The Shakedown

You know how you turn a resident against their city government? By making them feel they are being penalized for something that, in the big scope of it all, is really petty.

Salt Lake City is doing that to me right now.

I am being fined $10 because my temporary registration was in the front window. 

From an email exchange with parking enforcement: "The temporary needs to be cut and displayed in the REAR window per the instructions on the temporary.  Your citation has been reduced to $10 for improper display. "

Here is a copy of the temporary they asked me to reference. Do you see the word "rear" in front of "window?"

You don't? Oh, that's because those are not the instructions they want me to follow.  Ignore those instructions in the bold and a bigger font that most anything else on the page and read further. They want you to follow the other instructions that are in really fine print further down the page.

They will not overturn the citation. They keep coming back to I should have read the permit more closely. 

Let me point out what's wrong with their "instructions."

1. They're inconsistent. How am I supposed to judge which instructions to follow? The ones that come first? The ones that command the most visual hierarchy on the page, are bold and in a bigger font? Or am I supposed to follow the ones that come last and are in smaller font.
2. Half the instructions tell me one thing, the other half tell me another. They are inconsistent. The verbiage should reinforce and reaffirm that I need to put it in my rear window. Not cause ambiguity. 
3. The smaller version isn't even below the "cut here" line. That means if I cut it and take it to my vehicle, and then want to see where I should place it, those instructions are still back in the house with the other half.

They won't budge. To me, this is a perfect case why we have a process to contest a ticket. Which I did, and they told me I am still in violation. Now, I have to pay the $10 or go to court. 

They know most people will just pay the fine to be done with it instead of going to court.

That's a shakedown.