City Government

Oakland Allocated $2.2 Million to Prevent Evictions, But Mayor’s Staff Failed to Spend the Money

Published

7 years ago

May 31, 2018

As part of the budget adopted 11 months ago, the Oakland City Council directed $2.2 million in state funding to anti-displacement and homeless prevention services – particularly legal representation for tenants facing eviction. But the money so far has not been spent.

First, the money was “mistakenly allocated” to the wrong city department, the Public Works Department, rather than the Housing and Community Development Department, which is supposed to disperse the funds, according to a report to the council prepared by Michele Byrd, director of Housing and Community Development.

Then, the Housing and Community Development has been so short staffed that it has not been able to set up the funding and hire nonprofits to implement the program, Byrd told councilmembers at this week’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee meeting.

The implementation of the program is supposed to be back on track by the time the council takes its summer break at the end of July. The money is intended to be used for counseling for homeowners facing foreclosure, arrange for attorneys to represent tenants facing eviction, and to provide outreach to educate renters of their rights.

“I certainly have sympathy for Ms. Byrd’s department, which has been severely hit by work overloads and staff reductions,” said James Vann of the Oakland Tenants’ Union, speaking to councilmembers.

“But almost a year has past since the council approved $2.2 million for putting into place an effective anti-displacement program,” he said.

“It has been shown that people who have legal representation have a 95 percent success rate (in opposing) an unfair eviction,” he said, adding that in the months since the funds were approved but not dispersed, an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 families were displaced.

“We are losing our city, the way people are getting displaced,” he said. “We need to put an urgency on this and get this out the door immediately.”

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said these anti-displacement funds are another way of fighting homelessness.

More people are becoming homeless, she said, “because people whose evictions could have been prevented are not being prevented.”

“This also happened in 2015 when there was a budget authorization for anti-displacement services, but it was not (implemented) for about nine months after the council authorized it,” she said.

Kaplan also questioned how $2.2 million could be misplaced.

“I read the report that says the money was lost for some period of time,” she said. “That was certainly concerning.”

Miss Sherry, a member of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) said:

“Let’s be expedient making sure these funds are rolled out as soon as possible. We’re losing residents, and they are becoming the unhoused.

“We want to show the people of Oakland that we love them, that we care about what happens to do them, so that when they go to court, they have adequate representation. The Post asked the Mayor how the money could be “lost,” but her office referred the questions to Michele Byrd.

According to Post Publisher Paul Cobb, “Mayor Schaaf has a pattern and practice of diverting, failing to spend or returning funds that would have helped the Black community.”

Itemizing some of these practices, Cobb said, “She had to return $600,000 in job training funds to the state. She left $2 million for youth jobs on the table, and she significantly reduced job-training funds for Neighborhood Career Centers.

“And she instructed her staff not to seek community benefits for foreclosure and displacment funds while placing $2-plus billion of public money annually in the bank the city uses.”

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.