and parking is still a problem

There are times I feel like there are three reasons people do not shop in Oakland.
Crime, homelessness and parking.

Of course it is much more complicated than that, but those three keep getting mention everywhere I go. Tonight I went to two different community meetings for two different reasons. One was talking about their local Walgreen's and being a location for Buss Rapid Transit. The other was a crime prevention council that also was going to see a presentation on new local zoning.

In both meetings parking was a big concern. We heard a story from a woman who has received two 80 dollar tickets blocking her own driveway. I heard merchants talking about how high ticket prices are driving customers away. To throw in my own story, one of the guys at work got a ticket for blocking the sidewalk because he parked his tiny little car in our own driveway. That was a 100 dollar ticket and they were getting ready to tow him away! The guy giving out the ticket made it clear that he felt the stepped up towing is just stepped up tax collection.

This regressive tax is both bad for working people and is hurting business. Because of it I have been participating in a group of small business owners who are considering a ballot initiative to get Oakland out of the parking and towing racket. Earlier I wrote a letter to the Tribune that got me some hot water.

Here is what I wrote for the group below that is the original letter to the Trib:

Archie and everyone,

I have been a politician for 6 days now so I have to make my answer long.

I am in this group with you all because I want parking to be reformed.
As I wrote to the Tribune, this is one of those things that should have never made it to the public forum.
Only a council that is so woefully out of touch would do such a thing. That is our council.
Once again we have a reputation problem that needs some repair. The damage has been done.

Our city Administrator called this a "nuisance tax" and for him it was just an emotional surprise to pay $2 an hour.
But he did not understand something very basic.

So I am very much in favor of dumping parking meters and reforming parking along the lines of the proposal we have so far.
I think we need some legal and community input to come up with a final draft.

The tax structure is basically broken. The city has few choices.
I would not mind asking the citizens to vote in a tax hike in exchange for un-metered parking.
But first we need to know how much they make NET on this deal. I still have not seen a firm figure.

We lost a lot of business because of this round of short sighted money grubbing and because city parking has become such a hassle everywhere.
I have heard a lot of people tell me that they will not shop in Oakland for three reasons: Crime, homelessness and parking.
It may be better to dump meters in one measure and fix more of the tax system in another where we usually need a super majority.
A lawyer's help is needed here. I think we need a super majority to raise the sales tax too.

My feeling is that since all the other cities have gone the other way, if Oakland kills the meter and then pairs it up with some other encouragements this could be very good for business. The PR value of voting out the parking meter is great. It would be national news. EVERYONE in the bay area would know it. Since we do not know the numbers and it is only speculation, we can only guess what the natural growth in sales tax receipts for the city would be. Whatever it is, we should encourage it.

On a personal note, my girlfriend got victimized by the bounty hunter, car towing system.
She is a single mom who lent her car to someone irresponsible who racked up a lot of parking tickets over a couple of weeks.
There was no way she could afford the fines and she could not afford to go down to court at 5 in the morning to wait in line.
There is no way for her to make the other person responsible or to get the tickets onto a payment schedule.
So one day her car was gone. Some bounty hunter stole her car like a repo man right outside my apartment.
She could not afford to get it back and she lost her car.
And there she was, a single mom between jobs who now did not have a car and had big fines to pay.
I had to help her get to the impound lot where she was not even allowed to see car.
I helped her deal with the kids so she could wait in that 5 AM line.
She had to fill out a form and anything she could not remember in the car, was forfeited too by default.

The very simple thing that Dan the Administrator has forgotten is that for him it is a nuisance.
He is an affluent, influential city official, businessman and former congressional aide from Berkeley.
But for a single mom like my girlfriend this "nuisance" is called a "hardship" She lost her car and it hurt her badly.

As I looked deeper into what was going on here I found lines full of common working people like my girlfriend going through similar hardships due to this "nuisance tax"
I did not see any lawyers from Berkeley loosing their BMW's because of a $55 ticket plus fines and late fees. Maybe I missed them.

Maybe Dan thinks having your car taken and the property within it under the control of a bounty hunter with a tow truck is due process.
They really do need to steal the cars like repo-men. This is good for nobody.
Did anyone see that this week a repo-man stole a car and it turned out to have a child inside?
I think that was East Bay too. Is this due process? Let them serve papers if they want to seize property.

You all probably know that I am a Green. Like most Greens I believe in Mass Transit.
Long term I'd like to see most cars parked most of the time. Personally I walk to work and bike a lot.

I also believe in a well funded stable government.
We are sick of having to save our government every time the business cycle goes down.

But the transit has to go in before the cars go out.
Taking working peoples transportation away does not help transit, it just hurts workers.

And if we need to raise more taxes, let's do it fairly without causing hardships for those who can afford it least.

So does that answer the question?

Thanks

Don

http://macleay4mayor.org/
510 866-7488

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To the Tribune last year:

Monday, August 10, 2009

Parking?

Of all the problems that Oakland has, now we have a parking crisis?

What does one say? This parking crisis is one of our own making. It is hard to stay respectful and polite when our members of city council do something so short sighted.

It is not just the 50 cents an hour; it is not just the extra hours until 8 PM; it is not just the higher ticket prices. It is the feeling that “gotchya” and anything-goes-for-a-buck is the way they feel. That is what gets most under the skin.

They sometimes call us shoppers, sometimes call us residents, some time call us taxpayers, but the sure do not treat us like citizens. They treat us like someone to milk because the get away with it.

Most of our council did not run in a contested race to get their job. All but one of the council members represents a district that has nothing to do with where the people of Oakland live, except to make sure that some of those who live in the hills live in each district. But how do they get so out of touch with what it is like to live and work here?

A friend was telling me yesterday that a customer who got a ticket while in her café came back into the café and told her that she will never come back again. The café owner is in no way responsible for Oakland parking policies, but the anger and frustration of the client was very understandable. We who run businesses in Oakland get to hear how angry the citizens who get caught in the trap feel.

Parking tickets were never a very friendly way to raise funds. The way Oakland does it is something of a trap. It is set up to make it hard on the driver and increase the opportunities to ticket rather than collect parking fees.

When fees and tickets are as aggressive as ours have become, well people notice and they do not care much about the explanations. No one likes to get tricked and cheated. To get one of these tickets is to feel robbed and violated. A 75$ surcharge for a cup of coffee is reason enough to not come to Oakland in the first place. If you live in Oakland and have gotten into your car, $75 is reason enough to drive out of Oakland to a place you can park your car without running the gauntlet. Somewhere like Emeryville, Berkeley or San Leandro for example.

We know this “gotchya” feeling already. Oakland council found it in their hearts to stick it to landlords for damaged sidewalks and then do it again if there is a lawsuit. Is that different from how the credit card companies do their best to send bills out as late as possible and up your interested rate for a few hours past due? Newer home and business owners get to pay higher taxes than the old big money under Prop 13 tax “reform”. Yeah we all know the sound of “gotchya”

Now Oakland has made parking your car in our city have that same sound.