It’s good to see the city has taken steps — finally — to install signs to make it easier for Jamestown police officers to remove those loitering in parking ramps.

While we can’t understand why it took a year for the new signs to be ordered and installed, it’s good to see the city finally moved after the latest rash of vandalism in the ramps.

We’re also encouraged by the obvious increase in patrols in and around the ramps. One person has been charged in a vandalism case in recent weeks, while the increased police presence is notable and, we would think, appreciated by those who pay the city good money to lease spaces in the ramps.

This is all a good start.

But a bigger help to the issues in parking ramps is simply having people in the ramps to take note of issues and get police involved before vandals run rampant or before people are made to feel unsafe in the ramps. Jamestown police have stepped up patrols, but officers simply can’t be spending all their time patrolling the parking ramps. A better solution is the city working with Premium Parking, the company formerly known as All Pro, on a new request for proposals that will include staff patrolling the ramp to check license plates instead of just one person sitting in a booth. Having someone walking through the ramp, or able to check a video feed from cameras that are going to be installed in the ramps, would go a long way toward helping solve the worst of the vandalism and safety issues in the ramp.

It behooves the city to take these steps if the city’s goal is to have people working downtown parking in the ramps as opposed to feeding parking meters on the street while taking up spaces that could be used by those coming downtown to eat or do other business. You can’t blame workers for wanting to feed the parking meter on the street if they feel their vehicle isn’t safe or, even worse, if they aren’t safe using a parking ramp.

Issues in Jamestown’s parking ramps shouldn’t have been allowed to fester as long as they did. But the city appears to be on the right track to provide safe parking for people who are paying a pretty penny for the privilege of working in downtown Jamestown.