LEBANON, Va. — After carting the fifth and final wheelbarrow of pennies into the Lebanon Department of Motor Vehicles Wednesday, Nick Stafford could feel the burn in his arms.
Winded, Stafford took a smoke break in the DMV’s parking lot.
“I’m not used to lifting,” Stafford said. “These are heavy.”
Heavy, indeed. The 300,000 pennies the Cedar Bluff, Virginia man took to the DMV Wednesday morning to pay sales tax on two new cars weighed in at 1,600 pounds. A mature Holstein cow weighs about 1,500 pounds.
See, Stafford had a bone to pick with the DMV. It wasn’t about agonizingly long lines or a bad picture on his driver’s license: It came down to 10 phone numbers.
And Stafford ended up filing three lawsuits and spending at least $1,005 to give the DMV his 2 cents.
Stafford’s version of the story goes like this: Back in September, he wanted to know which of his four houses spanning two Virginia counties he should list when licensing his son’s new Corvette. He attempted to call the Lebanon DMV, but was routed to a call center in Richmond.
He then submitted a FOIA request — a submission under the Freedom of Information Act that citizens, journalists and others can use to obtain public government information — to get a direct number to the Lebanon DMV, which he was provided. Some information is exempted from FOIA: documents about trade secrets and national defense, for example.
When Stafford called the number he was given, he said the employees at the DMV told him the phone line wasn’t meant for public use. However, Stafford said after repeated phone calls, the DMV eventually answered his licensing question.
Stafford then decided he wanted the direct phone lines to nine other local DMVs: Abingdon, Clintwood, Gate City, Jonesville, Marion, Norton, Tazewell, Vansant and Wytheville. He said the Lebanon DMV employees wouldn’t provide those numbers.
So, Stafford went to court to get them.
“If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them,” he said.
Stafford filed three lawsuits in Russell County General District Court: two against specific employees at the Lebanon DMV and one against the DMV itself.
On Tuesday, a judge dismissed the lawsuits at the request of the state when a representative of the state’s attorney general handed Stafford a list of the requested phone numbers in the courtroom. The court also did not impose penalties on the DMV and its employees, which could have been between $500 and $2,000 per lawsuit if the employees had “willfully and knowingly” violated public records law.
“The phone numbers are irrelevant to me,” Stafford said. “I don't need them. I told the judge ‘I think I proved my point here.’”
“I think the backbone to our republic and our democracy is open government and transparency in government and it shocks me that a lot of people don't know the power of FOIA,” Stafford said.
Brandy Brubaker, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, said the DMV is happy with the outcome.
“We are pleased that the court agreed with our counsel that the argument was not a sufficient request to invoke the FOIA statutory penalties,” Brubaker said. “We make every effort to share information with citizens as state and federal law allows.”
Brubaker said the department fulfills thousands of FOIA requests each year and encourages anyone interested to make requests at FOIA@dmv.viriginia.gov.
Still, Stafford had one final act planned. After collecting the hundreds of rolls of pennies he needed, he hired 11 people to help him break open the paper rolls with hammers Tuesday night. It took four hours and he paid each person $10 per hour, costing him $440.
Stafford also purchased five wheelbarrows to deliver the pennies. The wheelbarrows cost $400, and he wasn’t going to dump the coins on the DMV’s floor, so he left the wheelbarrows there, bringing his expenses to $840.
He also paid $165 for the three lawsuits, which means he spent $1,005 to get 10 phone numbers and the satisfaction of delivering 300,000 pennies. Not to mention the nearly $3,000 he paid the DMV for the cars.
One might feel bad for the Lebanon DMV employees, who chose to count the coins by hand. But Stafford is within his legal right. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, "United States coins and currency are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues” under the Coinage Act of 1965.
However, private businesses, individuals or organizations do not have to accept coins as payment.
And Stafford’s penny plot wasn’t the first local attempt to pay a bill by coin. In 2009, Bristol, Virginia resident John Almany paid his $350 Bristol Virginia Utilities electric bill with pennies. But, Almany’s 29,000 Abe Lincolns came in at 170 pounds — pocket change compared to Stafford’s payment.
On Wednesday, Stafford brought five of the employees from his vinyl business, Craft Vinyl, to help him unload the coins. During the process, one employee wondered how it was going inside the DMV.
“Are they mad?” she asked.
“Oh no,” Stafford said. “They’re really nice in there.”
As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, workers at the DMV were still counting coins and Stafford said they expected to finish around 1 a.m. Stafford said he would remain at the DMV until the counting was complete.
Flanking the entrance to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Lebanon are the two images of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia. One of the images depicts three Roman goddesses, Libertas, Aeternitas and Ceres, with a word above the women: Perseverando.
It’s Latin for persevering.
Stafford certainly persevered — one penny at a time.
I guess I am lucky here--the DMV employees for my county have always been very efficient and courteous.
