Some castmember of the reality show "Parking Wars."

I spoke to series producer Andrew Dunn and executive producer Dan Flaherty of A&E’s popular reality show “Parking Wars” for last Tuesday’s issue of Metro-Philadelphia.

The show, which has followed staff of the Philadelphia Parking Authority for two seasons, is back for a third, which will also include scenes from Detroit’s parking enforcement agency. Unfortunately, that piece only ran in print, not online, although the week before I had another story on the PPA that was put on the newspaper’s Web site.

Because of space limitations, my Q&A with those two producers was additionally slashed, leaving just a few questions with Dunn. Below, I share what Flaherty, the show’s co-executive producer, had to say.

Answers from Dan Flaherty, co-executive producer of “Parking Wars,” unless otherwise noted, and questions transcribed for, but not used by Metro

This season also followed members of Detroit’s parking authority. Why the change?

“Our first two seasons were shot exclusively in Philadelphia and in getting a third season, we said ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ And Detroit is Motor City. It’s all about cars and about parking there.”

What has your experience with PPA been?

“We’re on the street. Really the show is on the ground. It’s the day in and day out with the men and women who do the job.”

Andrew Dunn, series producer: “What impresses me with the ticketing and towing and the working in the impound lot are hard jobs. They keep a lot of good people there. Somebody has to do it. They do a remarkably good job training folks and having people be efficient. I wouldn’t want to be a ticket enforcer. I have a great respect for the doing the jobs.”

How did you guys select who was in the show?

“There are a lot of folks who work at the PPA. Before we engaged in full-time shooting, we just met with as many people as we could. We interviewed them, we spoke to them, we talked to them, and from there we thought who would be good, who could articualte their experiences and the normal experiences of someone with a job with the PPA the best.”

Anything you’d like to change with the first two seasons?

“One thing  you don’t ee as often on the show is get people who thank the Parking Authority. Those who enjoy watching the show and enjoy watching and learning, they’re yelling to say ‘hi.’ People come to the impound lot to take photos of these guys you see on the show. There are a lot of fans, and we don’t see that. We don’t get to show that as often as it happens.”

Do the PPA employees on the show get any perks?

“They get the personal satisfaction of being able to communicate that this is my job. This what is boring and what is difficult about my job. They are very proud of the work they do, and in terms of job satisfaction that is in a way  no different than anyone else with a job they like. Those folks are not just clocking in, and I think they like to share that with our viewers.”

It’s easy to get a ticket and think of the person who is writing the ticket is just a creature, but the show does a good job of humanizing them as people with a job and responsibilities.”

Below see a clip from an earlier “Paring Wars” episode.

Metro: Rikard Larma

In today’s Metro-Philadelphia, I covered the always vitriolic response to the Philadelphia Parking Authority, ahead of next week’s debut of the third season of “Parking Wars,” though I’ll have a more directly related piece next week.

Clarence Shippen Jr. keeps watch outside his office at 8th and Locust streets.

Read the rest here.

Below check some quotations that didn’t make it into the piece.

I asked Linda Miller, PPA spokeswoman, about some criticism that the “Parking Wars” show puts a bad image of Philadelphia out nationally and about the general negative perception many have about the PPA.

• “Sometimes we forget that the people who have a problem [with the PPA] are people who broke the law.”
• “If you don’t want a ticket, don’t break the law.”
• “The reason we were first interested in doing the show was to basically let folks see what takes place on the daily basis of having this very difficult job. I think that has done very well.”
• “It has helped with morale. They can relate to someone, with people on the street. It brought a human side to it. It brought national attention to the Parking Authority, and I think that helps a lot.”
• “People have reached out and said, ‘Hey we saw what you do there with the booting, that’s something different, how does that work?”
• Are there some bad things that occur on the show? Yes, but we’ve been pleased.
• “We’re just enforcing the laws that are there. It’s nothing we’ve created.
• “If somebody gets a parking ticket, they didn’t get that parking ticket because they parked legally.”

My PPA package included some data about salaries and parking violations, which I got from the agency after submitting a right to know form. It took a week to get the data.

I found Clarence Shippen, who co-founded an anti-PPA group in jest with some co-workers, on Facebook, a great tool for journalists trying to find sources.

• A good deal of the anger against the PPA is warranted. I don’t think it’s the line staff, like the meter attendants, to blame. It’s the fact, the way in which they have to do their jobs. Really part of the reason people don’t like to come to town is the parking authority. It’s bad for the city. Parking isn’t a pleasant experience.
• Shippen may have started a group about the PPA, but that interest doesn’t translate into any desire to watch “Parking Wars.” “There are better things to watch on TV than people getting tickets. That would stress me out. I watch TV for information and entertainment, and I don’t think I get any out of any show about the parking authority.”

Below watch a promotional video from the first episode of the first season of “Parking Wars.”