Bredesen gets parking ticket outside Nashville restaurant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. — A wait for valet parking at an upscale restaurant cost Gov. Phil Bredesen a parking ticket.

While the governor lunched at The Palm restaurant Friday, his car was ticketed along with several other vehicles that had been left for valet parking.

Nashville police — a department that once reported to Bredesen when he was mayor of the city — said they responded to a report that the vehicles were interfering with traffic flow.

Motorcycle Sgt. Marvin Keith told the valet drivers to get the cars moved. When he returned 10 or 15 minutes later and found them still there, he called in another officer to begin writing tickets.

According to witnesses, the officer wasn’t deterred when he was told he was about to ticket the governor’s car.

Police said Bredesen’s driver was nowhere around when the ticket was placed on the windshield.

Lydia Lenker, Bredesen’s spokeswoman, said a state trooper was standing nearby.

There’s another minor discrepancy over who’s paying the $11 ticket.

Lenker said the state would pay for it. Restaurant manager Scott Denney said The Palm would pay the tickets on behalf of its guests.

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Information from WSMV-TV, Nashville, http://www.wsmv.com