By Magaly Muñoz
Post Staff

Oakland leaders gathered downtown in front of the Fox Theater at 1805 Telegraph Ave.  to announce safety plans being launched under the city’s new program ‘Five After Five.’

This program allows workers and the community members to park at the Franklin Plaza Parking Garage, located at Franklin and 19^th streets, for only five dollars after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends.

The intention for the new program is to draw more visitors to downtown businesses while offering a secure parking location at the Franklin Parking Garage for customers and employees to leave their cars without fear of people breaking into them.

“More folks on the streets having fun, catching a show or catching dinner, that means that there’s going to be more people in the street and that means less crime and more business for our downtown merchants, which of course means we, the city, can collect those tax dollars and give it right back through services,” Mayor Sheng Thao said.

Speaking of the extended hours pilot parking program, Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan said, “Thank you to everyone who worked together to help launch this important pilot program to enhance the vitality of our businesses and the safety of our community. I’m pleased we are able to provide secure parking and later hours, to better serve residents, customers, workers, and our growing restaurant and nightlife scene.”

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According to Oakland Police Department crime reports, auto burglary is up 35% from last year and carjacking is up 24%.

Thao said the garage, with 373 available parking spots, will be open until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday to encourage more nightlife activity in the area’s bars, restaurants, and theaters. The garage will be equipped with cameras and security to ensure a safer environment for patrons and their vehicles.

The new extended Franklin Parking garage hours are:

• Monday through Wednesday: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Thursday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.
• Saturday 12 p.m. to 3 a.m.
• Sunday 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Safety ambassadors and foot patrol units will be stationed along busy areas of the city, including Jack London Square, Fruitvale, the Laurel District and many more.

Another initiative to attract more foot traffic is the Activate Oakland grant that will provide recipients up to $10,000 in funds to organize events that support businesses and culture in Oakland. Recipients of the grants will be announced in the coming weeks.

Carroll Fife, councilmember for District 3, which includes the downtown area, stated that this plan has been a long time coming and it’s one of the measures they can take to make sure that businesses can thrive and stay in Oakland.

“This is just the beginning,” Fife said.

She acknowledged that more needed to be done to ensure that the community was transforming, but this program was a step in the right direction.

Along with the security personnel and cameras, Tony Leong, general manager of Fox Theater, said that the corridors leading to the Franklin Plaza garage will have better lighting so that those engaging in nightlife will feel safer walking to their cars.

He added that event parking used to be $20 in the parking garage, but with this program, the rates will be more affordable, and the garage will stay open until 1:30 a.m. so that people do not feel rushed to leave immediately after a concert or show.

“This is just the beginning of an improved corridor; it’s going to be safer and it’s going to be a lot more vibrant. We’re going to make sure foot traffic is up and that everyone is out and about around here,” Leong said.

With violent crime rates up 22% from 2022, the speakers were asked how a parking garage can ensure the safety of the community members walking the streets, just trying to enjoy their night.

Thao stated that the foot traffic will allow for more people to witness and catch the crimes. She added that there will also be more OPD officers patrolling the area on the weekends.

“It’s not so much about bringing people to the downtown area…the more people we have on the street, the more eyes and ears, we’re going to be able to be safer,” Thao said.

The ‘Five After Five’ program will operate throughout the holiday season. Once the holidays are over, the city of Oakland will assess the program’s impact and propose recommendations for its future.

Kimberly Jones, from the office of Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan, contributed to this report.

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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