Colorado Springs, Colorado— For the past decade, Richard Skorman has offered to pay for people's parking outside his stores on North Tejon.
"I'm not giving that much but you can't imagine how many people thank me or want to hug me," said Skorman. "For me, it's my favorite job ever."
Skorman said he helps pay for about 200 people get free parking every day leading up to Christmas.
"I'm like so grateful, I didn't have any quarters," said Julia Watson who got free parking. "Even finding parking downtown is kind of hard so it really made my day."
People can park downtown for free on Christmas Day, December 26th, New Years day and January 2nd.
Nancy DeVorss has been a lead parking enforcement officer for 3.5 years. She recommends people download the Park Mobile app to stay on top of their time and reload if need be.
DeVorss is usually out with two other officers checking for those flashing red lights.
"If there's only one minute left, we don't stop and hide around the corner waiting for the meter to change contrary to popular belief," said Skorman.
DeVorss said paying to park downtown helps the flow of traffic and get more customers in and out of businesses. She said each officer usually writes 20 to 60 tickets daily, but are understanding in certain circumstances.
"We often get a bad rap, they think that we're out to get them but we truly aren't," said DeVorss.
What people pay to park goes straight into parking and street developments around downtown and old Colorado City.
If people can't find parking or plan to shop all day, DeVorss said she recommends them parking in one of three discounted parking garages.
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