Some frustrated Oakland business owners are warning the city they will stop paying taxes until the city starts providing them safer neighborhoods to operate in.
Organizers are asking more small business owners to join them and force the city to provide more police patrols and protection.
In the past two years, La Perla Puerto Rican Cuisine, a family-owned restaurant on Fruitvale Avenue, has been robbed twice at gunpoint.
Owner Jose Ortiz said he rarely sees police patrols despite the numerous armed holdups that have plagued the neighborhood for the past two years.
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"We’re proposing not to pay taxes to the city until you give me the services that we deserve," Ortiz said.
Ortiz, an Oakland native, said in addition to the multiple robberies, he’s seen a 25% drop in business, and customers are staying away because they don’t feel safe.
"We’re not the only ones," he said. "We’re all in the same boat all across the city of Oakland. The city needs to immediately, effectively do something about it."
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City Councilman Noel Gallo said he sympathizes with the growing number of business owners feeling the pinch from having fewer customers and more crime.
"The owner is absolutely correct," Gallo said. "Why do we keep just elevating taxes, but we’re not providing the services for safety?"
There’s nothing on the books yet, but Gallo said the full council may need to consider a tax deferment initiative for affected businesses big and small.
The leader of efforts to recall Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said the buck stops at the top.
"The ball is being dropped significantly due to poor policies and poor leadership," Citizens Unite founder Edward Escobar said.
Escobar said even large businesses are having difficulty covering their tax bills in the current environment, and the issue is far more severe for small operators like Ortiz.
"If you’re not providing the services then how can you charge full business taxes to a lot of these businesses that are barely, barely surviving?" Escobar said.
A spokesman for Thao’s office said progress is being made. He said Oakland has now filled all but one of its vacant officer positions, bringing the total force to 711 currently. He also said surge operations in Fruitvale have helped reduce property crime numbers in recent months and said withholding taxes would be counter productive.
