Portland Commissioner Steve Novick is looking for ways to deal with the city's $32.4 million in unpaid parking tickets, possibly by using wheel-locking "boots" that have proven effective in getting scofflaws to pay up in other cities.

Responding to a recent Oregonian/OregonLive examination of Portland's worst parking scofflaws, Novick said Tuesday he has several ideas to address the problem and plans to launch an initiative in response to the story by the end of July.

"I didn't know the backlog was that big," said Novick, who oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation. "I actually have a bunch of ideas on the topic, but I need to talk with PBOT and maybe the court before I share them."

Presumably, the plan would take a more aggressive approach to collecting the overdue revenue, while identifying strategies to keep the city's collective parking debt from climbing so high in the future.

Among other things, Novick said his staff is exploring the viability of using yellow U-shaped tire boots to lock up the wheels of cars with unpaid tickets.

Although booting has proven effective in other U.S. cities, Portland parking officials have for years rejected the approach, determining it isn't feasible in stumptown. They say it belies their goal to keep parking open on the street.

Currently, the city's primary enforcement tool is to tow vehicles with six or more unsettled citations in which the fines have doubled or amount to at least $500 - and only if they happen to stumble across one during daily patrols.

"I understand the argument that booting ties up spaces," Novick said. "I want to talk to other cities to see how much of a problem that really is."

He also said he's uncomfortable with Portland's reliance on towing. "When there's a $166 tow charge, for some people, it makes it even more unaffordable," Novick said.

The Oregonian/OregonLive story showed how, in recent years, City Hall has been sluggish about hunting down people with big parking bills, especially when compared to other U.S. cities.

In Seattle, for example, city officials have switched to a plan that dedicates two officers to tracking down parking scofflaws in high-tech vans equipped with license-plate recognition cameras. When a van detects a plate with four or more tickets, the officer stops and locks the car's wheels with a 16-pound yellow boot until the bill is paid.

PayLock's Smart Boot, which can be "unabated" with a punch code once the vehicle owners pays off outstanding parking tickets over the phone.

Scores of motorists owe Portland thousands of dollars in unpaid parking citations. In many cases, people who owe thousands of dollars decide it's cheaper to just buy a new car than recover one towed because of unpaid tickets by the city.

Novick also isn't comfortable with the current policy of waiting until a motorist has $500 in tickets before PBOT takes action. "That's too high," he said. "We don't want to wait until we get to the point where many people literally can't pay."

The story elicited hundreds of comments from readers via OregonLive, social media and email. Many of them offered up their own proposed fixes.

Here's a sample of the most intriguing ideas for the city and state to consider:

* Suspend driver's licenses for people who owe certain amount in unpaid parking tickets. In Oregon, more than 100 different offenses can lead to temporary license suspension. Some of them have no connection to driving at all. But having $10,000 - or any amount - of unpaid parking tickets isn't one. "It seems like taking away someone's license would get their attention real quick," said Jim Gleeson, a retired Multnomah County judge pro tem.

* Lower the threshold of unpaid tickets before a "tow warrant" is issued on a vehicle. Seattle and Salt Lake City have reduced the unpaid ticket limit for tows and wheel boots to four and two, respectively. The strategy is, in part, designed to catch scofflaws before their bills get out of control and impossible to pay.

* Unleash the boot. "I missed paying the city's Arts Tax by a day and the fee went from $35 to $50," wrote OregonLive reader Jayson. "Why so lenient on parking tickets? Boot for up to 2 days, then tow."

* An amnesty program for people caught in the backlog that would waive additional fees and fines. Of course, it's hard to know how popular that would be, considering much of the money could be used to shore up the city's shaky transportation budget. Perhaps a low-interest payment plans would be a smarter.

* Let the worst offenders, including one woman who owes more than $12,500, work off part of their bill with community service.

* Lease a couple of those snazzy license-plate-scanning vans that they use in Seattle. "Sounds like Seattle has a working solution," wrote OregonLive reader Mirtis. "Don't get creative."

-- Joseph Rose

503-221-8029

jrose@oregonian.com

@josephjrose