City Government

Op-Ed: Tell Oakland City Council: This is an Emergency; Stop Evictions and Rent Increases

Published

9 years ago

February 26, 2016

Oakland Post

Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein

By Kitty Kelly Epstein

There is an emergency in Oakland. The policies that prevail in Oakland City Hall are going to drive most of us out of Oakland, unless we stand up.

The land, the resources, the tax money and the city staff time that belong to Oakland residents are being spent almost entirely on developments to house wealthy non-Oaklanders in buildings that none of our current residents can afford to live in.

The emergency is clear from a city report: “Oakland’s market rate rents are well above what is affordable to the typical Oakland renter.”

A majority, 60 percent, of Oakland residents are renters.

The city’s document goes further. The rental rate for a typical 2-bedroom apartment increased 40 percent in one year to $2,950.

A resident earning the Oakland minimum wage would have to work 185 hours a week to afford that apartment.

The actual rent that the typical Oakland resident can afford is $700 a month. There are no rentals in that price range.

The answers proposed by elected officials are ridiculously inadequate.

The city is now talking about maybe, possibly, building a small amount of affordable housing. It’s too little, too late.

Even if the city carried out any of the tiny number of affordable projects they have mentioned, by the time they are built, most of those individuals who need such housing would be gone from the city or joining the homeless on the street.

Meanwhile, the city is continuing to give public land that belongs to all of us to private developers to build even more units that none of us can afford to live in.

We are the city of the Black Panthers, of labor organizing and the longshore union (ILWU) that strikes against apartheid. We are the city of Barbara Lee and her historic stand against war.

We are the city whose residents said we valued diversity more than anything else as the Continued from page 1 reason we live here.

And some of our residents, led by Alliance of California for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and Causa Justa: Just Cause, have bravely stopped people from being evicted from their homes.

Most recently, East Lake United for Justice stopped the City Council from giving away another prime piece of public land to wealthy, for-profit developers.

Time Magazine said we “stole Wall Street’s mojo” during the Occupy movement. Those of us who are not yet involved in the housing movement need to get our mojo back or we’ll all be driving in from Antioch for a nostalgic glimpse of our lake.

We need drastic action from the City Council to declare a state of emergency and a moratorium on evictions and rent increases, until city officials can work out exactly how they will correct the situation so that we are to be able to stay in our homes in our beautiful city.

For a copy of the City of Oakland report, “Citywide Rental Survey,” go to http:// www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/ceda/documents/ report/oak056016.pdf

If you want to get involved, email housingmojo@gmail. com

Kitty Kelly Epstein is a professor and Oakland resident. She hosts Education Today on KPFA 94.1 and authored the book, “Organizing to Change a City” (2012), Peter Lang.

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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

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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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.