Like many municipalities across the country, Oakland is not immune to the downturn in the economy. In July of this year, the Office of the City Administrator released a statement that said, “Cumulatively, over the past year the City has addressed a $144 million budget deficit and eliminated more than 350 jobs.”

City of Oakland employees took a 10 percent pay cut, and other measures have been enacted to close this budget gap, including the increase in parking meter fines and hours of enforcement. Additionally, the city replaced most individual meters with kiosks that dispense a time-stamped ticket that must be placed on the vehicle’s dashboard.

Marcia Robinson, a sales representative at Glamour Paws (and whose son, Hassim Robinson, is the owner) said that she understood why the city needs the money, but the result is “gouging the merchants. Before, you could never find an empty space to park on the street. Now, there’s always empty spaces.”

Robinson noted that she was frustrated by finding that, on occasion, the kiosks haven’t worked, and she was not the only Montclair merchant to cite this concern. Majin Rajabi, owner of Montclair Malt Shop, said that she has received faulty tickets that she has had trouble disputing.

“Businesses are suffering; this is very inconvenient,” said Rajabi, who added that customers who were once frequent patrons are now avoiding Montclair and going to Walnut Creek, and other local cities that offer better parking options.

Claudia Falconer, president of the Montclair Village Association, noted that while there is a parking garage in town that is actually cheaper than the hourly parking fees on the street, it is not utilized to the extent that it could be. She said that it’s hard to quantify how many aren’t patronizing Montclair businesses solely because of the parking issue. But, she maintains, based on her own anecdotal evidence, the garage has not been as full as it was before the downturn in the economy and the streets are noticeably more empty. “It’s hard to tell what is being caused by the economy and what’s being caused by the parking issue,” she said.

Some business owners are taking matters into their own hands. Fataneh Tabar, owner of Le Rouge, a clothing retailer, said she is starting a petition demanding a reversal of the recent parking enforcements that merchants and clients could sign and send to the City Council.

“This is just bad timing,” she said. “We’re trying to keep our head above water as it is … What happened to helping small businesses?”