City Government

TRASH TALK: We Will Not Roll Over, Say Councilmembers

Published

11 years ago

September 12, 2014

Lynette McElhaney

City Councilmembers are unwavering in the face of what they consider to be the bullying and intimidation tactics of Waste Management (WM), a nationwide trash collection company that lost the City’s $1 billion trash and recycling contract is now pursuing legal action against the city.

Along with its aggressive referendum campaign on the streets of Oakland, the company has filed a lawsuit against the city – attempting to disrupt the city’s new agreement with California Waste Solutions (CWS).

“By filing a lawsuit, one can say that is a legitimate claim to address their grievances. But running a deceptive campaign is political – that’s not about your grievances, that’s about locking in Oakland’s business,” said District 3 Councilwoman Lynette McElhaney.

Waste Management is trying to pressure he city to sign a new 10- or 20-year contact for whatever rates it wants to charge.

“They were providing worst services, at worst prices, and they lost. And now they want to bully the city into being wholly dependent on them,” said McElhaney.

City Council President Pat Kernighan released a letter regarding the referendum and the city garbage contract, which says, “Waste Management’s proposed rates were even higher” those offered by the new company.

Photo from Oakland Local.

The Council “approved the bid with the lowest increase,” said Kernighan.

“Waste Management has endless money and they are willing to play hardball and engage in unscrupulous tactics in order to win,” she said. “It’s shameful.”

According to Kernighan, the city can fight back by challenging the validity of the referendum, given the numerous reports of signature-gathers heckling community residents and gathering of signatures under false pretenses.

“It’s unclear how this will play out but we will not roll over in the face of these tactics,” she said.

“We have to make sure that Oakland residents are informed, accurately informed,” added District 1 Councilmember Dan Kalb.

Councilmember and mayoral candidate Rebecca Kaplan was deeply concerned about some city staffers’ apparent attempts to manipulate the negotiations over the trash contract in favor of Waste Management.

Oakland had in its existing contact a provision that allowed the city to extend Waste Management services for six months – until December 2015. But staff, acting in secret without informing the public or City Council, signed away that provision, according to Kaplan.

By dropping that part out of Waste Management’s contract, staff in effect was giving the company an unfair advantage by shortening the time that any competitor could implement a new contact, Kaplan said.

Elihu Harris

She said the City Administrator should investigate to find out who made that decision.

District 7 Councilmember Larry Reid praised Councilmember McElhaney for leadership in the council’s choice of a local company that will charge residents lower rate and has a proven commitment to creating jobs for young people in the city, which Waste Management refused to do.

Former Mayor Elihu Harris worked with both companies during his tenure as the city’s leader. He says Oakland residents should be concerned about the “cheating, lies and deception” on the part of Waste Management.

“Waste Management lost the contract,” said Harris. “They compete all over the country and they take contracts from the other people. At minimum its hypocrisy.”

“CWS grew in Oakland, is headquartered in Oakland, and won the competition fair and square,” Harris added.

Anyone who signed the Waste Management petition and wants to remove their name removed can mail or hand deliver a letter to the City Clerk’s Office saying, “Please remove my name from each of the three referendum petitions.” An original signature must be signed at the bottom of the letter.

The City Clerk’s Office is located is located at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, #1, Oakland, 94612.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

TRASH TALK: Phil Tagami’s Conflicts of Interest Could Jeopardize Trash Deal

Don't Miss

Tom Butt and Corky Booze: From “Good to Bad”

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

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

14 hours 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.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Begins Month-Long Closure on Largest Homeless Encampment

At 8 a.m. sharp, city workers began piling up trash and dismantling makeshift homes along the nearly five-block encampment. City crews blocked off streets from 14th Ave to 17th Ave, between E. 12th and International Blvd, due to the Safe Work Zone Ordinance that was passed by the city council in 2022 to protect workers from harassment during cleanings, according to a city spokesperson.

Published

14 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The City of Oakland began sweeping their largest homeless encampment on E 12th St. Monday morning. Advocates claim that the city has not done its due diligence with providing ample resources or outreach for residents at the encampment. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland began a three-week-long breakdown of the largest homeless encampment in the city on E. 12th Street on Monday morning. Residents and advocates said they are devastated about the displacement of dozens of people.

