OAKLAND - Fire swept through a homeless encampment near the MacArthur Maze highway interchange in West Oakland on Monday morning. Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street The majority of the $12.6 million spent over the past two years went to staff and equipment associated with closing and cleaning encampments, as well as providing garbage services, portable toilets and water at camps. The plaintiffs have raised serious questions that the state will violate their constitutional rights, Orrick wrote in his July order, by placing them in increased danger when it removes them at short notice from the encampment without adequate plans to provide shelter.. Housing | Los Angeles, California 90012. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group). Caltrans has cleared the parts of the encampment on its property three times in the past year and says it will continue to do so if safety concerns, such as fires, continue. And it was clear at the hearing that the city, county and Caltrans still had not worked out a plan for a number of different issues related to the encampment's closure, including who would do the outreach to residents and where residents' belongings would be kept. 6 of 23 7 of 23. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones points to a map of the area hes living near at the Wood Street encampment on April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California.on Friday. City leaders have been struggling with how to deal with the massive encampment, which has exploded in size over the past seven years. He concluded his decision with "I recognize that no party is happy with this order. It is both a humanitarian duty and a civic expectation that our homeless become housed, and our City streets and parks are returned to their intended public uses.. In May, city officials told The Chronicle that they dont have enough shelter beds to offer to everyone at Wood Street. Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided Sign up for our daily newsletter. Since the restraining order was issued, another 12 fires have broken out on the site, Orrick said at the hearing. That would allow the city and county to figure out their outreach programs so that there could be actual adequate outreach, she said, instead of a rushed approach that will lead to immense danger and harm to the residents.. Call Taker: Is the homeless encampment within 500 feet of a waterway (creek, lake or bay)? Judge blocks Caltrans' plans to clear Oakland homeless encampment near Its been a struggle just to stand up emergency shelters.. Fed up with homeless encampments that have taken over streets, parks and open spaces, a group of Oakland residents is suing the city. In his written decision dissolving the injunction, Orrick recognized that even with the additional time and the help of the city, there were going to be people who would experience serious hardship. OAKLAND, CA When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6, 2023 forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707. Caltrans has completed much smaller sweeps in the past. The fire at the Wood Street encampment is sending a plume of smoke over the San Francisco Bay and downtown Oakland. Caltrans removed five people living on its property between 16th and 20th streets after the deadly fire in April and is now installing concrete barriers and fencing to prevent people from returning to the area. The city may now post notices of the closure and shall give individuals at the encampment at least seven days notice before the closure begins, Orrick wrote. "I realize that there are alternatives that public policy could be generating that would work better for homelessness than what has happened in the past. The city also spent money on contracts, legal costs, towing abandoned cars and police and fire responses to encampment emergencies. A show made by people behind bars in California prisons. Recommendations from the Commission on how to prioritize the allocation of funds in accordance with the requirements of this Chapter, including for: services and programs for homeless people, reduction of homelessness, and supporting the provision of affordable housing to households qualifying as at least low-income households (those at 55% AMI or below). Since the policy has gone into effect, two Oakland nonprofits have burned as a result of fires started in areas where the city knew there to be encampments. Fire sweeps through homeless encampment near MacArthur Maze in Oakland Homeless Encampment Closure Allowed By Judge | Alameda, CA Patch A large column of black smoke rises Tuesday, April 5, 2022, from a fire at a homeless encampment next to West Grand Avenue and Wood Street in Oakland's Prescott neighborhood. Home Depot pressures Oakland to remove homeless encampment The number of people sleeping on Oaklands streets jumped from 1,902 in 2017 to 3,210 in 2019, according to the most recent point-in-time counts. Jones and several residents presented their idea of a self-governed site to city staff and Fife at a meeting last summer. Bay, Heres where California reservoir levels stand after recent rainfall, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Determine findings that will prompt EMT intervention; Provide guidance on addressing unreasonable health and safety risks, promoting voluntary compliance, and strategies to address non-compliance. Photos by Bront Wittpenn and Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle, decried the lack of access to clean water, just awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Home used to be a tent at the 77th Street homeless encampment, where they had to fill two . Stay in touch. Unhoused people in Oakland built an eco-oasis during the pandemic Members of the cleanup crew rolled tires and lifted couches overhead as larger equipment moved car after car, some just burned-out shells, off the state-owned lot. And, he ordered the state transportation agency to work with staff from the city of Oakland and from Alameda County to come up with a plan to relocate residents. Oaklanders say homelessness is the most urgent issue facing the city I stretched the point up until now in order to try to get to some sort of a place that recognizes the humanity of the people who've been talking to me.. Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years who lives in a makeshift shelter, said he doesnt like the citys community cabin model and wouldnt use it. Hall of Justice. When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6, 2023, forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707 Wood St., he told the . OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove numerous items from the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. When the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, residents and homeless advocates have blocked workers from entering and removing belongings. On Monday, police said the man is facing charges for throwing an object at a vehicle. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years At the start of 2020, the city was conducting several camp closures each monthseven in January, and nine each in February and Marchuntil COVID-19 cases began rising and the county went on lockdown. The encampment is one of the. Where can we fit that? A hand-painted sign can be seen at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, May 3, 2022. At issue is a large encampment on a city-owned piece of vacant land off Wood Street in West Oakland. The homeless population has jumped by 63% since 2017 in Oakland, where the median house sales price is about $750,000. The EMT is facilitated by the City Administrator's Office via the Homelessness Administrator and receives input and advice from the Commission on Homelessness. Because of the connection to the earlier litigation, the case was assigned to Judge Orrick who entered a TRO on January 6, 2023. Narcan spray and other sanitary products can be seen on a book shelf at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, May 2, 2022. Police tagged vehicles with illegal parking notices as residents scrambled to move motorcycles, cars and RVs. They declined to speak to reporters. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Local News | The new report, completed by City Auditor Courtney Ruby, found that the EMT was "overwhelmed by the undertaking of closing and cleaning encampments throughout Oakland." Ruby found that Oakland spent $12.6 million on tasks related to encampments over the past two years, and roughly $1,500 an hour on camp closures and cleanings. City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street, Estelle Clemons, Interim Director of Human Services and, Daniel Cooper, Homelessness Administrator, Court order would allow phased clean-up and closure operation to resume to abate potentially hazardous conditions that threaten public health and safety, Completed Encampment Management Operations, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Update - October 2022, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Encampment - July 2022, HOJA INFORMATIVA: Intervenciones para la gestin del campamento de Wood Street, FACT SHEET: East 12th Street Median Encampment - October 2022, Completed Encampment Management Team Operations Since 2021, Joint Statement regarding Homeless Services Performance Audit, Federal Judge Indicates Approval of City of Oaklands Thoughtful Outreach and Services Plan in Support of Caltrans Encampment Closure Operation on Wood Street. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking. She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. City Administrator Ed Reiskin said city employees have worked hard to compassionately manage the surge in encampments, while acknowledging they havent always had clear policy direction or sufficient resources. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking spaces and 353 city-funded transitional-shelter beds. Newly formed Oakland homeless encampment on Caltrans property cleared In the meantime, residents say they live in constant fear that they will be forced to leave with little notice. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members watch as workers clear a section of the Wood Street homeless encampment near an area known as Cob on Wood on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. But the lots homeless residents, who have developed a tight-knit community they call the Commons, argue theyll suffer when that community is broken up and theyre forced to scatter to other locations including to shelter programs that might not meet their physical and mental health needs. I really love this life here.. At the time, city officials said they didnt yet have a timeline on when the new cabin community at Wood Street would break ground. Today at 621AM OFD responded to report of an RV fire at East 12th & 17th Ave. E4 arrived and found 2 RV's & 12 . We cant go far, Clutch said. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: A member of the Oakland Police Department posts warning notices for illegally parked vehicles at the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. A lawsuit alleges that Stanford-trained chemists Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster nearly drowned after a dive boat left them behind in choppy water near Maui. When the City decides to close an encampment, the Team makes every effort to relocate encampment dwellers to emergency shelters or community cabins. An attorney for the city said it doesn't have enough safe parking sites for everyone to bring their vehicles there. City staff were there to clear out residents from the northern part of the encampment, near the city-sanctioned RV safe parking site. I do not look forward to being kicked out. street outreach, homeless shelters, transitional housing, housing exits, and permanent supportive housing as needed. Caltrans plans to clear 200 homeless people from the sprawling site by the first week of August, officials said. Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to fund a new community cabin site or tiny home village at Wood Street for about 50 people and to figure out how to help others at the site. Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. Multiple. We're not homeless. Last year Caltrans cleared a much larger camp between 200 and 300 people on a neighboring lot owned by the transit agency. Oaklands $12.6 million effort to deal with its recent explosion of homeless encampments was haphazard, lacking strategy, policy direction and adequate funding, according to a scathing new city audit. Inside a Homeless Encampment as It's Being Torn Down OAKLAND, CA - MAY 5: A homeless encampment is photographed on a plot of land along East 12th Street and 1st Avenue on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. Here's where Oakland wants to build new homeless housing Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Attorneys for Caltrans said the encampment posed a serious health and safety risk, citing some 200 fires at the Wood Street encampment over the past two years. The news of the clearing comes after a two-alarm fire broke out Monday at the site, which dozens of blazes have torn through over the past year. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. A United Nations report from 2018, for example, stated that a U.N. investigator witnessed officials "attempting to discourage residents from remaining in informal settlements or encampments by denying access to water, sanitation and health services and other basic necessities, [which] constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment and is a . Weve created a system of effective strategies that address homelessness at every step in the cycle. Homeless Encampment - Issue #13733349 - Civic Center, Oakland, CA Clutch, a 40-year-old Wood Street encampment resident who said he has no last name, was one of the five people moved last month. We are ready to scale up for reductions in homelessness, though new state and federal funds and more intergovernmental coordination are needed. Oakland, together we can meet this crisis, expand our progress, and reduce homelessness in our community. You can report an encampment at the following locations: Bridges Highways Parks or playgrounds Outside of residential and commercial buildings Roadway tunnels Streets and sidewalks Subway stations Report an encampment. In July, a large fire damaged a portion of Interstate 880. The city doesnt have the resources to close something as large as Wood Street, said LaTonda Simmons, the citys former interim homelessness administrator. Local News | View the map in a new window. But that's only a fraction of the more than 5,000 encampments on . Theyre too densely packed together.. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. ", previously halted Caltrans plans to clear the camp. As in the earlier case, the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the eviction would amount to an unconstitutional state-created danger. And where do we go? Workers have been clearing the sprawling camp in phases, a process that started in July. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. The Encampment Management Team is responsible for implementing the Encampment Management Policy and directing coordination across city departments. Complete clearing of total area without option to return, Partial clearing of an encamped area without option to return, Cleaning of an area with the option to return, May apply to a portion of or the total area, Regularly established garbage clearing and temporary sanitation. people had to eat at charity style centers, and a sunday 'picnic in the park' feed. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oakland's most vulnerable. 2 arrested as CHP, Caltrans begin clearing Wood Street encampment in Specifically, the audit found the City lacked an effective strategy for dealing with the growth in encampments and did not provide sufficient policy direction or adequate funding at the onset of this crisis, the letter continued. Ruined vegetation, broken irrigation lines and damaged fencing at Lake Merritt, as well as degraded water quality in the tidal marsh, will cost the city an estimated $550,000, according to the report. To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. That order was dissolved about a month later, when the city said it was set to open a new tiny home site near the encampment, and a safe parking site in East Oakland for people living in RVs. The spokesperson said officers were at the scene to assist the citys public works department with an intervention and closure of a small part of the encampment. Bay Bridge light display will go dark after a decade Sunday. The encampment is now so huge that some residents drive buses and motorcycles to get from one end to the other. Over the past seven years, Oaklands Wood Street encampment has exploded in size. The homelessness crisis also has taken a toll on Oakland's public parks, according to the audit. