Parking Management/ Oceanside, CA Parking Enforcement/ Private Company Lied, insulted, No, no parking signs, then no parking signs put up and a 58.00 ticket by a private company on city property Oceanside, California

On April 11, 2013 at approximately 1:45PM I was riding my motorcycle east on Mission Avenue. I came to a stop sign at North Tremont Street and turned right.  The first parking space was open so I parked my motorcycle there. All other spaces on that street were full at that time.

The space was not marked No Parking or HP or Special Event so I knew I was legal. N. Tremont had No barriers or no parking signs visible at that time. The streets had normal traffic and no signs of any extraordinary activity. I went to a business (Apollo Military Surplus) two doors up (West) from the corner of N. Tremont and Mission Ave.

I returned to N. Tremont at approximately 2:07PM. I noticed there was a Parking officer at my bike. He said, We were about to impound your bike I asked what was going on?  Then he said I was parked in a no parking zone and that the road was closed.  He also stated that theres a sign on the corner and there were cones across the street (N. Tremont). Which now, there were.

I told him that when I left my motorcycle at about 1:45PM there was no sign standing on the corner and there were no cones closing off N. Tremont.  It was a very windy day along the coast and the sign on the corner may have been blown down or knocked over but not standing when I walked by. I KNOW there were no cones closing off N. Tremont.

He disagreed with me. I told him to check with the road workers and see what time they coned off N. Tremont.  He said You should know that they run this street fair every Thursday Youre lucky you bike was not impounded, consider
your ticket a parting gift. I then mounted my motorcycle and left.

I am a retired law enforcement sergeant from Massachusetts. I moved to the area recently. Not being from the area, the Parking Officer should not have assumed that I knew about the street fair.

Secondly, being former law enforcement, I would not have risked a ticket or tow by parking in a properly marked No Parking Street Closed area. I know its not worth it.

And the last point I would like to make, is when a civilian is issued a citation, its best to leave improper attitudes and sarcasm at home. This is for the safety of the Parking Officer and the civilian. His response would have been received better if he stated If you do not agree with the citation, read the back, it has important information for you and follow
the instructions.

Fifty-eight dollars is not the end of the world and I would not go through the trouble of appealing this citation if I was in the wrong. When I am wrong, I accept it and move on. But when I know I am in the right, I do my best to correct any misunderstanding or injustice.