3/30/00 10:50 AM

Your Honor:

I am a working mother raising my 7-year-old without assistance. For over a year I have not been able to drive anywhere because of this issue, which I could not afford to adjudicate. I attempted on 10-22-98 to pay $300 of the fine, planning to pay it off over time, because I will never have that much money all together at one time, but the Court refused to accept it. However, the Franchise Tax Board did send $300 of my 1998 tax refund to Inglewood in partial payment of the fine, which to my knowledge was accepted. I live in Hawthorne with my son who is in second grade and I work in the Beverly-Sunset Medical Building over 30 miles away. Using public transportation, the trip to work takes over two hours each way (by car less than an hour). Because of this situation, I have not been able to maintain a 40-hour work week. Instead of making more money I am making less, solely because of the difficulty of getting to and from work. There was an instance when I was called to my son’s school due to an accident and was unable to reach him in a timely manner. There have been several occasions when I could not get to his daycare in time and was charged $1.00/minute in late charges, which I can ill afford.

Respectfully I request that the Court do one of the following so that my son and I might get on with our lives:

• Accept $500 (which I am prepared to pay today) as full payment;
• Create a schedule whereby I can make payments to the Court until the fine is paid in its entirety, or
• Move my case to a Court that accepts payments.

Until I can transport myself to and from work, there is no hope that I can improve my job performance, increase my income, and effect a meaningful, positive change in our lives. If there is an option whereby I might be able to obtain a restricted license, even that would be immensely helpful. Thank you Your Honor.

Barbara Bales

Public Enemy NUMBER ONE