I sent this to a site I adore, The Expired Meter, but I suspect our hero the parking geek is running behind. So after a month, here's my story of how I learned about how secure our city stickers are.
As a ten year resident of Chicago, I finally broke down and got a car. I have deeding parking in my apartment, so generally I don't have a lot of worries. Still, I know that to park on a Chicago City Street I need a special sticker.
When I got the car (Nov 13) I was told the dealer would get my license plate within 60 days, but I needed to pay for the City Sticker on my own. Within 30 days. I waited 28 days and, when it was clear I wouldn't get the plate within the 30 days, I went downtown to City Hall (I work nearby) and got a sticker for my dealer plates. At the time I asked 'I know the sticker has my dealer plate on it. Do I need to trade that in when I get real plates?'
The lady said yes, but promised me I wouldn't have to pay again. Great!
On January 7th, I went back down, having gotten my plates, and said I needed 'real' stickers. I had not brought my sticker in, since I didn't really want a ticket, and my neighbor (who parks beside me) just got one. They said I needed the sticker and promised that any tickets within 30 days of the new plates being issued would be dismissed. Of course I asked for a print copy of the law that said they can't ticket me, to keep with my insurance issue.
Instead I got one that stated, and I quote "Motorists CAN NOT receive a ticket for having ... an inaccurate license plate number ... printed on their sticker."
So while you have to have your license plate on the sticker, there's no law that says the plate has to match yours. It's a 'security' feature only. Which is amusing to me. How does it secure anything if no one checks it?
Remember Joe Pesce's character in Lethal Weapon 4? It's like that.