(the ones in Lafayette La however, (where I once lived) can all burn in hades as far as I'm concerned--undoubtedly conceived from frozen semen of Hitler)
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-12-2017).]
I once paid a disputed speeding ticket with a briefcase of pennies. On the way to court, I stopped at the bank and bought them. When I went to pay the fine, I just opened it and showed it to them to start counting. Oh yes, I DID tear open each roll. At first they said they couldnt accept them. Thats when I pulled out a copy my lawyer printed for me, of the law saying payment could be made with any legal US tender. They took my picture for the newspaper.
I once paid a speeding ticket by check. You were supposed to staple the check to the ticket and mail it in. I stapled that check to the ticket with a couple hundred staples. Stupid Salina, Kansas speed traps.
I once paid a undeserved (IMHO) ticket by mail, I intentionally wrote it for two cents over the required amount. Was just screwing with them. Kind of felt bad about it later, it wasn't the DMV's fault the officer was having a bad day and took it out on me. Regardless, about a month later, I got a check from the county clerk for two cents.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun....
You can't do much about the length of your life, so focus on the width and depth. When Life throws you a curve, lean into it and roll that throttle!!
If, you wish to piss off a Conservative, lie to him. If, you wish to piss off a Liberal, tell them the truth.
I'm in a running battle with the Suffolk County police dept. on LI.
I bought my errant son a daily beater a while back to get him back on his feet ( again ). I registered the car in VA with the idea that once he stabilized ( again ) I would turn over ownership to him.
So of course within two weeks I got a notice from SCPD of a red light infraction caught on one of their "safety" cameras. I paid the $80 and told my son to watch it.
Then two weeks later I got another one. Paid it and gave him a more heated lecture about driving techniques and I sent him the title with a note that I would be cancelling the reg and the insurance and good luck.
Then I got a third one before I could get to the DMV. This one I didn't pay.
At that point I went to the local DMV to cancel the reg. When I told the girl a little of the details she asked when did I sign over the title and she back dated the cancellation to that date. She said that was normal operating procedure, nothing tricky. ( so they're not all a**holes )
I sent the cancellation paper work with the ticket back to the SCPD and noted that I wasn't the owner of the car when the third ticket was incurred.
They wrote back that I would have to come to a hearing on LI to present the evidence.
So I wrote back that it was unlikely that I would be making an 800 mile round trip to a hearing to prove I was innocent and that with today's technology it must be possible to settle this without a court appearance.
I await their response. Hopefully I can ring up $300 or $400 dollars worth of their administrative time as they attempt to get the $80 from me.
In truth, there must be something wrong with me because I really enjoy this type of crap. Did it once before with an erroneous missed toll ticket on the Delaware Memorial Bridge. They wanted the $3 toll plus a $50 administrative fee.
After a year and 6 letters plus accompanying documentation NJ gave up. I think that one probably cost close to $1K in administrative costs. At least I hope so.
At that point I went to the local DMV to cancel the reg. When I told the girl a little of the details she asked when did I sign over the title and she back dated the cancellation to that date. She said that was normal operating procedure, nothing tricky. ( so they're not all a**holes )
A good move there if the red light cam crap is like it was here. If a ticket isn't paid, you can neither sell or re-register the vehicle the next year until it is paid. Don't be surprised to get a late penalty from the red light cam company, even if the infraction ticket is paid.
Tried that with me, after for whatever reason, they sent the original ticket to my twin brother in Little Rock Arkansas. He was on vacation at the time, and by the time he got back home, forwarded the ticket to me, it was past due. I paid the ticket promptly, but they then sent me a notice of for late penalty which I refused to pay since all the info on my registrations and driv lic are correct for my home address here in this county and state. I took it all into the town where the infraction occurred, gave it to the city manager, explained the particulars and next day, the Chief of Police called me and told me not to worry about it and that I would not be receiving any more late fee notices. He was correct.
(many if not most of these red light cam tickets originate from a company based in Tempe Ariz, with another collection arm office somewhere up north-I forget now if it is in Michigan or Ohio) The city cancelled or refused to re-new it's contract with the red light camera company last year after furious demonstrations at city council meetings. City of Houston has a clause in it's charter that allows for public to put a referendum on any city wide election ballot if there are 10,000 signatures for petition. Repeal of the red light cams passed and the city ate the remainder of it's contract. Sometimes, the political system does still work.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-15-2017).]
We have a couple DMVs here. One I hate going to, but the other I don't mind at all (even though they are run by the same people, just different days. I have absolutely no idea why it's easier in one than it is the other, but it is).
When I bought my first fiero, I had an issue I had no clue how to solve. I won't get into the details here (in the unlikely event the wrong person will read it), but I was told how to get around the problem. Saved me a TON of time and headache, and she was extremely helpful about. I will never forget it. (Again, for some reason, I had that person a previous time at the other DMV, and that person was heartless lol).
