City Government

City Wants Answers to Garbage Dumping, Graffiti

Published

11 years ago

January 30, 2014

A kick-off meeting of the Beautification Council in East Oakland this week brought together community, city and county leaders seeking ways to make a dent in out-of-control trash dumping and graffiti that are blighting Oakland neighborhoods.

Community members and officials said they will make it a priority to identify and prosecute those who are responsible for the dumping, some who reportedly come to Oakland from other cities to leave their trash.

The meeting was chaired by Ken Houston – in charge of community and government relations at Turner Group Construction – who serves as a community advocate under the direction of Vice Mayor Larry Reid, District 7.

“I’m a third generation Oakland native,” said Houston, explaining why he felt so passionately about blight. “I saw kids on the way home from school walking through this trash one day. What’s the state of mind of kids walking through this trash? What effect does it have on them?” He asked.

“Someone dumped tons and tons of dirt in West Oakland, dumped it in a closed building. Do people think they can just come here and dump trash? It’s bigger than District 7, it’s about Oakland as a whole,” said Councilmember Brooks.

Attending the meeting were councilmembers Reid, Desley Brooks and Noel Gallo, as well as community members, representatives of local businesses, representatives of the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, Oakland Police Department officials and officials from the Oakland Unified School District, Public Works Department and other city agencies.

According to city numbers, over 35 percent of Oakland has signs of illegal graffiti and dumping. In 2011, city litter enforcement receipted 11,336 calls for service, including more that 5,000 in East Oakland.

Efforts to clean up the trash have been overwhelmed by lack of funding, a failure to prosecute cases and cleanup crews flooded with illegal dumping calls, according to a report presented at the meeting.

The city is negotiating with Waste Management of Alameda County to pick up trash on the weekends on busy commercial streets and to increase the number of bulky trash pickups, from two to six a year.

“They’re the ones that control the dump. They are the ones in that are in the trash business,” said Councilmember Gallo, who organizes volunteers to clean trash in District 5 neighborhoods every Saturday.

The Beautification Council meeting ended with concrete commitments to solve the problem, including plans to increase community involvement.

The Alameda County D.A.’s office committed to prosecuting dumping offenders. Seeing graffiti as a issue that is better solved with positive than punitive measures, Houston is looking into incentive programs to channel young graffiti artists to use their talents to beautify the city and win prizes and recognition for themselves.

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Related Topics:City of Oakland Councilmember Brooks desley brooks Ken Epstein larry reid noel gallo Oakland Waste Management

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

6 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.