Jaz Colibri, one of the many advocates at the closure, said the encampment sweeps were “intense and terrifying” to witness. They claimed that several residents, many of them non-English speakers, had not been aware that the sweep was happening that day because of a lack of proper communication and outreach from Oakland.

Colibri added that the city had done a Census “many months ago” and “had not bothered to count people since then”, meaning dozens of individuals have missed out on housing and resources in the last few weeks because the city doesn’t offer outreach in multiple languages.

“Basically, [Oakland] dropped the ball on actually getting to know everybody who lives here and then creating a housing solution that meets everyone’s needs,” Colibri said.

City spokesperson Jean Walsh told the Post that notices of the closure operation were posted in Spanish and Chinese prior to Monday, but did not clarify if outreach was done in those languages as well.

Nearly a dozen Oakland police vehicles, California Highway Patrol officers, and Oakland Public Works staff were gathered along E 12th waiting for residents to pack up their belongings and move away from the area.

Advocates said residents “felt unsafe” due to the hefty law enforcement presence.

One city worker, who was picking up debris near 16th Ave, said, “They’ve known we were coming for a long time now” in reference to resident confusion about the sweeping.

The state doubled down on its requirement to get cities and counties to deal with their homelessness crisis at a press conference Monday afternoon. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released a “model ordinance” that is intended to provide a starting point that local municipalities can use to build from and adjust in creating their own policies on encampments, if they haven’t done so yet.

Newsom said “No more excuses, time to deliver” after the state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into solving the issue.

Oakland was awarded a $7.2 million grant from the state in 2024 to close long-standing encampments in the city, including camps at Martin Luther King, Jr. and 23rd Street, and Mosswood Park.

Residents at these encampments were offered wraparound supportive services, temporary shelter, and eventually will be transitioned to permanent supportive housing, according to a city statement from last year.

Residents who accepted housing at these three encampments were moved into newly acquired property, formerly the Extended Stay America Hotel in West Oakland, which will first serve as interim housing for up to 150 individuals and couples in 105 units, and in the coming year, will be converted into 125 units of permanent housing.

Walsh said as of May 2, “32 residents of the recently closed Mosswood Park encampment moved into the Mandela House program” and as of May 12, “41 residents of the East 12th Street encampment have already accepted offers to move to the Mandela House.” The city will provide final numbers of how many accepted and moved into housing after the closure operation is over.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Barbara Lee

WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries Kick Off Season with Community Programs in Oakland

“The Golden State Valkyries are more than a team—they’re a movement,” said Oakland Interim-Mayor Kevin Jenkins. “Their touchdown in Oakland marks a new era of opportunity, inspiration, and equity in sports. This partnership reflects our city’s deep commitment to uplifting women, investing in youth, and building a community where every dream has a place to grow. We’re proud to welcome the Valkyries to The Town.”

Published

16 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The Valkyries came to Oakland City Hall with a “Hoopbus.” Present were (from left to right): City Councilmembers Noel Gallo, Rebecca Kaplan, Zac Unger and Rowena Brown; Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee, Valkyries President Jess Smith, a Valkyries team representative and Deputy Mayor LaNiece Jones. Photo courtesy Rebecca Kaplan’s office.

Team installs new nets at playgrounds, holds flag-raisings at City Halls in Oakland and S.F.

Special to The Post

The Golden State Valkyries brought the excitement of their inaugural season to every corner of the Bay Area with a full slate of community celebrations leading up to their historic home-opener against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday.

The week featured flag-raising ceremonies at city halls in Oakland and San Francisco, three “Violet Net” installation days at Oakland parks to encourage basketball play, fun “Hoopbus” takeovers at multiple schools presented by Kaiser Permanente, and player appearances.

In total, 90 violet nets were installed on 45 basketball courts across 34 public parks throughout Oakland this week. A list of the parks receiving violet nets can be found at Valkyries.com.

About the Golden State Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA affiliate of the seven-time NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, were announced as the 13th WNBA franchise on Oct. 5, 2023. According to Norse mythology, Valkyries are a host of warrior women who are fearless and unwavering – flying through air and sea alike.

This brand is Golden State’s modern interpretation of Valkyries: strong, bold, and fierce. Tipping off during the 2025 WNBA season, the team is headquartered in Oakland and will play home games at Chase Center in San Francisco. For Golden State Valkyries’ assets, including team logos, visit valkyries.com.