MSTPA Member Profile: City of Huntsville
November 1, 2021
Check out the next feature in our series of MSTPA member profiles. Meet Debbie Clardy, Lead Parking Enforcement for the City of Huntsville, AL. The City was part of the group of founding MSTPA organizations. Learn about how MSTPA membership has impacted the organization and the careers and experiences of their staff.
How long has your organization been a member of MSTPA?
Our former Parking Manager Bobby Allen was one of the founding members.
What value has MSTPA provided you personally, as well as your organization?
MSTPA has given us a network of people to discuss common issues and find best practices for our issues.
What valuable industry lessons or best practices have you gained from your MSTPA involvement?
We are able to validate how we handle problems through shop talks and being able to form relationships with our peers.
What unique, positive strategies or solutions have you implemented into your operation in the past year?
We can now scan car tags to enforce parking through multi space meters as well as run car tags on emergency lane violations. This has saved time and work for the officers as well as being a more actuate and safer way to issue citations.
How do you think our industry will change in the next 5-10 years?
Hopefully having a better way to enforce handicap placards by placing pictures on them. More education on accessible spaces and blues lines.
What advice would you give to a fellow industry professional as we move into the future?
I love my job; I find it rewarding to make sure people with disabilities have opportunities to live more productive lives. Parking Enforcement Officers need to be aware of everything around them and watch for potential hazards to yourself and those you are protecting. You should be aware of altered placards and learn the many different car tags that show disability but not handicap. Sometimes you have to explain this to the citizen because they do not know they are breaking the law. You should do your job with compassion and not an iron fist. We are there to serve the disabled and not fill a quota.
