6/29/2009:
On this date in 1948, the people of North Dakota prepared to vote in a primary. On the ballot appeared an unusual measure that proposed to ban parking meters. Surprisingly, the war over parking meters began with a plot for revenge. Howard Henry, a farmer from Westhope, North Dakota was tired of being branded, in his own words, a "scofflaw" who failed to pay his parking tickets. He just didn't understand why he or any other farmer or small town resident should have to pay to park on a public street in a larger city. So, he decided to do something about it.
Henry vowed to get rid of the meters and toured the state to collect signatures for an initiated measure to ban parking meters. Residents of larger cities defended the curbside meters, arguing they helped control traffic in the bustling cities and prevented anyone from parking in valuable spots for too long. However, when Election Day rolled around, a majority of the state's population agreed with Henry, and the "curbstone nickel-eaters" were voted out by a margin of 2,500 votes. But the cities were prepared to fight back. They took the matter to court where they obtained an injunction to keep the meters on the streets until the court made its decision. The Supreme Court of North Dakota, however, decided the people had the right to eliminate the meters. That prompted a new measure, this time sponsored by the major cities, which would overturn the ban. It came to a vote in the general election in November, and by a margin of 23,000 votes, North Dakotans affirmed their decision to give meters the boot.
Yet the battle was still not over. In 1951, the state legislature acquired the two-thirds vote necessary to repeal the ban, and attempted to resurrect the meters. Henry acted swiftly to stifle this threat by mounting a referendum campaign. Once again, the voters chose to keep the meters off the streets.
Henry, who was eventually elected to the state legislature in 1971, continued to fight any attempt to bring back the meters. Every time a proposal to lift the ban came up, he threatened to strike back with another referendum campaign. While parking meters could still be found in private lots, Howard Henry had won the war over public parking meters. Thanks to him, the change-guzzling machines remain absent from the streets of North Dakota today.
Dakota Datebook written by Carol Wilson, Datebook Intern
The Bismarck Tribune, June 28, 1968.