February 22, 2023. Oakland police took an average of four to six hours to respond to emergency calls in encampments during the last two fiscal years, according to the audit. Pushing people with no real and adequate shelter to accommodate them is inhumane and does not solve the larger problem.. We are in a catch-22., Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Report the issue to our encampment management team at [email protected]. Because of the connection to the earlier litigation, the case was assigned to Judge Orrick who entered a TRO on January 6, 2023. "What I have tried to do is create a possibility of relocation in a way that is the least harmful to the people who live on Wood Street," he said at the hearing. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones plays guitar. 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 action will set in motion the eviction of several dozen people living on a vacant, city-owned lot off Wood Street in West Oakland . 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. Housing | The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. Mayor Libby Schaaf, city administrator Ed Reiskin, police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and Daniel Cooper, the citys newly appointed homelessness administrator, were at Wood Street on Wednesday. The City Council has to approve the plans and construction is likely to take longer than other sites because a set of railroad tracks cuts through the property. Our Response Homelessness has doubled in the last 10 years. Californias stormy weather is having an unusual effect on S.F. Housing | Hall of Justice. Review and respond annually to the City's 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. Gov. There are about 4,000 homeless people many of them living in at least 140 . 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.. She started her journalism career reporting on crime and breaking news for The News-Press in Southwest Florida. The man was bleeding and was very confused asking police what he had done wrong. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). street outreach, homeless shelters, 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. Its absurd to think that we've gotten this far through this process and we have not had anybody take a survey of who is actually affected by this, McGowan said at the hearing. 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. If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. Police said a person allegedly assaulted a public works employee and when officers tried to detain him, he refused and they used force. After Caltrans clears part of the encampment, residents move to another part sometimes city property. The complaint stated, "The residents of 1707 Wood Street have nowhere to go. The decision from Judge William Orrick comes after a month-long legal battle between residents and the transit agency, the city, and the county. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove debris 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. street outreach, homeless shelters, transitional housing, housing exits, and permanent supportive housing as needed. 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. Caltrans can begin evicting the estimated 200 people who live under an 880 overpass in West Oakland after Labor Day, a federal district judge ruled Friday. 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. The residents would have a social contract, love thy neighbor and do no harm, Jones said. the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, cleared the parts of the encampment on its property. they paid around $400 a month in public assistance and charged. Ramona Choyce lost everything in a fire in March at the encampment, which has seen several blazes in the past year. When the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, residents and homeless advocates have blocked workers from entering and removing belongings. The Oakland City Council voted Monday to open a co-governed homeless encampment to provide shelter for 40 people in West Oakland making it potentially the second site that residents and. The plaintiffs and all living at the Wood Street encampment must make immediate plans to move.". A number of residents relocated to a two-acre parcel at 1707 Wood St. owned by Oakland. The land was mostly owned by Caltrans, and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant, on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents 5-days' notice to clear the site. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation 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. PUBLISHED: February 27, 2023 at 4:49 p.m. | UPDATED: February 28, 2023 at 1:58 p.m. A federal judge on Monday ruled the city can resume efforts to remove dozens of people from a large homeless. The fire at the Wood Street encampment is sending a plume of smoke over the San Francisco Bay and downtown Oakland. The only way to get through involves stepping over bulky items, bbq grills, bikes, tents, and garbage. Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. There were more than 40 people living there on Dec. 22, when Oakland gave notice that it intended to evict all persons on Jan. 9 to clear the site for the development of low-income housing. Local News | Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Caltrans says it's closing Oakland's Wood Street homeless encampment because of safety concerns. 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. He issued a temporary injunction on July 19, 2022. Gavin Newsoms administration just awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant to come up with a model at Wood Street one that can be replicated in other cities. The encampment spans nearly 25 city blocks with about 300 people living under freeways in tents, RVs and makeshift shelters amid burned-out vehicles, mounds of trash and dirt. