The concept of using public property for profit is not a foreign idea to the Boston area. In Cambridge Harvard University conducts major fund raisers every year on city land. Food trucks sell their fare on the same land on the Broadway and Cambridge Street overpass near the Cambridge Fire Department headquarters. Local restaurants serve their customers on city sidewalks without any increased license fees. How is the computer app any different? Is the doctrine of ignoring inconvenient laws not applicable to Boston as it is in Cambridge and Washington DC?
[From article]
Daniel Koh, the mayor’s chief of staff, responded by saying the city was concerned about a private company, as well as drivers, profiting from public property.
[. . .]
When the first car leaves and the second takes its place, the driver of the newly parked vehicle is billed $3 electronically. The original occupant gets to keep $2.25, and Haystack takes a commission of 75 cents for facilitating the exchange.
Meyer contends his business does not broker the sale of public property but merely provides a cash incentive for drivers to swap useful information.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/07/15/haystack/ceD8Rcmz2PRd39Gp58gwhO/story.html
Boston mayor sharply rebukes Haystack parking app
By Callum Borchers
Boston GLOBE STAFF
JULY 15, 2014
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