Peduto said he was at a restaurant in Shadyside Saturday night around 11:30 p.m. That’s when he tweeted out a warning about parking and the marathon, tweeting in part “Towing starts at 12 midnight.”
But to his surprise, he said police began towing on Walnut Street right in front of him around 11:30. The Mayor said he then stepped in.
“People were enraged, and I went out and tried to stop the first tow truck from taking the truck. I did manage to stop him. I did yell at one of the tow truck drivers who tried to pass me and came as close as he possibly could to hitting me,” explained Mayor Bill Peduto.
The Mayor said despite what the signs said, he along with business owners and patrons, were under the impression they would not begin towing until midnight. After reaching out to the chief that night, the Mayor said police agreed to waive the fines for any cars towed before midnight. The owners will still be responsible for paying the towing company, though.
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Peduto said there’s been a lot of confusion about marathon towing times over the years, and he’s now called a meeting to iron out the procedures.
“In the past, it has been 2:00, 1:00, 12:00 and now its 11:00 and that type of confusion leads to people getting upset when their cars are towed,” he said.
The Mayor said he’s not sure where the communication breakdown occurred. He estimated about 10 cars were towed before he stepped in.