City Government

$44.4 More Million for Homeless

Published

5 years ago

July 4, 2019

Affordable housing, parks, illegal dumping, potholes are top priorities

In an unusual unanimous vote, the Oakland City Council passed the Oakland Together budget that included $44.4 million in amendments to the administration’s original proposal, focusing city investments on the homeless crisis, affordable housing, maintaining local parks and tackling illegal blight remediation.

The Oakland Together budget, approved on June 24, also restored cuts to Parks Maintenance positions and increased funding around police accountability and workforce development.

The budget was introduced by Council President Rebecca Kaplan together with Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas, Loren Taylor, and Sheng Thao.

“I want to thank my colleagues for working hard to provide for the needs of our community,” said Council President Kaplan. “A special thank you to Councilmembers Thao, Bas and Taylor for serving on the budget team, and to Councilmembers McElhaney and Kalb for their thoughtful amendments. And to Vice Mayor Reid and Councilmember Gallo for their successful advocacy for pro-active illegal dumping removal and cracking down on people who trash Oakland. “Although we made significant progress, there is still critical work to do including valuing working people and increasing funding for workforce development.”

One key inclusion for police reform was funding to study the CAHOOTS model of sending EMT and mental health workers to respond to appropriate 911 calls reducing the need for police to intervene in an individual experiencing a mental health crisis.

For housing and unsheltered neighbors there is funding for mobile showers and restrooms, a navigation center, a tiny house village project and additional safe parking sites.

The Oakland Together budget adds funding for food security and healthy options by adding funding to Meals on Wheels and the Alameda Food Bank and piloting a healthy food conversion program in corner stores in East and West Oakland.

To alleviate blight and illegal dumping, the Council added a fourth illegal dumping crew, additional cameras and enforcement measures, and an educational outreach program to assure that people know Oakland is not the place to dump their trash; and assist homeowners and other small property owners in adding an Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) or other projects to their properties, the budget adds evening hours at the permit desks for planning/building.

The budget amendments secured funding for workforce development programs, and the council still needs to assure the programs are fully funded and working to help unemployed and underemployed community members get the training they need to secure living wage jobs, said Kaplan. Employment in the Black community is much higher than their unemployed white counterparts, and a thriving workforce development program that focuses on equity is a solid step to balance the inequity, she said.

There is also the issue of impact fees. It is important to have transparency around funds paid to the city for the benefit of community.

Finally, city staff gave much in the downturn, some even count among Oakland’s working homeless. It’s time to thank them for making the sacrifices the city needed and reward them with a contract that shows that residents value the work they do every day to keep the city running efficiently and effectively, said Kaplan.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 25 – October 1, 2024

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2 days ago

September 27, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 18 – 24, 2024

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1 week ago

September 21, 2024

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Bay Area

Advocates Hold Rally to “Issue a Citation” to City to Stop Homeless Encampment Sweeps

Advocates in San Francisco held a rally Thursday afternoon in front of City Hall to issue a symbolic citation to Mayor London Breed, urging an immediate end to the sweeps of homeless encampments in the city. “What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Now!,” the group chanted. The group of allies and advocates originally intended to start their rally off on Jessie Street, where a sweep of an encampment was going to take place around noon. But, the group had to change their plans because the city allegedly heard about the rally and chose to sweep the area earlier in the day.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 16, 2024

Oakland Post

San Francisco homelessness advocates held a rally in front of City Hall to issue a symbolic citation to Mayor London Breed to stop sweeping encampments. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

“What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Now!,” the group chanted.

The group of allies and advocates originally intended to start their rally off on Jessie Street, where a sweep of an encampment was going to take place around noon. But, the group had to change their plans because the city allegedly heard about the rally and chose to sweep the area earlier in the day.

The streets adjacent to Jessie St., such as Mission and Market St, are lined with multiple encampments and unhoused individuals. Many stand in groups or walk along the streets by themselves.

One member of the group, Leah, said she lived in District 6 and what politicians claim is an “open drug market” area. She criticized the extra funding that has gone to the San Francisco Police Department to “solve homelessness” but no positive results have been shown.

“If giving the police more money actually solved the housing crisis, the homelessness crisis…then it would’ve gotten better, but it has actually just been getting worse and worse as more services for poor people have been cut,” Leah said.

Other speakers said the problem with sweeping and citing people for living on the streets is that the homeless problem is being exacerbated, and it’s ultimately not helping those who are struggling.

In order to help alleviate the problem, advocates have called for expansions to permanent supportive housing, resources and services, housing vouchers, and rent relief for struggling residents.

According to the 2024 Point in Time Count, 8,323 people were experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. A seven percent increase since 2022 where there were 7,754 sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals.

In her mission to get people off the streets, Mayor Breed has directed city crews to clear encampments more frequently than before. This decision comes after the landmark case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, was overturned by the U.S Supreme Court and cities were given the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets.

The mayor also instructed city workers to offer transportation tickets to people before offering shelter with the intent that those who are not originally from San Francisco can return to family or friends elsewhere and services can then be used for long-time residents.

A former homeless resident, Yolanda, in attendance at the rally said it was difficult to get off of living on the streets because of the barriers to housing and services.

Yolanda told the Post that she had grown up in the city with her family, but once her father passed away, there was no one to maintain the bills so they had to relocate to Oakland for a few years. She said her family stayed there for a few years before returning to San Francisco.

As she got older, she found herself living on the streets or in temporary shelter. But these shelters would only allow people to stay for a few months at a time and were very restrictive in what people could do, such as leave when they wanted or have guests with them.

After some time, Yolanda and her boyfriend were selected for housing through a housing allocation program, where she still currently lives now. She said they were one of the lucky ones, but others do not get to experience this same fortune.

She shared that at one point in her journey to find a housing placement, there was a 2,000 person waitlist, making it nearly impossible and disheartening for those looking for a roof to put over their heads.

Yolanda said it was unfair to criminalize people for not being able to afford housing, considering the extremely high costs of living in the area.