City of Long Beach Parking Trap! Long Beach California

I went to visit my daughter who lives in California. She wanted to show me Long Beach. We had a nice breakfast, and left the restaurant only to be greeted by a parking citation under the wiper of my rented car. I was floored! I had looked for a "No Parking" sign before parking and felt confident we were fine. The entire block had cars parked end to end on it. We parked in the middle of the block. We walked down the street (behind where we parked) to the the restaurant. 

After seeing the ticket that was waiting for us, we looked around and saw absolutly NO signs near where we were parked. We finally aked a maintenance worker who pointed at a STOP sign 1/2 a block forward from us!  

Who, besides the City of Long Beach, puts "No Parking on Friday's for Street Sweeper" signs on a STOP sign?? Seriously? How many people are going to know this??  This is obviously a trap!  How wrong! Shame on the city of Long Beach! This is exactly how law enforcement gets a bad name as well! 

To my chagrin, I did not take photos when I contested the ticket. The reviewer replied, "Field check shows a sign posted at the exact location of the violation. See city photo."  What photo???  I looked on-line for this elusive photo. It doesn't exist, just like the sign at the "exact" location doesn't exist either!

After seeing a LOT of bad press regarding the "Long Beach Parking Ticket Scam", I feel even more angry! Is this how you treat your tourists? This is not even a thinly veiled means of generating revenue for the city. This is an outright ruse! Shame again, Long Beach!

I will pay my parking ticket, but I am sending it by "certified mail."  I can't trust the city to say they actually received it, let alone "on time." 

City of Long Beach: you will NEVER see another dime from me. You will NEVER get a recommendation from me to visit your "fair city." 

I am posting this as I hope that some other poor soul avoids the "$50.00 Long Beach RIP OFF". What a disappointment!  Sad, really.