City's Predatory Pricing Policies

Call it parking rage. Call it frustration.

The lack of parking spaces in the neighborhoods and the ever-increasing costs of parking tickets and parking meters evoke strong emotions from merchants, shoppers and residents alike. The highly-charged issue is reaching a boiling point as residents are forced to dig ever deeper into their pockets.

Sometimes the animosity is misdirected at meter maids.

Parking in the neighborhoods is a problem begging for a solution!

"If you have money it doesn't matter, you just pay. But, I had to use my entire paycheck of $238 to pay for my parking tickets," said Sandra Joensen, a cashier at Kragen Auto Parts on Mission Street. "It's a whole week's groceries.

"It's really hard to find parking around here," she adds, shaking her head.

For most residents of the Excelsior neighborhood, the costs of parking meters and parking tickets cut deep into their budget. It costs 25 cents for 10 minutes to park at a meter in the Excelsior and 25 cents for four minutes downtown. A ticket from an expired meter costs $40, which is a day's net salary for a lot of residents. If the ticket is not paid within 30 days, it goes up to $100.

For most residents, it is much easier to just go out of the city to shop.

Onnyx Walker, a consultant for senior residential homes, has mixed feelings about the increased fines and fees.

"Before, I wanted to support individual stores in the community. But since it is so difficult to find parking and so expensive, I drive to the Peninsula, where there is plenty of parking," he said.

Meanwhile, small businesses that manage to survive because they are family owned bear the brunt of the City's parking revenue schemes.

Julio Martinez, the proud owner of Arcos Comfort Shoe (4470 Mission St.), says, "We lose customers. They drive around for 20 to 25 minutes, they can't find a spot to park, and then they just leave. If they find a parking spot at a meter, they only have one hour. It is illegal to feed the meter after one hour. If they are caught (feeding the meter), they get a ticket. We need a public parking lot."

Julio works full time as a nurse. His wife and two daughters help run the business.

"My customers run out of the store every 30 minutes to make sure they don't get a ticket. It takes away from the pleasure of shopping," says Excelsior Goodwill Assistant Manager, Jacqueline Gandy.

Edwin Gonzalez of Campos Jewelers (4685 Mission St.) said he spends $1,440 a year on parking tickets.

But Janelle Ruan and her father, owners of the Japan Home Centre, are hopeful.

"We just opened 6 months ago," Ruan said. "One time, a family ran to our store to buy tapioca before heading back to their car, they ended up with a $40 parking ticket. They got the ticket so fast. They were so mad! It would be nice to have a parking lot around here."

Building parking lots, which the city once facilitated, is no longer in vogue at City Hall. City public officials, like Nathaniel Ford Sr., executive director of the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), seem to be at a loss for understanding the public's concerns.

"I've gotten parking tickets, and I sort of slap myself on the wrist and pay the ticket," Ford said.

It helps that Ford makes a yearly base salary of $328,000. He drives a city-funded car, gets 15 to 20 days of paid vacation and an additional $90,000 in benefits. Each member of his family gets a free Muni fast pass every month and he has an expense account to cover travel, meals, etc. Ford's economic power is not quite the same as the working people living in the Mission District.

Most recently, Nathan Ford presided over a $158,000 VIP party to celebrate the opening of Muni 's Third Street Light Rail, even though the agency forecasted an $11 million deficit for Fiscal Year 2007. A larger deficit is projected for next year.

The MTA's budget for the current fiscal year is $673 million, an increase of $143.5 million as compared to the 2004 budget of $529.5 million. Despite a 27 percent increase, the MTA projects a deficit. Because the MTA gets the money from parking lots and parking meters, it can be expected that the agency will call for raising rates again and again to cover its operating deficit.

The mayor recently put together a blue ribbon panel to figure out how to generate another $100 million to improve Muni. Two of the ideas being floated are increasing the cost of parking tickets and the parking meter rates again - they were just raised a couple of years ago.

The anger voiced by many residents is well founded. Instead of correcting problems, such as a failure to collect bus fares, abuse of handicap placards, failure to properly monitor and account for meter payments received, reining in abuses of workers compensation and disability claims, managing personnel problems and overtime, the City simply increase fines and puts the financial burden on residents - hurting the most vulnerable working poor.

For merchants and shoppers, public parking lots would help generate business. If the meter fees and parking tickets are rolled back, more people will shop in the neighborhoods.

Struggling residents could find economic relief in an "amnesty program" allowing them to pay their tickets without penalties. This measure alone would bring in $6.1 million of outstanding revenues into city coffers without the need for extra personnel. It is the least punitive measure a government can do to be friendly to its residents - not having to pay a boot removal fee of $75, paying for towing and storage at a cost of $314, or having one's license suspended.

All this "auto-antagonism" is enough to drive San Francisco citizens crazy ... or out of San Francisco entirely.

Myrna Lim is a community activist from the Excelsior District.