My last comment, and then I'll stop spamming you, I promise, the system is rigged in favor of those who have the means to show up. I have the means (barely, but I do) to schedule around court dates, and to get myself to court. Your outcome is 100% more likely to be positive if you show up and can be physically there, which is disadvantageous to people who are poor, or who don't have enough knowledge of the system to feel able to contest it.

That $150 is more valuable to you than it is to them. Show up if you can and present your case. Do what you can to keep your money.

You just call the parking authority, tell them you're contesting, then they give you a date. It's pretty simple. You just show up at one of the parking courts, they give you the one that's closest to you for the most part. Show up early, absolutely do not be late, read a book or something, try not to be on your phone, they don't like that, until it's your turn and state your case. Try to bring evidence, like that you were on vacation and hadn't seen the signs (just say that, not that you haven't left the house). Bring pay stubs or like... A PTO slip or something. They most likely won't bother to look at them, but you need to have them on hand if they ask. Try not to cry or anything, I'm an easy crier, but I did good and didn't cry either time, and keep your answers short and polite. Rehearse with your girlfriend if you're nervous. Treat it a bit like a job interview.

You can do this. It's not that bad. I mean, it's a pain in the ass, but it'll probably be worth it.

Remember: if the cop doesn't show up (and they probably won't) it almost always gets automatically vacated. If you're there on time, ready to go and the cop isn't, you're almost always sitting pretty.

Edit: this only applies to cop issued tickets, which this post is about, not standard parking enforcement tickets.