Under Mayor John Hickenlooper, the city of Denver has become a harsh and unforgiving place for anyone whose car is caught illegally parked. Denver is on pace to hit “near-record” levels of tickets, according to an investigation by The Denver Post. The most common places to get nailed are the areas where you are most likely to be spending some of your hard-earned cash to help the city’s fine establishments during the recession: Denver International Airport and Lower Downtown. Other enforcement hot spots include areas around Congress Park, West Highland, and Cherry Creek. At the current pace, the city will issue about 670,000 tickets this year, compared with 586,000 two years ago. The top violator last year was a working stiff: One delivery truck amassed 196 parking tickets in the Cherry Creek area. Is the avalanche of tickets a scam to help the city fill its budget gap? No way, says city Public Works spokeswoman Ann Williams. But City Councilman Charlie Brown is somewhat more frank: “The cliche is, this is for public safety. But let’s be adults here. We just have to get it [revenue] everywhere we can.” Brown recently called for a parking-ticket amnesty plan in which people who haven’t paid their tickets would see their late fees forgiven, according to 7News.