Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 27, 1995 TAG: 9510270083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELLEN KNICKMEYER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Any clown is free to walk around Santa Cruz and get his jollies dropping coins into other people's about-to-expire parking meters. Mr. Twister saw to that.
The professional clown who was hit with a $13 fine for unauthorized meter-feeding fought City Hall and won. City Council this week repealed the ordinance against plugging strangers' parking meters.
``Right on the face of it, the law makes no sense,'' said Mayor Katherine Beiers.
Thursday, Mr. Twister - in white face, rainbow-striped pants, a polka-dot tie, shaggy red hair and bulbous red nose - was downtown again, dropping in the quarters and getting laughs, as he has for the past six years.
Honk, honk, a car saluted.
``Honk, honk,'' Mr. Twister brayed in acknowledgment.
A man knelt on the sidewalk in tribute. ``You're our spiritual leader,'' Robert Forte declared.
Mr. Twister - also known as Cory McDonald, 26 - deliberately courted a citation for violating what he called the Anti-Good Samaritan Law.
When the matter came up for a vote Tuesday, City Council members donned big red clown noses and squeezed them to make them squeak. After they had voted to repeal the ordinance, Mr. Twister expressed his appreciation by twisting balloon animals for them. (That's how he gets his name - plus ``the fact that I won't stand still.'')
Mr. Twister, who makes his living entertaining at birthday and office parties, giving clowning classes and performing on the street, has never had to depend on the kindness of meter-plugging strangers. He has no car. He commutes by skateboard from the mobile home he shares with his mother and stepfather.
He said he started plugging meters when he saw a friend's car being ticketed. Soon he was plugging everyone's meters, reasoning, ``Random acts of kindness can be fun.''
People began giving him quarters.But the meter readers warned him they had found an ordinance that forbade anyone but the parker to plug a parking meter. On Oct. 9, police slapped him with a citation.
With publicity, the laugh was soon on the parking agency. Supporters donated $332 in quarters to keep up the lawbreaking. And a lawyerstepped forward to represent him ``pro Bozo.''
Thursday, a meter worker waved as Mr. Twister committed the newly legal act of dropping a quarter into a stranger's parking meter.
Karen Silva ran across the street to grab his hand and thank him. ``People ought to be nice to one another like that.''
``Without legal repercussions - honk, honk,'' said Mr. Twister.
by CNB