On Monday, six weeks later, he proved his suspicions correct and dissolved the TRO, authorizing the city to clear the site and begin to ready the property for an affordable housing development. Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, May 3, 2022. Earlier this week, a coalition of residents wrote a public letter to state, city and county officials urging them to work with them. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. Caltrans to boost California homeless encampment cleanups | The And where do we go? Audit: Oaklands $12.6 million homelessness, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, Audit: Oaklands $12.6 million homelessness response lacked strategy, direction, Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided, Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation, Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years, After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp. The judge quickly sided with the homeless residents, and issued a temporary order barring the city from clearing the camp at least until the city could prove it had enough shelter beds for everyone displaced. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Homeless Encampment - Issue #14153196 - Brookfield Village, Oakland, CA Staff closed and cleaned about 500 encampments during the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years including camps that were closed once, repopulated, and then were closed again. 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. A large fire that swept through a homeless encampment underneath the 880 Freeway in West Oakland on Monday destroyed several vehicles and RVs before it was put . At issue is a large encampment on a city-owned piece of vacant land off Wood Street in West Oakland. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. Hope and Disappointment for the Homeless in Oakland After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp But the time for finger-pointing and disclaimers of responsibility is over. She and her husband, Lenton, live in a 20-foot trailer at the Coliseum Stadium parking lot in Oakland. There are 32 beds available in the new tiny home site off Wood Street, and another 28 new safe parking spaces in East Oakland, the city said in a court filing. The Oakland city auditor in April released a report that highlighted a litany of problems that plague the city's estimated 140 homeless communities, including: 1,599 interventions for "hygiene . 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. The city says it needs to clear the camp to make way for a 170-unit affordable housing project planned for the site. 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.. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? But the city didnt give the team the resources it needed including a budget, according to the audit. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp that once covered 40 acres under the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland where between 200 and 300 people lived in vehicles, RVs, tents and other makeshift structures. City of Oakland | Oakland's Response to Homelessness The city of Oakland pursued closures of 98 encampments during the two years we examined. When could it return? That speaks to the demand and the concentration of homelessness, she added. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. Aric Crabb has been a staff photographer at the Bay Area News Group since 1998. 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. The choice: Leave, or hunker down. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oakland's most vulnerable. Caltrans OK to Clear Oakland's Largest Homeless Encampment, Federal The city spent $12.6 million over the past two fiscal years, mostly unbudgeted, to manage the camps that have spread across city streets, sidewalks, parks and open spaces, according to a report released Wednesday by the city auditor. Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street 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. Last year, 19 murders 18% of the citys total for the year occurred in encampments, according to the report. He and the others had lived in four old buses one of which was destroyed during the move and a van. The Encampment Management Team tracks all known encampments and prioritizes interventions based on health, safety, and size issues. Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. According to "point-in-time" counts cited in their pleadings, there were 5,055 individuals in Oakland experiencing homelessness, of which 3,347 were unsheltered. 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. Tuesday at 3:07 PM. Related Articles They asked for resources to make the encampment safer, including access to dumpsters for trash removal, fire extinguishers, sand buckets, water hoses and assistance creating markers throughout the encampment so that emergency service providers could more easily navigate the area. 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. Large Homeless Encampment in Oakland California. 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. Now is the big showdown, said Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years. Oakland residents told a polling firm in 2023 that homelessness, such as at the Wood Street encampment, is their top concern for the city to address in its coming budget. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Housing | A federal judge on Friday refused to let Caltrans "wash their hands" of people living in a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland by clearing them from it. Homeless Encampment at Lake Merritt Blvd Oakland, CA, 94607, USA: Hi, both sidewalks on either side of the channel going from Lake Merritt to the Bay are entirely blocked by homeless encampments. Dozens of Caltrans workers and California Highway . Some people keep watch out for fires or other dangers. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. "These are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost.". We got three buses. