Cindi Busenhart, owner of Sessions, a Scotts Valley sports apparel wholesale firm, operates under a use permit that, among other things, restricts the hours during which she can have retail sales.

Over the past several years, she has held sales outside of the permitted hours. Sometimes, City Council members got invites to her invitation-only sales.

This year, a neighbor complained to the city because the sales cause parking problems. Admonished by the city, Busenhart decided to apply for a modification to the use permit to expand her sale hours.

But first — and this intrigued us — she asked the council to waive the $1,046 fee she’d have to pay to process the permit request. These fees reimburse the city for the staff time it takes to handle each application.

Busenhart’s rationale was that her business generates tax income and supports community activities – not, it occurred to us, unlike many other businesses.

What would happen, we wondered, when the council got to her request? Someone would point out that she flouted the rules, right? It would be noted that even law-abiding businesses don’t get a fee break. She would be reminded that the city has been on a starvation budget for years and tries to operate like a business.

And, of course, she’d have to pay that fee.

When the moment of truth arrived last week, council members Cliff Barrett and Jim Reed did remind Busenhart that she had violated her use permit conditions and shouldn’t be rewarded for it.

But they were in the minority. By a 3-2 vote, the council saved Busenhart a thousand bucks. It wasn’t technically a fee waiver — the majority voted to have the city Redevelopment Agency pay it.

Either way, the city lost some cash and some integrity.