Political perks, while legal, raise eyebrows
The perks of political office come in all shapes and sizes and, like them or not, most are perfectly legal. But some are downright objectionable to regular folks. That’s the case with the reserved parking space for Sen. Bill Frist outside his field office in the Pythian building in downtown Jackson. Given the limited public parking near Jackson City Hall and the Madison County Courthouse, Frist should order the sign taken down and the parking space given back to the public.
We doubt Sen. Frist has driven a car in Jackson enough to need a reserved parking space outside his field office. Neither Sen. Lamar Alexander nor Rep. John Tanner are taking up scarce downtown public parking spaces for their field offices.
In this era of intense public scrutiny of elected officials, Frist could gain points with local voters by giving up his downtown Jackson parking perk.
Admittedly, the senator’s reserved parking place is a small annoyance. Unless, of course, you are a local resident who needs to do some business, like paying taxes at City Hall or getting a license plate at the county Courthouse, and the closest empty parking space — except for Frist’s — is three blocks away.
Give the public back its parking place.