Oakland's parking officers told (by memo) not to ticket 2 wealthy neighborhoods

[Liberal_in_LA]

Oakland parking ticket policy called 'not fair'
Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Oakland parking officers were ordered to avoid enforcing neighborhood parking violations in two of the city's wealthier neighborhoods but told to continue enforcing the same violations in the rest of the city, according to a city memo obtained by The Chronicle.

The July order is corroborated by interviews with three parking officers, who said they and their colleagues had complained about what they deemed a discriminatory practice since it began last summer - to no avail.

"It's not fair," said Shirnell Smith, 44, a parking officer for 22 years who has lived in Oakland for 24 years. Smith and the union representing parking officers said the policy has resulted in tickets being issued disproportionately to poor, black and Latino people.

The accusations cast a new light on one of Oakland's most contentious issues during the past year. Desperate for new revenue in a faltering economy, the City Council in June increased parking fines, meter rates, hours of enforcement and enforcement in neighborhoods.

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However, unknown at the time, the parking department had deemed certain tony neighborhoods - Montclair and Broadway Terrace - off-limits from those two parking infractions. Parking violators in those neighborhoods were to receive "courtesy notices," according to a July 24 memo by Ronald Abernathy, a senior parking enforcement supervisor, sent to four parking supervisors and copied to parking Director Noel Pinto. The letter did not explain why the two neighborhoods were being spared from the tickets, which carry fines ranging from $40 to $100.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/25/MNGF1C6PT1.DTL#ixzz0gaxb1EPN

[baldguy]

1. In the eyes of the law, everyone is equal.

But as always, some are more equal than others.

[lunatica]

2. *^F#~&*%#!!

I live in Oakland. All I can say to the rich neighborhoods is

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. Folks in Oakland need to raise a ruckus.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[FirstLight]

4. what neighborhoods?

I grew up off Leona, below Merritt College...

Is it Piedmont or upper Grand Ave? Or Skyline/Montclair?

just curious.
and yeah...it figures. what assholes, they'd make more money ticketing the rich because the poor can't pay and would end up going into FTA (fail to appear) or Impound, right?
seems counter-intuitive, but then, the cops are probably part of those richy neighborhoods

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. Chicago does it he right way.

The Chicago "Revenue Department" (yes, the actually call themselves that) prowls the wealthier areas day and night. Duh. That's where the money is.

You can't swing a dead cat in Lincoln Park or Lakeview without hitting a "parking" ... ahem ... "revenue worker".

But then again, Mayor Daley sold our marker, I mean parking franchise to the juice loan, I mean Morgan Stanley Hedge fund for 1 billion dollars.

[LibertyLover]

12. Ah memories!

Sitting in my Hyde Park dorm room on a Saturday night listening to Dr. Demento and "Lincoln Park Pirates".

To me, way, hey, tow them away,
The Lincoln Park Pirates are we,
From Wilmette to Gary, there's nothin' so hairy
And we always collect our fee!
So it's way, hey, tow 'em away,
We plunder the streets of your town,
Be it Edsel or Chevy, there's no car too heavy,
And no one can make us shut down.

We break into cars when we gotta,
With hammer and pickaxe and saw;
And they said this garage had no license;
But little care I for the law!
Our drivers are friendly and courteous;
Their good manners you always will get;
'Cause they all are recent graduates
Of the charm school in Joliet.

[Starry Messenger]

5. Fucking cloud people

Former Oakland resident here. Not surprised in the least. The hill people think they are petty nobility.

[slutticus]

7. Rich people? Cloud people? WTF????

The cops are d-bags for this, but the shit in this thread is pretty pathetic.

So I guess I'm some kind of douche for living above 13. Well fuck you too.

You know, when I was conspiring with the police to enact this master plan, I should have stopped to think that it might backfire on us "cloud people".



:crazy:

[BR_Parkway]

8. In other words, not the people who can afford a lawyer and cost the city

money - just the folks who can't afford to pay, but can't afford a lawyer or the time off work so they pay the fine with no questions asked.

[Ratty]

9. I'm waiting for an explanation

Numerous calls and e-mails to Pinto and City Administrator Dan Lindheim on Wednesday were not returned.

They reversed the policy. I cannot wait to hear how they try and weasel out of this. They can't stay quiet forever.

[mulsh]

10. I've lived in Oakland for 52 years, I've lived in those neighborhoods.

I have never seen a parking officer in any of the hill area residential neighborhoods, hell the most I've seen is a very occasional patrol car in either the Rockridge or Montclair area. I currently live in the Glenview neighborhood and I haven't ever seen a parking officer in our shopping district let alone through out the neighborhood. I think the parking regs should be enforced equally though out the city. However I'm the only person on my block who can park his car in his garage.

OPD's management sucks and has sucked for a long time. Last year when my house was burglarized, according to my neighbors, it took the cops 2 1/2 hours to answer the alarm. When they did they sent 5 patrol cars. They didn't send a forensic crime scene unit, just beat cops who should have been doing other, more important work. The only follow up I received was a form letter 2 months later asking me how I felt about OPD's work. Just one small example of how OPS management decisions benefit us all.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. Well are the people of Oakland gonna do something about it?

Or are they just gonna sit back and take it like they have been? They need to be banging on the windows of City Hall. If you sit back and do nothing, the powers that be will continue to walk all over you.

Stand up and fight for equal justice under the law!