The City of Oakland is seeking to quickly move most of its parking division staff from the Department of Transportation to the Finance Department, despite concern from business leaders, road safety advocates and city employees.
In a report released last Friday, Bradley Johnson, the city’s new finance director, said the move would “better align the parking operations of the City with revenue and collections processes housed in the Department of Finance, and abandoned automobile abatement functions housed in the Oakland Police Department.”
“[It will] streamline and improve the citations collection process,” he said in the report. “Delays or inaccurate data in citations result in high rates of delinquency and decreased collectability revenue.” He also said the move would facilitate traffic ticket payment plans, improve customer service, and strengthen financial management…