City Government

Gallo Wants City to Help Clear Debris at Fruitvale Home Depot

Published

7 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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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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3 days ago

March 1, 2026

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Oakland Post: Week of February 18 – 24, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 18 – 24, 2026

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2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO STATE OF CALIFORNIA PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DIVISION NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III

WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

Oakland Post

PROJECT NO. 2020.0050

BID NO. 25-26.011

BID OPENING: The bidder shall complete the “Proposal to the City of San Leandro” form contained in the Contract Book. The proposal shall be submitted in its entirety. Incomplete proposals will be considered non-responsive. Sealed bids containing the completed Proposal Section subject to the conditions named herein and in the specifications for ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III/PROJECT NO. 2020.0050 addressed to the City of San Leandro will be received at City Hall, 835 East 14^th Street, 2^nd Floor San Leandro at the office of the City Clerk up to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at which time they will be publicly opened and read.
WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.
OBTAINING THE PROJECT PLANS AND CONTRACT BOOK: The project plans and Contract Book may be obtained free of charge from the City’s website at:https://www.sanleandro.org/Bids.aspx Bidders who download the plans are encouraged to contact the City of San Leandro Public Works Department Engineering division at 510-577-3428 to be placed on the project planholder’s list to receive courtesy notifications of addenda and other project information. Project addenda, if any, will be posted on the website. A bidder who fails to address all project addenda in its proposal may be deemed non-responsive.Bidders may also purchase the Project Plans and Contract Book from East Bay Blueprint & Supply Co., at 1745 14^th Street, Oakland, CA 94606; Phone Number: (510) 261-2990 or email: ebbp@eastbayblueprint.com.
PRE-BID CONFERENCE: A mandatory pre-bid conference will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM and on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM as follows:
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM
Zoom Meeting ID: 883 8752 6074
Passcode: 502955
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/88387526074?pwd=hZ5rjB8AWdLAUem3CtByFiZxqKarHj.1
And
Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM
Zoom Meeting ID: 898 2672 0472
Passcode: 091848
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/89826720472?pwd=JgZX2nXMpLSRM5xDPr7EJUxl7QIznr.1The information presented at the conferences will be identical, all bidders must attend one of the pre-bid conference and sign the attendance sheet. A firm that didn’t attend the pre-bid conference isn’t qualified to bid on the project.Questions regarding the plans and specifications may be submitted in writing to the project engineer until 5:00 p.m. five (5) days before, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, bids must be received by the City. The City will not respond to oral questions outside of the pre-bid conference. The response, if any, will be by written addendum only. Oral responses do not constitute a revision to these plans or specifications.
VALUE OF WORK: The Engineer has estimated that the value of work is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
SAN LEANDRO BUSINESS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION GOALS: The work performed under this contract is subject to Section 1-6-225 of the San Leandro Municipal Code regarding local business preference and participation. A list of companies that hold a San Leandro business license is located on the City webpage under the finance department, here: https://www.sanleandro.org/340/Business-License
SAN LEANDRO COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT: The work performed under this contract is subject to the Community Workforce Agreement adopted by City Council Resolution 2015-104. Contractors attention is directed to Section 10.