Asian-American Man Gets Parking Notice Addressed to Sean “Chinks,” City Apologizes

The City of Pasadena reportedly will be sending a “formal apology” to Asian American Sean Ching after it sent a parking citation  appeal denial letter to him that was addressed to Sean “Chinks.”

The city’s apology for a misspelling that is a racial slur says in part “it was never our intention to disparage you or cause you any harm or distress.”

Ching decided to contest the Nov. 26, 2013 citation and submitted his complaint to the City of Pasadena the following day.

A mistake was made by city staff when entering his personal information into the city’s parking management system, so “Ching” became “Chinks’’ in a response letter sent by City of Pasadena denying his appeal for the parking ticket.

An area news agency, AsAmNews, brought the matter to the city’s attention sometime last week. The City of Pasadena, in turn, sent Ching a formal letter dated Jan. 5 offering their apologies for the misspelling.

“At this time I would like to offer a formal apology for our mistake. It was never our intention to disparage you or cause you any harm or distress,’’ said Director of Transportation Frederick Dock in the Jan. 5 newsletter.” On behalf of the Parking Division staff and myself, please accept my sincerest apologies for this unfortunate incident.|”

AsAmNews forwarded a copy of the letter to Ching who should receive it formally in the mail in the next day or two.