The cure proposed for parking in downtown Bend may be worse than the problem. Adding parking fees on some streets but not others is being billed as a test. Even if it disappears before Christmas, it’s premature.

The issue is nothing new. As early as 1947 the city installed meters on downtown streets to try to make sure there was enough parking space downtown to keep everyone happy. It worked for a time, and then it didn’t. When the two Mirror Pond parking lots were added, fees were required for a time, and then they weren’t.

In fact, a quick look through old editions of The Bulletin show a pattern: roughly every two or three years, parking becomes a big issue; plans are drawn up to correct downtown parking problems and, in the end, not much changes.

Meanwhile, the root of the problem also remains largely unchanged. Downtown is a great place to shop, eat and meet people. Shoppers and tourists can overstay their welcome in downtown spaces periodically. Business owners and those they employ, who can make finding a parking space downtown difficult, can also park longer than they should.

Over the years the city has tried carrots to improve the problem, by offering reduced-price parking at lots and in the parking garage near the edge of the downtown district. It has tried enforcement, too, though the persistence of the problem suggests enforcement has either been lax or the fines or other punishments for repeat offenders are not serious enough to persuade them to change their behaviors.

Before it jumps to new parking fees, the city should enforce the rules it already has. If it needs to, it should toughen the punishments for repeat offenders and then, again, enforce what it has in place.

If the city is determined to charge for parking downtown, it should charge everywhere downtown, not just on some streets. If it costs money to park on Irving Avenue, it should also cost money to park on Wall Street, Bond Street, all other streets and in all city lots.

Prove that what’s here now doesn’t work, in other words, before you try something new. Don’t drive people out of downtown. The Old Mill District is a short drive from downtown and the parking is free.