Dormont Mayor: Ticket Dismissing Power Is Through Tradition

While there's no state or borough authority giving Dormont Mayor Lloyd power to dismiss certain tickets, to his mind, that doesn’t matter.

He cites tradition and compassion. Previous mayors have done it, he said.

“All I know is that I’m acting on that tradition here in this borough and (what) both magistrates that I’ve had to deal with have told me,” Lloyd said after Monday’s council meeting.

“If the magistrates have told me to continue to do it, who’s going to tell me something different? … Why, if you think it’s wrong, why would they tell me to keep on doing it?” Lloyd said.

During the meeting, borough solicitor Deron Gabriel said it was his legal opinion that Lloyd isn’t allowed to dismiss tickets.

Lloyd disregarded that.

Lloyd said he doesn’t dismiss all tickets and evaluates whether a ticket should be dismissed.

“I get your name and address and you have to tell me what the circumstances were,” he said.

“There are certain things that automatically would go to the magistrate. If it’s a moving violation, I don’t touch them,” he said.

Nor, he said, does he dismiss tickets for offenses such as blocking a driveway or fire hydrant, or parking on the sidewalk.

“If a person walks in with that type of violation, it’s automatic: they’re going to pay,” he said. He hears ticket matters during his Wednesday night constituent hours.

But if someone comes in with an expired inspection or registration, he'll tell them to get it taken care of then come back.

“That’s what we want. We want your vehicle inspected … Let me know and I will think about it,” he said.

Lloyd provides no accounting to council of dismissals and and his reasons.

“Nobody but except a few people here have even brought it up as a question,” he said of council members who’ve questioned the practice. “I’ve been doing it 18 years and most people have understood that process.”

The issue has come up several times this year. In February, council said it was , and recently, acting Chief Richard Dwyer told officers that .

Lloyd defended his practice during Monday's meeting when Manager Gino Rizza asked him how many tickets he thought he dismissed. More than 300, Rizza said.

Lloyd pressed on with an example of tickets issued during street sweeping on July 11. During holidays, street sweeping is postponed. Lloyd said they shouldn't have been written.

"Now, if you come in here and say, ‘Look, I wasn’t around, I wasn’t aware of it.’ What would you do?" he said. "I’m not asking you to give me an answer, I’m saying, 'What would you do?'”

“We should be the protector of the residents,” he said after the meeting. “We should also be showing compassion to the residents."