No free pass for hybrids

In a split vote with its mayor absent, the City Council barely defeated a proposal to look into giving owners of hybrid and alternative-fuel cars free parking. Its three opponents all said they wanted to consider it as part of a wider energy policy, not on its own.

The council members voted 3-3 to nix the proposal by Councilman Joe Carchio, who called for issuing free parking permits — a $150 value per year — for beach and downtown lots to anyone with a hybrid, electric or other unconventionally fueled car.

Council members Don Hansen Jill Hardy and Keith Bohr all criticized the proposal as premature. They said it should wait at least until a committee on green policies for the city has its first meeting Jan. 29. Carchio was supported by Council members Cathy Green and Gil Coerper.

“I want our policy to be meaningful and direct and effectual,” Hansen said. “I’m not prepared to support this today, but I could if it comes back in a comprehensive policy where it says the best way to spend $75,000 is to give free parking passes to hybrids. I’m not precluding myself from doing that, but it needs to be put into the mix and vetted with everything else.”

But Carchio called the program a gesture of goodwill, suggesting it could show the city was serious on energy and environmental issues.

“I still think we need to start somewhere,” he said. “We need to get people into a position where they’re thinking alternative fuels. This is one small step for mankind. We need to move in the right direction just once.”

Bohr, who led the meeting as mayor pro tem, said the idea was poorly thought out and would likely just waste money, saying there was no way to gauge success.

“I don’t doubt your positive intent,” he said. “But I think it’s completely the wrong way to go. You said you don’t think $150 will cause people to buy hybrid cars. So what’s the point? It costs current revenue.”

Carchio criticized that line of thinking, saying money isn’t everything.

“It’s obvious it all comes down to dollars and cents,” he said. “I’m just hoping that when you guys do decide to pass a program that goes green, it’s going to be profitable.”

Mayor Debbie Cook, who was absent on an expected trip, had e-mailed the council asking that the vote be postponed so she could weigh in. But it was Carchio’s decision, and he chose not to wait.

“It’s unfortunate that the mayor couldn’t be here,” he said before discussion. “But I think we should do it tonight.”