City Government

City Should Declare Housing State of Emergency, Say Speakers at Post Salon

Published

10 years ago

January 29, 2016

Speakers at January’s Post Salon examined what Oaklanders as a community can do to solve one of the largest crises facing the city: out-of-control rent increases and evictions that are driving families out of their homes at an alarming rate.

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Underscoring the critical need for immediate action, a recently released report found that the Oakland area has the largest rental increases in the nation, nearly doubling since 2011.

Carroll Fife, moderator of the Jan. 24 Post Salon at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle and co-chair of the Oakland Alliance, said the question confronting the community is what can tangibly be done right away to relieve the market pressure on renters and low-income home owners – while there are still Black, Latino and other low-income residents who live in Oakland to address these issues.

She said the city report, the “Housing Equity Roadmap,” contains important elements for what can be done, but nothing will happen in time without a sense of urgency.

“Many organizations are fighting the issue of displacement, but the question is whether our leaders have the political will to combat the problem,” she said. “This is an election year, and around election time, candidates tend to have a little more political will. I think that’s something we can leverage.”

She said the city should declare an immediate temporary housing state of emergency, freezing rents and halting evictions, similar to what was done in Alameda. During that time, the city council should pass ordinances that protect the 60 percent of Oaklanders who are renters and other low-income residents.

Brytanee Brown and Tia Hicks of the East 12th Street Coalition spoke about their coalition’s successful fight for “public land for public good,” blocking the city council’s attempt to sell public land at Lake Merritt to a market rate housing developer.

They said they created a community process to propose an affordable housing development at the site and are working with a developer on the proposal. The city has not yet decided which project it favors.

Between 1999 and 2014, over 70 percent of the housing in Oakland was built for people with incomes of over $100,000 a year, said Brown.

“People want to own their own homes, public land should be used for public good and above all, we want a government that is transparent” and engages with the community, she said.

James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union said his organization is working to put rent control on the ballot for the November election.

“We need the city council to declare a housing state of emergency, with a moratorium on rent increases and evictions,” Vann said. “There are many things we can do to address this issue, but the Oakland City Council has not done it in 35 years.”

Steve King, executive director of the Oakland Community Land Trust, and Robert Maurice Arnold, a management consultant with experience in land trusts, discussed what the city can do to make homes more affordable and protect property from the housing market.

“A community land trust removes land from the speculative market to serve lowincome people in perpetuity,” said King, explaining that the method “grew out of the Civil Rights Movement in the South in Georgia in 1960, as a way to support African American farmers, as opposed to sharecropping.”

Arnold said the central principle of the land trust is to take ownership of land out of the market and to place it in a nonprofit organization.

“The land is forever owned by the community and is taken off the speculative market,” he said. “The community itself can decide who can build on the land for affordable housing, community farms, businesses or nonprofit organizations.”

People will own what is built on the land, but not the land itself, he said.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

2 days ago

December 25, 2025

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

6 days ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

6 days ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.