City Government

Gallo Wants City to Help Clear Debris at Fruitvale Home Depot

Published

6 years ago

June 28, 2019

Construction workers Roberto Lopez and Ron Ramirez live in the Community of Grace homeless encampment near Home Depot in the Fruitvale District. They run a kitchen at the site to feed their fellow community members. Photo by Zack Haber.

Councilmember Noel Gallo is calling for the city to remove unhoused residents living near Home Depot’s Fruitvale store.

Many residents at the encampment, however, claim they have nowhere else to go and that the city makes the location unsanitary by providing inadequate services.

Gallo is concerned Home Depot will leave Oakland, taking jobs with it, because he claims the homeless make customers feel unsafe and are trashing the location.

“That’s not their home and that’s not their property,” said Gallo. “If we don’t provide jobs, then we’re all going to be homeless.”

Responding, Markaya S., who has lived near Home Depot for five years, said, “Home Depot wants all the trash and debris gone, but in order for that to work, the city has to work with us.”

Markaya and her fellow encampment residents, which she estimates number about 100, call their set-up The Community of Grace (COG).

Many COG residents collaborate to take care of each other and stay safe. They do research using California’s Megan’s Law website and kick out those convicted of sexual offenses, have meetings when problems arise, maintain a protected kids’ zone and run a kitchen that provides food for residents.

COG resident Uce Taylor claims that the city picks up trash about twice a month, though not consistently, and refuses to provide a dumpster. Residents usually organize waste into giant piles for pick up.

“Sometimes if it’s been too long since a (trash) pick up, we’ll gather together and rent a dumpster,”said Taylor.

When they are able to organize trash into a dumpster, the city picks it up quickly. But the rental cost is too expensive for residents to do that regularly.

Gallo does not deny the city’s inconsistent trash pick up but says he helps out personally to help clean up.

“I help pick up their stuff every week with volunteers,” Gallo said. “I’ve been doing that for six years.”

While the city has provided three portable toilets, residents feel there aren’t enough and they quickly overflow.

Their complaints are valid according to Service Sanitation, a company that rents out portable toilets and recommends providing 15 toilets for a group of 50 people if they’re changed weekly.

Home Depot has pressured Gallo to remove the encampment. A letter from the company’s regional Vice President Steve Knott, sent on March 20, cites “frequent occurrences of malicious theft.”

But COG residents claim that very few people have stolen from the store. One official told the Post there have been no thefts since February.

Knott’s letter also asks the city to “immediately remove and relocate the inhabitants to a viable location,” but residents claim the city is not providing an appropriate place for them.

The city’s Tuffsheds and RV sites for homeless people do not have enough space for everyone, and even if they did, they are not desirable or accessible places, according to many COG residents.

Markaya, who lives in a tiny home she built, sees living in a Tuffshed as a downgrade. But even if she wanted to move into one, she has children. and the city does not allow children to live in its tuff shed sites.

Taylor lives in an RV but could not move into a city approved RV site because his RV is non-operational.

Many COG residents have jobs and see the combination of high rents and low wages as the biggest challenges to securing housing.

Markaya works full time at a job where she makes $15 an hour, a salary that, according to reports from glassdoor.com, is similar to many worker’s wages at Home Depot.

Her income is too low for her to rent an apartment. Roberto Lopez and Ron Ramirez, who live at COG and run its kitchen, work as construction workers. Although they build buildings in Oakland, they can’t afford to live in one.

“What would fix this problem would be changing the cost of living to match wages,” said Markaya.

Zack Haber

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Port of Oakland to Host January Meeting for Interfaith Council of Alameda County

State, county, and city officials have been invited to join ICAC board members and the community to explore effective strategies for addressing these interconnected challenges across Alameda County, including ICAC’s Safe Car Park program expansion and efforts to convert trailers into shelter for the unhoused.

Published

8 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Oakland Post

The Port of Oakland. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) will hold its first meeting of 2025 on Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Port of Oakland, located at 530 Water St. Hosted by the president of the Port of Oakland, the meeting will run from 1-2:30 p.m. and will focus on pressing community issues including environmental justice, housing solutions, and crime and safety.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend and contribute to this important discussion. For more information, visit interfaithAC.org.

Oakland Post

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Activism

2024 in Review: 7 Questions for Former Assemblymember Chris Holden

While in office, Holden championed efforts to improve education outcomes for students and advocated for social and racial justice. Legislation he wrote or sponsored also focused on, innovation in transportation, protecting developmental disability service providers and improving public health, more broadly.

