Valets Continue Abusing Public Parking
I haven’t written about valets in a while but a new comment came in recently on a post from January 2007. Here is an excerpt
Obviously those of you posting in attack of the valet’s have never been on the other side of things, never actually had to work for your living through college or whatever it may be. If you have ever worked as a valet, especially at Lucas Park Grille, that the amount of space that they have to work with is hardly enough for safely operating a valet service on a busy night.
Regarding parking in “non designated valet spots”, valets have just as much of a right to park their cars on the street as you do. Not to mention, especially on a weeknight when you are low manned, or even the only one working, response time is key. Therefore the most effecient solution is to park on close street parking… running to the lot 20 or 30 times when it is over a block away, gets quite old, especially when people don’t realize that the valets don’t see any of the money from the parking charge and don’t tip us. Did I mention that we work almost exclusively for tips?
Where to begin? For me I worked at a Toys R Us to get through college. Five Christmas seasons at a toy store is no picnic, that Cabbage Patch craze was maddening. We all do crappy low wage jobs to get through college — at least those of us that are lucky enough to get to go to college.
But here a valet is saying it is unsafe to operate valet service unless they have all the spaces for their own use, as was the case a couple of years ago. But basically the valet doesn’t want to do their job and go to the private lot numerous times per evening. Well, too bad.
But really the valets want to create an artificial shortage of parking so patrons are forced to use their service. If someone can just park on the street within the block of their destination why fork over $3 plus a tip? So the valets want to take away that option — it forces people to use the valet and it saves them a trip to their private lot by parking your car in a public space on the street.

The valet waits in front of Lure with more cones ready to take spaces as people leave them. 7/26/08 - Lucas Park Grille's valet was parking cars anywhere they'd fit and simply turning on the flashers. Above two cars are parked on 13th blocking the fire hydrant - but they have their flashers on so that makes it OK? Each of these owners paid $3 to have their cars illegally parked! This Hyundai was parked just barely out of the crosswalk. On Monday this week I noticed around 8pm that the Lucas Park Grille valets had coned off two free public spaces across the street from the restaurant. I’m not sure what is worse, that the city lets these guys abuse the public right away or that folks hand over money to these guys for them to just park the car in a coned off space within sight of the destination.
I can see valet use when an actual shortage of parking exists but when they create the shortage just to make a buck we have a problem.