The city of Ketchum just took a step that downtown businesses should follow.
The mayor and council have asked city employees to sign a statement promising not to park in two-hour zones.
The surprising thing about the idea was that it sparked debate about whether it was out of line to ask city employees not to clog up short-term parking all day.
What seemed like a no-brainer for a city with one-half of its budget funded by local-option sales taxes collected by businesses, wasn't. So, it's doubtful it will be an easy decision for downtown retailers to insist that their own employees quit clogging up short-term parking with the game of musical cars. It will be an even harder decision for business owners themselves to get their own cars out of the way of business.
Long-term parking for the business core is available in Ketchum at the Mormon Church, on the south end of East Avenue and on the north end of Leadville. Most of it is never full, but at peak hours, a parking space in Ketchum's core is as scarce as snow in the tropics.
City Hall showed good sense in engaging city employees to open up downtown spaces. If it works, the action could put off paid parking for a good long time—if businesses follow suit.
However, that's a big "if." Downtown is still seeing construction workers parked in two-hour spaces—despite the city's pleas to contractors to control employee parking.
The more gridlock Ketchum experiences, the more customers are hindered from getting to businesses—the more inevitable paid parking becomes.
The choice is clear: Obey or pay.
