$600 car issued more than $100,000 in parking tickets

[UnrepentantLiberal]

3. Assholes.

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.

The parking department created a new work shift to ticket neighborhoods at night. As part of that enforcement, parking officers ticketed residents for violations that had been a way of life for decades.

The most controversial tickets in residential neighborhoods were issued for parking on sidewalks and parking in the wrong direction. Residents told the city and The Chronicle that some streets are so narrow that emergency vehicles cannot get through unless they park like that.

Under pressure from businesses that complained the new parking rules were keeping customers away, the council in October rescinded only the meter enforcement from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., but left other elements in place.