Mick Dryk tells Deniz Huseyin how he turned around Luton's failing parking enforcement operation. For MICK Dryk the opportunity to front his own parking operation was the big challenge he was waiting for. So, when Luton Borough Council offered him the post of parking manager some four years ago, he was glad to accept. But what awaited him was an enforcement unit in disarray, torn apart by internal disputes. "Certain groups of parking attendants (PAs) were refusing to work with other groups. I knew nothing about it until I actually started." A few days into the job Dryk called a meeting of the council's 30 PAs. "I listened to their concerns, frustrations and anger, " he says. "I explained that I didn't have a magic wand, but would take on board their comments, and promised to hold an update meeting. I said that in some cases there might be nothing I could do, but promised to all those present that 1 would be consistent with my decisions."
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