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing The audit also analyzed the citys ability to respond when its unhoused communities need help. This is our home.. The Oakland, California Homeless Problem is Beyond Belief James Wiseman, leadership genius? Federal court order opens the way for Oakland residents to move to new Information, if available, concerning the impacts of programs funded bv the Vacant Property Tax (2018 Measure W1 and 2020 Measure Q homelessness funds subject to Commission oversight this Ordinance on the occurrence of homelessness and illegal dumping outcomes in the City; Recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council on the Biennial Fiscal Year Budget, in accordance with the City Councils Consolidated Fiscal Policy at the time, that ensures that the Commission Chair communicates homelessness priorities to the Mayor and Council: and. California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could I-80 closed across Donner Summit as snowstorm pummels Sierra, San Francisco citizens once traveled by gondola. That injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. For now, it appears that camp residents will have at least another long weekend at the park before the standoff continues. We appreciate your patience; the homelessness@oaklandca.gov service has been restored. While the city was working to open a safe parking area for RVs that would accommodate 29 vehicles and a "cabin community" with 31 beds, neither site was yet ready for occupancy. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Husbands-Hankin said she saw an officer tase the man and tackle him to the ground. She said shed never seen such a big escalation, referring to the tasing. Police said a person allegedly assaulted a public works employee and when officers tried to detain him, he refused and they used force. They have lacked funding, housing options and staff, he said. Housing | Newsom paid a surprise visit to the encampment in April to show the inhumane living conditions too many Californians face.. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. Earlier this month, Gov. City officials have been . In July, Caltrans alerted the residents they would have five days to pack their belongings and leave. She has provided coverage on wildfires, mass shootings, the fatal shooting of police officers and massive floods in the North Bay. Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. Gov. We do need permanent supportive housing and where is it? I used to frequently take my kids in the stroller on this walk but now in addition to being . Caltrans spokesperson Rocquel Johnson said the agency plans to eventually completely close the parts of the encampment that are under freeway overpasses and work to relocate people to safer conditions.. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. The Oakland Fire . Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, cleared the parts of the encampment on its property. Fife said the site which could offer pallet shelters, a community kitchen, bathrooms and wraparound services could house many of Wood Streets residents. We got three buses. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years Repairing damage to lighting at Union Point Park is expected to cost another $500,000, not including additional repairs that must be done to bathrooms, landscaping, benches and other amenities. Sweep of massive Oakland homeless camp stalled by federal judge they paid around $400 a month in public assistance and charged. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers take a break during a partial clearing of the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. The money would fund a new community cabin site or tiny home village at Wood Street for about 50 people. Ramona Choyce lost everything in a fire in March at the encampment, which has seen several blazes in the past year. Wood Street encampment in Oakland to be shut down by Caltrans - KRON4 The residents would have a social contract, love thy neighbor and do no harm, Jones said. City of Oakland | Encampment Management Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. The City has implemented a number of interventions at every step in the cycle. Raised eyebrows. Both the city and the camps residents have different ideas for what the future should be for the land and the people who live there. He said his latest order could be rescinded if the city fails to provide enough shelter beds or fails to make outreach workers available to help displaced residents find alterative shelter. The final 2019-2021 budget allocates $32 million to address homelessness by: expanding health, sanitation, safety services for unsheltered residents funding self-governed encampments and temporary housing options such as tiny homes, shipping containers, and mobile homes. July 11, 2022 / 6:27 PM / CBS San Francisco. Lydia Blumberg, whos lived at Wood Street for at least five years, called the decision beyond disappointing., Everyone wants to wash their hands of us, she said after the hearing. The decision from Judge William Orrick comes after a month-long legal battle between residents and the transit agency, the city, and the county. Judge Prevents Caltrans From Clearing Oakland Homeless Encampment The transportation agency said in a release they will begin shutting down the entire encampment in phases beginning July 20 and will work with city officials and the county to place people in alternate shelter. Russell Wilson asked for Pete Carroll, Seahawks GM to be fired; QB denies report. Related Articles It dissolves a restraining order that previously halted Caltrans plans to clear the camp and allows the city to begin a phased closure of the encampment. The Citys suggestion that it has no responsibility for homeless individuals on state property unless there is a specific earmark is simply unacceptable, Patterson wrote.
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