Bush's visit leaves some residents angry, but not over politics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Towed and ticketed, several people on the Country Club Plaza are griping about President Bush's visit to the metro.

The president's motorcade made many in the metro smile Wednesday, as he was seen breakfasting with dignitaries and made a speech at the VFW convention.

Bill Cary was not among them, but it had nothing to do with politics.

"What angered me was the fact that I didn't have any notice," said Cary.

He is angry because at midnight Wednesday morning, the city towed his car because it was parked in front of his Plaza apartment on Roanoke Parkway. The problem was that the president's motorcade used Roanoke Parkway. As a result, so for security reasons, police made it an emergency no-parking zone and towed several cars overnight - including Bill's.

"I thought it was stolen," said Cary.

Wednesday morning, on his way to work, Cary said, he and several other unaware neighbors were forced to pay $145 to retrieve their cars from tow lots.

Adding insult to injury, Cary got a $38 ticket for parking in a no-parking zone.

"We park here everyday," Cary said. "It would have been easy to put up a notice saying you have 24 hours to remove your vehicle... We had no notice at all. My car was ticketed right after midnight and towed minutes after the ticket was written."

The city did not return our phone calls seeking comment, Cary said he is hoping in the spirit of the presidential visit the city will offer pardons for parking offenders.

"I would like to have the city reimburse people the towing expense and waive the ticket," he said.

Thanks Bush