Small businesses speak out on safety issues in Oakland
A survey of Oakland businesses shows just how much crime has affected them, with many saying they were thinking about closing or relocating their businesses outside of Oakland.
"Unfortunately, this has been our hardest year," said Melissa Myers, the owner of The Good Hop.
The draft beer bar owner is fighting to make sure her business can celebrate its tenth anniversary next year.
"Currently, we're down 23% in sales," said Myers.
She said that's on top of a 14% decline last year. She blamed it partly on the rampant car break-ins.
"They spend $8, they spend $16, they have two beers. And then they go out, their car is broken into. That $16 fun night just turned into a $300 night," said Myers.
Compared to the same period last year, Oakland police reported robberies were up 35% and car break-ins were up 27%.
Aside from fewer customers, Myers also had to spend thousands of dollars to replace broken windows. People broke her windows four separate times.
"I had two employees, sadly, (they) have left because they did not feel comfortable, not in here, but walking to their car at night," said Myers.
She is not alone. In a survey conducted by the Koreatown Northgate Community Benefit District (KONO) and partnering organizations, preliminary results showed 59% of the business owners who responded said they were contemplating closing or relocating their business. 94% said their business experienced a crime. 92% of the businesses said they've stopped reporting crimes to the police thinking nothing will be done. And 50 percent said they lost staff because of it.
"One of my chefs got his car stolen from in front of the restaurant about 10 days ago," said restaurant owner Nigel Jones.
The Calabash restaurant owner said more than ever, they need neighbors and Oakland residents to come support all the small businesses.
"There are a number of businesses in Oakland that are close to closing," said Jones.
"They say their revenue has dropped 50%, some even higher. It's just that even die-hard Oaklanders are losing faith," said Shari Godinez, executive director of KONO.
Godinez is one of the organizers conducting the survey. Business owners also shared solutions in the survey that she'll take to city leaders and the police department.
"In the survey, when I asked businesses what they felt would be the most important resource, foot-patrol came back number one," said Godinez.
As for Myers, she was looking at different solutions, like adding entertainment events at her bar, to get customers to come back.
"I'm scrappy, I want things to survive. I love this place, I want it to stay," said Myers.
Oakland business owners can take the survey until December 15th. It can be found at https://www.koreatownnorthgate.org.
Organizers will share the final results and their solutions with the city.