Published

12 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Oakland Post

Hon. Chris Holden. File photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

In 2012, Assemblymember Chris Holden was first elected to the California State Assembly representing the 41^st District in the San Gabriel Valley.

He was re-elected to that position for the following four terms.

Holden, a graduate of San Diego State University, lives in Pasadena with his wife, Melanie, and children Nicholas, Alexander, Austin, Mariah and Noah. Holden is the son of former State Senator and LA City Councilmember Nate Holden.

Before he closed out his final year of service in the Assembly, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Holden. He reflected on his accomplishments this year and his goals moving forward.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why? 

A project I’ve been working on for well over 36 years — the light rail system — made its way into Pasadena from downtown LA. Now it’s making its way through the San Gabriel Valley to Pomona.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

Having an opportunity to represent a multi-ethnic and diverse district is exciting, but to be able to bring a voice for a lived African American experience from the San Gabriel Valley is very important.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

I still am frustrated that we aren’t seeing the kind of progress on affordable housing to allow underrepresented communities to be able to afford to live in the community that they grew up in.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

There has been a lot of movement around reparations through community engagement. Dr. Shirley Weber put forth the bill to establish a reparations task force and that task force met for a number of years. Two members of our caucus served on it, Sen. Steven Bradford and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer. A thousand-page report and a hundred recommendations or more came out of that. And now we’re in the process of finding ways to implement some of those recommendations. It’s going to be a longer process, but I’m hopeful because California, once again, is on the front end of taking on a really challenging issue.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

Always be mindful how quickly the winds can change. We’ve gone from 10 years of having budget surpluses to this year having a $45 billion deficit.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Inequality.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

Well, I won’t be in the legislature in 2025, but I love public policy. I’d like to find myself in a position where I’m continuing to have an influence on how public policy is shaped and formed. I’m just looking forward to being a vital voice going into next year in a different role. It will also be an opportunity to lay a foundation to take another run, possibly for a seat on the LA County Board of Supervisors in 2028.

Oakland Post

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2024 in Review: 7 Questions for Equality California Political Director Shay Franco-Clausen

Shay Franco-Clausen is an award-winning public advocate, speaker, political strategist and former elected official. She has contributed her thought leadership to drafting seventeen pieces of legislation in California. Notable among these accomplishments is her role in extending the statute of limitations for felony domestic violence survivors, advocating for the rights of foster youth, preserving endangered open spaces, and championing the restoration of voting rights for individuals on parole.

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2025

Oakland Post

Shay Franco-Clausen Equality California Political Director (Facebook).

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Shay Franco-Clausen is Political Director for Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

Franco-Clausen is an award-winning public advocate, speaker, political strategist and former elected official. She has contributed her thought leadership to drafting seventeen pieces of legislation in California. Notable among these accomplishments is her role in extending the statute of limitations for felony domestic violence survivors, advocating for the rights of foster youth, preserving endangered open spaces, and championing the restoration of voting rights for individuals on parole.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Franco-Clausen about her successes, frustrations and future plans heading into 2025.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why? 

In the role that I sit in as the political director for Equality California, we endorsed 216 candidates. I think the one achievement after this election that I’m proud of is that we overturned Prop 8 to protect same-sex marriages here because they’re about to attack our rights on the federal level, come 2025.

I’m glad at least we changed our California constitution to reflect and protect my marriage.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

I contribute through my lived experience. I may have achieved a lot, but I come from those same communities that are marginalized, East Oakland, East San Jose, Watts. It gives me a different perspective. I am a formerly incarcerated youth who was in foster care. I think I contribute that bit of understanding, and I operate from an equity lens. I’m willing to push people to make them recognize that hey, you cannot forget about Black people. We are the most marginalized.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

What frustrates me is our inability to recognize that we forget people. I was tapped to work on the Harris campaign from Equality California. And through that, being at that table, I was frustrated that they weren’t listening to Americans and not looking at the data.

The reason Trump won is because he had consistent messaging, and we didn’t debunk it. I think I’m more frustrated that we don’t fully listen to people all the time when they’re critiquing us.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

All those people that came out to support Kamala Harris. I was proud that my son voted for the first time for a Black woman for President.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

Be fearless. Sometimes I second-guess myself. I push back, but I could push more because I’m qualified. I have the education, I have the experience, and I know what I’m talking about in all the rooms that I go in. And I must be confident in that.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Prioritization.

We’re still not seen as a priority, but everyone likes to add us to their talking points.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

Writing a book. I think it’s important for us to tell our stories.

I am also kicking off my campaign for Hayward City Council.