by Marvin Ramírez
A great contradiction runs through our streets: community organizations, activists, and leaders who claim to fight for the interests of the most vulnerable—working families, small businesses, longtime residents—speak out at rallies, marches, and press conferences. But when push comes to shove, when the polls open, they support the same politicians who are bleeding our community dry with unpopular, insensitive, and often deliberately hostile policies.
San Francisco, and particularly the historic Mission District, witnesses this outrage daily. Every week, without consultation or public discussion, authorities change parking spaces that once served customers, families, residents, and workers, turning them into yellow loading zones or, worse yet, simply eliminating them by painting them red or yellow. They’re doing it so quickly that it’s hard to believe there isn’t a hidden agenda behind it: to continue making access to our city more expensive, to continue fining those least able to pay, to continue pushing working people out of the urban center.
What’s happening in the Mission, near 24th and Mission Streets, in front of iconic locations like McDonald’s, Café La Bohème, or on Bartlett Street, is a clear example of how local business is being stifled. In front of McDonald’s, for example, where until recently there were about eight or ten parking spaces, today there aren’t even one left. They’ve all been eliminated: they’ve been painted red, prohibiting any stopping or parking. And on the other side, on 24th Street toward Bartlett, the same thing is happening. How can a family come to eat, shop, or simply visit the area if they have nowhere to park their car?
The worst part is that many of the community leaders who should be denouncing this injustice are now silent. Many of them work for publicly funded organizations. Have they become silent accomplices for fear of losing that funding? Have they become cheerleaders for the same officials who don’t bother to consult the community before imposing these measures? It’s disturbing that, during recent election campaigns, none of the candidates for public office have spoken about the parking problem. Not a single mention. Why? Because they know their allies in the “organized community” won’t challenge them. Because they know no one will hold them accountable.
What’s happening today is no coincidence. It’s a systematic policy of harassment of working motorists. Instead of building an accessible city, we’re building one where anyone who can’t afford an Uber or a $110 ticket for parking illegally for five minutes is excluded. Today we saw a dramatic example: a large food delivery truck, forced to double park due to lack of available spaces, received not one, but two tickets. What choice does that driver have? Return to the warehouse with the groceries because the city won’t let him stop?
It’s time to wake up. It’s time for true people’s organizations—if they still exist—to stop pandering to the officials in power and start genuinely representing the interests they claim to defend. It’s not enough to post smiling photos at cultural events. The community needs action. A citizen initiative is needed to stop this wave of repression over parking. This issue needs to be put on the ballot.
Urban policy must serve the people, not a handful of bureaucrats out of touch with reality or commercial interests that want a city empty of the poor. And that will only be achieved if the community truly organizes. Enough with the speeches. Enough with surrendering to the convenience of subsidies. The people deserve walkable, accessible streets and a city that doesn’t punish them for trying to live and work with dignity.
We call on all leaders, residents, business owners, and conscientious citizens to raise their voices, not just with signs, but with concrete proposals to change this reality. Because if we don’t do it, no one will do it for us.
