Joe Nardiello, 47, a Republican seeking the 39th District council seat in the city's Brooklyn borough, said the realistic orange-and-white parking tickets his campaign distributed on local windshields were meant to call attention to a plan to charge residents for parking permits, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
"I knew it was going to be a personal risk. The point was to jar people," he said. "I know it's right to tell people now that there is going to be a cost later."
However, Nardiello's campaign was flooded with calls from residents upset about the fake tickets.
A woman named Lisa told the Daily News she and her neighbors were angered by the stunt.
"You see a ticket and you run down there with your heart beating," she said. "People were very angry. Even if we liked him, we might not vote for him now."
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Post new comment