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Have Thoughts About Parking In St. Louis? The City Treasurer Wants To Hear Them

(Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio)

If you park a car in the city of St. Louis, treasurer Tishaura Jones wants to hear from you.

Jones has planned a series of town halls over the next week to learn what amenities drivers might want, as well as get feedback about how the office is working since she took over.

For example, she said, people have already said they want to be able to pay for more parking meters using credit cards, and to be able to start using mobile phone for payment as well.

"We don’t want to make decisions in a vacuum and we realize that the public at the end are the primary users of the system whatever we choose, and we want to make sure we get their input before going forward," Jones said.

But Jones isn't just seeking broad feedback. Early last month, Jones asked companies to submit proposals to upgrade and manage the city's 10,000 parking meters.

Bids are due on Nov. 22. A selection panel will pick as many as six applicants, but Jones says that's just the first step.

"We are asking them to put their product on our streets, in a 40-60 parking space area, and ask for public input as they use the system," she said.

Jones says the public input will count about 20 percent toward the final decision.

Treasurer's Town Hall Schedule

All meetings are from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 6 -  Carondelet Park Recreation Complex, 930 Holly Hills Ave.

Thursday, November 7 - Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Blvd.

Tuesday, November 12 - O'Fallon Park Recreation Complex, 4343 W. Florissant Ave.

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Rachel is the justice correspondent at St. Louis Public Radio.