Fee hikes show phoniness of City Council sympathy for struggling residents

Re “Parking is about to get even more expensive in San Diego — if you pay by credit card” (July 2): First it was the doubling of parking meter rates. Now the mayor and City Council have decided  to tack on a parking meter credit card transaction fee. Meanwhile, plans remain in place to charge for parking at Balboa Park, the zoo and city beach parking lots, and to expand neighborhood parking meters.

I can’t think of a better way for those struggling to make ends meet than to be able to spend a free day at the beach or Balboa Park. Scratch those off the list.

In the U-T story “San Diego relaxes new ban on digital-only grocery coupons” (July 9), Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said, “People need to save every cent they can in order to keep a roof over their heads and food on their plate.” I guess this only applies to situations that can’t feed the city coffers.

— Marty Fink, San Diego