Bay Area

Oakland Moves to Prohibit Landlords from Considering Criminal Histories in Rental Housing

Published

5 years ago

January 16, 2020

Members of the City Council’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee this week unanimously adopted a proposed Fair Chance Housing Ordinance that would ban landlords from considering criminal histories in screening applicants for rental housing.

The ordinance is designed to break down a major barrier, beyond high rental costs, that keeps many formerly incarcerated people from finding a place to live for themselves and their families, leading many of them to end up homeless after leaving prison.

A recent survey found that 73% of unhoused residents in Oakland encampments were formerly incarcerated, according to a city report on the proposed ordinance.

The proposal was originally brought to the city by the Alameda County Fair Chance to Housing Coalition, which includes All of Us or None, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Just Cities. The coalition worked closely with City Attorney Barbara Parker’s office, which drafted the ordinance and co-sponsors District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas with Larry Reid and Dan Kalb. Also supporting the proposal at CED were Councilmembers Noel Gallo and Loren Taylor.

“The purpose of the legislation is to increase access to housing for formerly incarcerated persons and their family members, to decrease the homelessness and family separation that result from policies that exclude the formerly incarcerated from housing and to provide formerly incarcerated people with a fair opportunity to reclaim their lives and reintegrate into the community,” said Deputy City Attorney Laura Lane.

With a few exceptions, the law would prevent landlords from asking about or requiring the disclosure of an applicant’s criminal history, from advertising or using a policy that excludes people with criminal history or taking any adverse action against a tenant or applicant, based on their criminal history, such as evicting a tenant or charging someone higher rent or security deposit, Lane said.

Fines for a violation could cost up to $1,000 per incident. A violation would be considered an infraction, but knowingly or willingly violating the ordinance would be a misdemeanor. The ordinance provides for education and outreach so that members of the community would know their rights and landlords would know their responsibilities.

“We believe this ordinance is a valuable and immediate solution to the housing crisis,” said John Jones III, who is a staff member of Just Cities and campaign director of the Fair Chance to Housing Coalition.

“This impact does not lie solely with the individual who has a criminal record,” he said. “These barriers are extended to family members, to loved ones, to children.”

People coming out of prison face barriers in all types of housing: publicly subsidized nonprofit housing, the Public Housing Authority and Single Room Occupancy (SRO) residences, said Margaretta Lin, executive director of Just Cities.

In its research, Just Cities “discovered that the criminal background databases that landlords rely on are extremely flawed,” she said. “We also know that there are…extreme racial disparities…in every step of the criminal justice system.

Noting that the city is strapped for resources, Lin said that Just Cities is willing to provide a pro bono annual evaluation of the implementation of the ordinance for the first two years.

Among the other cities that are already acting on this issue are Portland, Seattle, Richmond and Berkeley, she said.

Succatti Shaw, a member staff of All of Us or None and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, spent five years in prison. She said that because of the way her charges were written, making it seem like she manufactured meth, she is ineligible for affordable housing.

“I have a lifetime ban against me. I served my time, but now I’m serving time because I’m not seen as a human being,” she said. “I’m thanking you all for a chance to house my children (and) myself. We thank you for being stand up men and women.”

Taqwaa Bonner of All of Us or None said, “I am one among thousands of men and women who have been forced to live out in the streets of Oakland. I just served 30 years and two months straight in our California prison system.”

Released three years, ago, he lived in transitional housing for three months and was then “kicked out,” he said.

He said he could not live with his mother because her private apartment complex had a rule against felons living there. “I couldn’t live with my two sisters or my daughter because all three of them have Section 8 housing,” he said.

“I was born and raised in Oakland,” Bonner said. “I have employment in Oakland, (but) I cannot live in Oakland, solely based on my criminal conviction 30 years ago, which had nothing to do with tearing up someone’s property or not paying rent.”

The ordinance is scheduled to be heard on the consent calendar at the Jan. 21 City Council meeting.

Ken Epstein

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

10 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

3 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.