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Review and respond annually to the Citys Homeless Encampment Policy and the Permanent Access to Housing Path Plan which shall be presented to the Commission, as well as hear reports on the housing, programs, and services for persons experiencing homelessness in the City including, but not limited to. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. that was may . Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Russell Wilson asked for Pete Carroll, Seahawks GM to be fired; QB denies report. To report an issue related to an encampment, please email Homelessness@oaklandca.gov. Their. 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. The Oakland, California Homeless Problem is Beyond Belief Nick Johnson 762K subscribers Subscribe 112K 13M views 1 year ago #california #moving Is this where America is headed? Under these circumstances, the judge found that the standards for the TRO were no longer met. At the time, city officials said they didnt yet have a timeline on when the new cabin community at Wood Street would break ground. Wood Street encampment in Oakland to be shut down by Caltrans - KRON4 Nobody who lived in the homeless camp on Wood Street in Oakland was surprised when police cars and helmeted motorcycle officers started driving up and down the block early on a Tuesday. The complaint stated, "The residents of 1707 Wood Street have nowhere to go. The man, who was not identified, was taken into custody. They said the city had not fulfilled promises made in connection with the prior lawsuit. To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. Previously, she covered breaking news and crime for The Chronicle. High Cost Of Los Angeles Homeless Camp Raises Eyebrows And Questions July 20, 2022 / 8:52 AM / CBS San Francisco OAKLAND -- A federal judge on Tuesday granted a temporary order blocking Caltrans from clearing a homeless encampment under the MacArthur Maze. That injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. 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. She said shed never seen such a big escalation, referring to the tasing. But IT network challenges ended up delaying the opening of the tiny homes (the city proclaimed a state of emergency earlier this month after a ransomware attack brought down many online systems), prompting the judge to once again bar Oakland from clearing the camp. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options, Activist Judy Heumann led a reimagining of what it means to be disabled, How this year's Selma Bridge Crossing could mark a community renaissance, Storms across the U.S. cause deaths and power outages, Russia's foreign minister gets laughed at over Ukraine remarks at a global conference. 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.. Officials have argued that they dont have enough shelter beds to accommodate the number of people living at the encampment, which spans 25 city blocks. 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. To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. And Caltrans officials said the vehicles would be too difficult to move. In the meantime, residents at Wood Street say few officials have come to consult with them on relocation plans. 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. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? Meanwhile, Council Member Carroll Fife, who represents the district that includes the Wood Street encampment, has directed the city administration to study creating an emergency shelter for 1,000 people on a section of the former Oakland Army Base. But the injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. Caltrans to clear Oakland homeless encampment near MacArthur Maze One dead, five displaced in West Oakland encampment blaze - East Bay Times Now, they live on city property along Wood Streets right-of-way. Fife said the site which could offer pallet shelters, a community kitchen, bathrooms and wraparound services could house many of Wood Streets residents. He concluded his decision with "I recognize that no party is happy with this order. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oaklands most vulnerable. Thursday evening, representatives from the city of Oakland submitted a plan for a phased closure of the site, beginning at its northernmost edge, where a fire on July 11 sent plumes of black smoke onto the 880 overpass. City of Oakland | Encampment Management Fire flares up at homeless encampment under Oakland freeway - Los Caltrans has completed much smaller sweeps in the past. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. Call Taker: Is the homeless encampment within 500 feet of a waterway (creek, lake or bay)? The EMT is facilitated by the City Administrator's Office via the Homelessness Administrator and receives input and advice from the Commission on Homelessness. 6 of 23 7 of 23. And Orrick agreed. City leaders have been struggling with how to deal with the massive encampment, which has exploded in size over the past seven years. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. The plaintiffs and all living at the Wood Street encampment must make immediate plans to move.". After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp As of last week, the city has offered shelter beds to about 70 people at the Wood Street encampment, according to the court filing. The audit also found the city needs to collect better data on encampments, increase outreach to unhoused people, provide better notice to camp residents before a camp will be closed, improve its efforts to collect and preserve residents belongings when a camp is closed, and create a comprehensive policy on transporting displaced camp residents. 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. Despite the problems, Wood Street residents say they look out for each other and have formed a self-sufficient community, building homes using wood panels and doors among the abandoned railroad tracks.