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! News Feb 07, 2023 Caltrans plans to clear out 200 homeless people from the sprawling homeless encampment at Oaklands Wood Street by the first week of August, officials said. Over the years, advocates have thwarted city attempts to close the encampment, demanding that the city offer residents adequate shelter or to leave them be. He and the others had lived in four old buses one of which was destroyed during the move and a van. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? He said, "This TRO is not a long-term prohibition on Oakland's actions but rather a stopgap to prevent violation of constitutional rights that are likely to result from the combination of the state-of-emergency weather situation and the failure to provide alternative shelter.". Aric Crabb has been a staff photographer at the Bay Area News Group since 1998. Earlier this month, Gov. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Gavin Newsoms office publicly excoriated Oakland officials for failing to cooperate and threatened to withhold state funds. The report lays out 26 recommendations, all of which the city has committed to following, according to the auditors office. This chart is updated at the end of each month. Lara Tannenbaum, the citys human services manager, who was at the meeting, told The Chronicle last month that officials will meet with residents and any intervention would be done in partnership with them. Housing | 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. Staff Attorneys will primarily . A spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department said the department is investigating a use-of-force incident on Thursday just after 2:45 p.m. in the area of West Grand Avenue and Wood Street. 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. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? The city also spent money on contracts, legal costs, towing abandoned cars and police and fire responses to encampment emergencies. The Commission on Homelessness provides oversight of the Oakland vacant property tax received bv the City of Oakland for homeless services, and makes recommendations to the City Council for strategies to remedy homelessness. 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. Warriors treating Andrew Wiggins with understandable patience, but his Gov. That speaks to the demand and the concentration of homelessness, she added. Photograph: Talia Herman/The Guardian While the city did open a RV safe parking site for 40 vehicles at Wood Street last summer, its struggled to house more residents. The Administration is grateful that the City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive, citywide Encampment Management Policy last October, and are now beginning to identify the necessary resources to support this important work with an understanding that even more is necessary, Reiskin wrote in an emailed statement. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. The city did not immediately return a request for comment. 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. Hayward couple file lawsuit over harrowing honeymoon ocean ordeal in Hawaii. We appreciate your patience; the [email protected] service has been restored. In July the city began clearing an area between West Grand and 26th Street in Oakland in preparation for a shelter at the site, which would house approximately 50 people. The Oakland police department, the Oakland city councilmember responsible for the area, and the mayor's office official running specific policy towards homeless encampments did not respond to a . 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. I really love this life here.. She has provided coverage on wildfires, mass shootings, the fatal shooting of police officers and massive floods in the North Bay. (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. Velena Jones reports. Last year, 19 murders 18% of the citys total for the year occurred in encampments, according to the report. The city of Oakland agreed to assist residents on identifying their options. Designate high-sensitivity areas, where unmanaged encampments are presumed to cause unreasonably high levels of health and safety impacts due to the nature of the location; Designate low-sensitivity areas, where enforcement will not be prioritized. Oakland. Housing | 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. Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Multiple fires have erupted at the city's largest homeless encampment, which. 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Under these circumstances, the judge found that the standards for the TRO were no longer met. OAKLAND -- The biggest homeless encampment in Oakland will soon be shut down. A large fire broke out at the encampment on Monday,. 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. (213) 229-1700. Weve created a system of effective strategies that address homelessness at every step in the cycle. The commission also must follow an extensive legal process before being permitted to levy the $6,000 daily fine on Oakland, noted journalist Jaime Omar Yassin . 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. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. The city plans to offer approximately 40 emergency shelter beds to residents in the first phase of the closure, though its unclear how many people actually live in the affected area. Residents of the encampment said they know that Caltrans has long wanted to clear them out and plan to resist if the sweep happens. 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. The result is a shuffling with no long-term strategy on how to get people into more permanent, supportive housing. Now is the big showdown, said Theo Cedar Jones, a resident at Wood Street for nearly two years. Last year Caltrans cleared a much larger camp between 200 and 300 people on a neighboring lot owned by the transit agency. That case was assigned to Judge Orrick, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options. 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. Marisa Kendall is a housing reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers homelessness for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. 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.

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