Posted on: Friday, May 10, 2002

Honest visitor sends state $5 for parking illegally

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

State parking officials received quite an unusual gift recently: a $5 bill mailed from someone who apparently felt guilty after leaving his or her car parked at 'Iolani Palace after the time on the parking meter had expired.

"I overstayed my time at a meter in what was basically a parking lot near the Iolani Palace," the handwritten letter reads. "I believe that the meter was operated by the state, not the city/county. This is to cover the unpaid time and your cost of processing this."

The letter, postmarked from Lansing, Mich., has no name or return address. But the sender apparently wanted to make sure the cash reached Hawai'i by sticking an extra 34-cent stamp on the envelope.

"It's the first time that I received something like this," said Harold Sonomura, who heads the state's Automotive Management division. "I'm kind of surprised anybody would do this."

He's also not counting on receiving anything like this ever again.

Sonomura said the money will be deposited into the state's parking meter account — which pays for the operation of the state parking lots — along with all the quarters collected from the meters.