Was Killed “It was great to meet our son,”


James said. “I didn’t know he existed, but I want to be a part of his life.Mary and I have moved on to be with other people, and we both understand the limits of our relationship.” I’ll bet Larry Levinson will be glad to


hear that. “OK, Mary,” I said, “you start. Tell


us what you can about Moncrief Harti- son’s empire.” She spoke for 30 minutes without


stopping.AlthoughHartison seemed like a wealthy man, his “empire” was a house of cards. He was way over-extended and did- n’t have the money to complete the prom- ised donation to the university. He was turning up the heat on his myriad opera- tions to generate cash. Parking was a cash cow, and it was getting themost pressure. Hartison had made commitments to


some “partners” in Las Vegas and those were coming due, Mary said. Hartison


didn’t have the money and was feeling the pressure. He had had some stormy meet- ings with some fellows Mary had met in PalmSprings.The conversations she over- heard weren’t pretty. A germ of an idea was forming. I


needed to flesh it out a bit butmaybe… “We know what was happening in the


garage.” Shirley, Larry and Jefferson walked into the room. Naturally, my girl Shirley was leading the pack. “They had more action going off the


books than on,” Shirley said. “And good ol’ ‘trusting Larry’ here just sat by and let it happen.” Larry was looking sheepish. “It’s not unusual,” Jefferson said.


“Facility owners don’t like to get involved in the details, and frankly we operators prefer it that way. If the operator is legit, there is no problem. The owner gets a check and we run the garage. “However, if the operator is shady, or


even if they are not watching individual locations too closely, a lot of money can disappear,” Jefferson said. “Sometimes it’s through incompetence, and other times it involves theft. We’ll need to look at the books, but I’m guessing there was a bit of


MakingMeetingsMore ExpensiveMightMake Them


Less Costly What would happen if your organization hired ameeting fairy? Its job would be to ensure thatmeetings were short, efficient and effective. According to entrepreneur-author-blogger Seth Godin, the meeting fairy would


focus on: • Getting precisely the right people invited, but no others. •Making themeeting start right on time. • Scheduling meetings so that they don’t end when Outlook says they should, but


so that they end when they need to. • Ensuring that every meeting has a clearly defined purpose, and accomplishes


that purpose, then ends. •Welcoming participants appropriately.Your meeting fairy makes sure that each


has adequate directions, a place to productively wait before the meeting starts, access to the Internet, something to drink, biographies of who else will be in the room, and a clear understanding of the goals of themeeting. •Managing the flow of information, including agendas and PowerPoint presenta-


tions. This includes eliminating the last-minute running around looking for aVGA cable or a monitor that works. The meeting fairy also would make sure that everyone left with a copy of whatever they needed. • Issuing a follow-up memo to everyone who attended the meeting, clearly delin-


eating who came and what was decided. If this is done every time you call a meeting, it’s going to cost more to organize,


Godin says.Whichmeans you’ll call fewermeetings, and thosemeetingswill be short- er and more efficient.And in the long run, you’ll waste less time and get more done. Check out the details at Godin’s website (www.sethgodin.com/sg/).


FEBRUARY 2011 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 39


both involved at Larry’s building.” “But is it enough to kill some-


one over?” “Well, these kinds of problems don’t


usually reach that point. Sure, there can be people fired, and maybe a few threats will fly around, butmurder? I don’t think so.” I looked at Larry. He was sitting next


to Mary. They were holding hands. Just like Mary had held hands with Miguel when I first met her in my office and she was passing himoff as her husband. “Mary, couldHartison have found out


that Miguel was a friend of yours, and even that you were ‘married?’” “I didn’t tell anyone except you.We


thought itwouldmakeMiguel’s storymore believable,”Mary said. “No one knew… “Wait a minute.My secretary, Joanie,


was in the next room whenMiguel and I were talking about going to you. She knowsMoncrief. She has been to parties at his house.What if….”AndMary began to cry.


To be continued… PT


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56