Paul Cook wasn\u2019t about to fold \u2014 not with Mohandas Gandhi\u2019s words ringing in his ears. <\/p>\n
Never mind that the issue at the center of the David-versus-Goliath fight was a parking ticket that he could afford to pay. Never mind that if he was the David, then the Goliath was the Los Angeles Department of Transportation\u2019s parking division, notoriously difficult to challenge. Never mind that even his friends told him fighting would be a waste of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are just, like, \u2018You can\u2019t win against them,\u2019\u201d Cook said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s just \u2014 it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
So drawing on Gandhi\u2019s teachings about the unwavering power of righteous \u201csoul strength\u201d to overcome the greatest obstacles, Cook set forth on a journey through L.A.\u2019s byzantine parking dispute process that would last some 16 months. <\/p>\n
Cook\u2019s story starts on Dec. 19, 2024, in Chinatown, when he returned to his car to find a yellow envelope tucked under his windshield wiper. Recalling the day in a recent interview with The Times, Cook quickly turns indignant about the bureaucratic odyssey that yellow slip launched. He\u2019s mad not just because he feels his time was wasted, but also because he knows that many others without his legal background, perseverance or media savvy would simply pay the fine. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe city of Los Angeles is unreasonable,\u201d Cook told The Times. \u201cYou get a parking ticket, they want their pound of flesh.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cook had pulled up to 812 N. Broadway that day to meet a friend for dim sum. He saw no signs forbidding parking where he pulled over, and the curb was not, by all appearances, painted red, he said. And yet, when he came back, there was the envelope, with a $93 fine inside for parking somewhere where he wasn\u2019t supposed to. <\/p>\n
Upset, Cook took a photo of the car and ticket and, after talking with an official in the parking division, filed an appeal. The Department of Transportation upheld the ticket the following February, and Cook appealed again. On Dec. 30, 2025, he stood in front of a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and presented the printed color photos of his parked car as evidence. <\/p>\n
It worked. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe court finds that the citation is improperly issued,\u201d the judge concluded, according to a copy of the final judgment. \u201cNo further payment is due.\u201d <\/p>\n
One might think the story would end there. <\/p>\n
One would be wrong. <\/p>\n
While satisfied that he had won, Cook was upset at the time and effort it had taken him to prove his case. So, in addition to mailing the parking division the judge\u2019s decision, on Jan. 20 he mailed the Department of Transportation a demand for $30.63 \u2014 the cost of printing photos for the court hearing and putting miles on his car. <\/p>\n
Then things got spicy \u2014 and confusing. <\/p>\n
On March 2, city parking official Rose Dymally wrote to Cook in an email reviewed by The Times that she needed physical proof that the ticket had been overturned, to be mailed or handed over \u201cdirectly\u201d to the Parking Violations Bureau. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs of today, LADOT has not received the court\u2019s official minute order via mail,\u201d the email said. \u201cWhile we have reviewed the email copies you provided regarding the citation reversal and memorandum of cost summary, please be advised that our department does not currently accept electronic filing services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nonplussed but undeterred, Cook mailed the documents again. This time, he added a court order to back up his demand for payment, which meant the city would have to pay $40 extra, more than doubling the amount they owed, records show.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee how they feel about it,\u201d Cook said, reveling in the irony. <\/p>\n
Those documents went out March 8, Cook said. <\/p>\n
But the parking division had mailed him something, too: A new fine amount for the original ticket, about $210. He was late paying the $93 fine, the notice told him, so it had more than doubled. <\/p>\n
About two weeks after Cook emailed Dymally about the notice, she asked him whether he had mailed the office paper copies of the court order. <\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for your continued patience and assistance in bringing this matter to a close,\u201d Dymally wrote. <\/p>\n
Cook was out of patience. <\/p>\n
He fired off a quick reply: \u201cI don\u2019t know what else I can do for you … I have done everything I can to give you these documents several times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cook emailed CBS LA and pitched the story of his fight with the parking department. The TV station contacted the Department of Transportation for the story, a producer told him. <\/p>\n
And he received yet another bill in the mail. His fine had gone up to $265.75. <\/p>\n
Then finally, this week, Cook got the email he\u2019d been waiting for \u2014 confirmation from the parking department that they\u2019d received the court records and could proceed. The end, it appears, truly is in sight. <\/p>\n
The Department of Transportation confirmed to The Times that it had received the necessary documentation. <\/p>\n
\u201cLADOT could not take action to dismiss the citation before receiving official notice of the court\u2019s decision,\u201d the department said in an emailed response to questions. \u201cLADOT has now received all verified legal documents and submitted them to our citation processing contractor to initiate the waiver process for the citation per the court order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cook is still waiting for his check. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Cook wasn\u2019t about to fold \u2014 not with Mohandas Gandhi\u2019s words ringing in his ears. Never mind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[283,44581,3622,6848,6246,13539,48,52,51,72330,47,50,49,116152,116151,116150,2824,3044,315,1791,1967],"class_list":{"0":"post-265380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-car","9":"tag-citation","10":"tag-court","11":"tag-decision","12":"tag-department","13":"tag-document","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-headlines","16":"tag-la-news","17":"tag-ladot","18":"tag-los-angeles","19":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","20":"tag-los-angeles-news","21":"tag-parking-division","22":"tag-parking-ticket","23":"tag-paul-cook","24":"tag-photo","25":"tag-story","26":"tag-time","27":"tag-times","28":"tag-transportation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}