Bay Area

SFMTA Approves Towing of RVs Parked Overnight If Occupants Refuse Shelter

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) voted 6-1 to authorize the city to tow large RVs parked in designated locations if parked overnight and if occupants refuse shelter from outreach teams. This tactic is the latest tool by Mayor London Breed to crack down on homelessness and prevent people from continuing to sleep on the streets.

Published

7 months ago

October 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Police officers were previously only allowed to tow RVs on certain streets from 12 a.m to 6 a.m and with a warrant, but now under the new rule officers can tow if dwellers refuse services from city outreach workers on any street in San Francisco.

By Magaly Muñoz

This tactic is the latest tool by Mayor London Breed to crack down on homelessness and prevent people from continuing to sleep on the streets.

Staff assured the public that towing and citing of RVs would be “the last resort” and offers of shelter and services, like transportation tickets to loved ones living outside the city, would come first before escalation.

According to the 2024 Point in Time Count, 1,444 people were living in vehicles, but it is unsure how many were living in RVs. Those living in vehicles are considered unsheltered, despite many considering their campers or RVs as their homes.

Families are the largest population of those living in RVs in San Francisco. One hundred and thrity families were living unsheltered on the night of the count and 90% of them were in vehicles.

City staff said it is difficult to pinpoint how many people live in large vehicles, but there are currently 361 campers, trailers, and box trucks parked on the streets.

Advocates have been calling for a stop to the threats of towing to RVs because of concerns that families will be separated and displaced onto the streets if they decline county shelter options.

Representatives of Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin read statements asking the MTA Board to vote against the resolution.

“A vehicle is not an ideal shelter, however, for these 117 unhoused families their RVs are their last minor protection from living on the street,” Safai wrote.

Peskin called the proposed action “inhumane” and officials should instead focus on finding comprehensible solutions that will not exacerbate vulnerable people’s problems.

MTA members and advocates inquired about permanent parking solutions for RV dwellers.

Currently, the city has “vehicle triage centers” (VTC) located at Candlestick Park, which allows people to safely park their mobile homes and receive services while waiting for permanent housing. But the number of accommodations is very limited, the site only serving 35 vehicles a night, when it was once projected that it would serve 155 vehicles.

While staff said they are looking into other permanent options, no new sites have been located at the moment to accommodate the current number of RVs parked on the street right now.

Parking restrictions will take effect on Nov. 1, but staff said it will not trigger an immediate city-wide ban on the RVs. Instead, enforcement workers will likely begin with one sweep per month, increasing them if needed.

The towing policy will cost the city $230,000.

Mayor Breed has been working to bring more enforcement measures to remove people from living and sleeping on the streets. She has previously said that the city will take a “very aggressive” approach in alleviating this problem.

“Our message is clear: accepting our help is not just an option, it is the option. If someone is offered housing, shelter, and support but turns us down, they cannot remain on the streets,” Breed said in a statement.

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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

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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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.