Anybody know about contesting a TriMet citation?

Ok for real...ticketing passengers for revenue is probably one of the larger methods of putting funding where whoever wants it. No I didn't look it up, Iv'e just lived here my entire life and have seen everyone and their mother get tickets and they arent cheap either. Arent they like $350 or something? They pass those things out like candy, or like real cops pass out whatever ticket they can validly charge you for. Just trying to get one part of the incident straight. I understood that you typically have the plastic montlhy pass card, and not the book of blank tickets correct?I have never bought the monthly pass. This is Portland of all places, and a bus pass made out of the unholiest of no no material in our sometimes OVER Earthy city, plastic? It isn't able to be re-loaded with a debit card over the phone or something? They don't want us using plastic bags at the store, they won't let us recycle the same bags in or recycling bin anymore,so they get trashed next to the cans that people stopped returning because it's too much a hassle to fight over the one and only return machine that is actually working, yet these plastic cards are disposable? Lol. On that note, how many of those old passes you have lying around? I'm trying to get what you meant by "electronic ticket"? Trying to determine if you are saying you had a blank ticket that needs to be stamped before you get on the max, that you get if you buy more than one at a time from the machine or if you buy them in the booklets, or if you were carrying your plastic pass card that was no longer valid. If you were carrying your plastic pass how long had it been expired. If you did Not have the pass, the not stamping a blank ticket because you forgot or didn't know excuse, will not be one you want use to try and validate ur way out of the ticket. On the other hand, saying you were flustered because the max was waiting on you combined with the fact that you ARE a space cadet in a hurry while trying to figure out which button to push for your age and which pass you need out of the kiosk you haven't used much ,while worrying about the max leaving without you that it never crossed you need to stamp the ticket. Either pass you were carrying, portraying this an honest case of negligence on your behalf in not making sure you had a valid pass before you boarded, a fact you completely accept with the "yeah it was stupid" looking down slightly while shaking ur head with a frowny shame/smile at yourself as you state you wil graciously accept the consequences,and that you plead not guilty partially because you were advised to do so, but also because pleading guilty makes you feel like you committed a crime with some malicious intent and thought you needed to defend at least your character and explain the circumstances of how it happened, but not that it didn't. Honestly though, I believe they set the trimet ticket penalty as high as they do is because they basically cut the fee in half, assuming you are respectful to the judge and officer if she does even show, which sorry to say she will because she probably rounded up a whole gang of people that have the same court date for the SAME thing. The many times Ive sat in the courtroom waiting my turn to pay the piper, I can't recall a time where someone plead "Guilty' to a trimet ticket, at least not while I was paying attention anyways. It's always the same riff raff, not even making the attempt to tie their shoes before they piss and moan on the walk to to speak into the microphone vocalizing the attitude that should have been wiped from they're snarling jaws before they got to court about how they were done wrong and it isn't fair in a tone they're own mother wouldn't tolerate, with the same OBVIOUSLY not well thought out excuse so full of holes that even a blind person could see through before they even opened they're mouth, and the judge, not even trying to hold back the laughter of all the years of hearing the SAME thing from the same people, still cuts the ticket in half. I think what probably bothers them more than anything is the fact people plead not guilty most every time. The trimet fine is pretty much a non-winnable case,aside from some extraordinary circumstances and hence the high initial fee and the reduction even with a guilty plea. If you were respectful to the officer I have faith she will in fact vouch for her advice to plead "not guilty" which is going to be your saving grace,not the attempt to use your past tickets as evidence that you do pay for the max, but sometimes you just don't feel like it. Just saying the judge is already going to be wondering what lame ass excuse you're going to have as to why you are special and shouldn't have to pay your ticket , but instead being prepared and able to show that you do have these useless old passes you paid for still not because you ever thought you would need them for something like this, but felt guilty to throw them away because, coming from Portland after all, you'd think they would be re-usable. You win the rest of the disappointed parents' hearts, they throw roses as you bow. The judge admires your honesty and recognizes your not guilty plea wasn't you trying to simply weasle out of a paying money that goes to his children's schools, you feel good about yourself because you didn't lie to save face, your ticket is dropped in half and maybe reduced further if you can pay it on the same day as they do sometimes. Just don't hope for dropped and you will leave feling like you walked through fire unscathed with a smile on your face while you pay up lol trust me. This is also why I recommend that you DO NOT try to push your court date out which you could perfectly easy enough. Doing so though will only be a waste of your time on the gamble of the police officer not showing up. The judge will set a new hearing right then and there and then the court clerk will call you the day before your new date to inform you that you DO in fact have to go to work/school the next day but you already took the day off, because they had to move your day to match the officers day which she WILL be at because she has ten more people cited for the same infraction. Now ur cutting ur check short, gotta sit and stress for another week or two stressing about the hookie ur still gonna play at work tomorrow while trying to figure out another lie as to why ur going to court again while stressing about the fake hookie you pulled on the court possibly leaving that lie open to exposure if they check in on it guaranteeing you're not getting your ticket reduced and likely adding a new charge and fine you don't need, but surely the probability of having the same judge that remembers you pushed your date out is likely assuming ur excuse was a lie while wondering what the lie you're going to use to plead your case further increasing add the chances your genuinely truthful, yet well executed, speech made earlier now sounds like the same pathetic sob story hes had to tune out for the last thirty years as he questions his sanity and resists the urge to beat his face on his desk as he completely doesn't listen to a word your are saying, but instead wondering whats for dinner and when hes getting the hell away from your LIES STEVEN...lol But don't worry about that right yet, you have a whole nother couple weeks to dwell on it all with the feeling we all get after making that terrifying call to work that was overcome with the bravery in your tone caused by dreams of video games and beer all day that are cruely shattered by the reality you can't enjoy yourself because NOW ur stressing about losing your job, WHILE you stress about court and being broke while the tears run down your face into the now salty beer you can't enjoy while you give up and just turn the video games off and sit and stare at the wall, for TWO MORE WEEKS. For real though man just go to ur court date and don't stress about it youll be good, just don't be a douche.

/r/Portland Thread