Narcan spray and other sanitary products can be seen on a book shelf. City leaders say the encampment which spans property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies is a crisis, but officials havent cleared it, arguing they dont have enough shelter beds for everyone. They alleged that there were then 42 residents living at the site and only 27 shelter beds in the entire city. Although the first phase includes offers of temporary shelter, Orrick said subsequent phases could continue whether or not shelter was available. Ruined vegetation, broken irrigation lines and damaged fencing at Lake Merritt, as well as. 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. 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"These are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost.". The encampment is now so huge that some residents drive buses and motorcycles to get from one end to the other. Its uncertain if Caltrans has the authority to clear land it doesnt own. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. 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. City officials have been . Housing | 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 . Caltrans couldnt immediately be reached for further comment. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Call Taker: Is the homeless encampment within 500 feet of a waterway (creek, lake or bay)? $400 rent for the low income housing they made. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. A burned-out van amid charred rubble of where Ramon Choyce once lived at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Local News | They have lacked funding, housing options and staff, he said. 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 only way to get through involves stepping over bulky items, bbq grills, bikes, tents, and garbage. In these situations, the Encampment Response Map will include information about the code violation case instead of details about an encampment cleanup effort. The money would fund a new community cabin site or tiny home village at Wood Street for about 50 people. "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. A day later, tensions escalated when witnesses said Oakland police tased an encampment resident. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? As he drove past the intersection of 21st and E streets in Northwest Washington, a 68-year-old man peered through the window, struck by an encampment of homeless people here that grew from 10 . Their. Bay Bridge light display will go dark after a decade Sunday. Without a "constitutional right to housing," Orrick said he had no authority to allow the encampment to remain on the property. Among its recommendations, the audit found the city should ensure staff members are trained in crisis management and interacting with traumatized encampment residents. 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. Oakland firefighters responded to 90% of the 988 encampment calls they received in less than eight minutes. The Oakland City Council has . 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. The pandemic caused the city to halt most encampment closures, but now city staff say closures are on the table as long as shelter space is available. Caltrans crews remove a vehicle from the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on July 19, 2022. hese are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost. The judge noted that while the U.S. constitution does not require the government to protect people from harm caused by third persons, there is an exception when the state "affirmatively places [a plaintiff] in danger by acting with deliberate indifference to a known or obvious danger.". Local News | Californias stormy weather is having an unusual effect on S.F. The homelessness crisis also has taken a toll on Oakland's public parks, according to the audit. Earlier this month, another federal judge allowed that work to continue. Jones and several other residents want the city and state to give them the land to build their own community, equipped with a kitchen and common area to play music. 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. 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. We cant go far, Clutch said. He concluded his decision with "I recognize that no party is happy with this order. Its unclear whether residents will be open to moving to a city-sanctioned site. Clutch, a 40-year-old resident, holds his neighbors dog, Panda, near his van at Oaklands Wood Street homeless encampment. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. She said shed never seen such a big escalation, referring to the tasing. 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. City and state leaders say a deadly fire that occurred in April at the site, killing one and displacing five, makes action there all the more urgent. But that's only a fraction of the more than 5,000 encampments on . They come in out of nowhere, said Ben Murawski, another Wood Street resident, lamenting how agency employees destroy our homes.. In the six weeks following the TRO, the city advanced the RV park and cabin community projects to a point where it represented to the judge that it would be able to "hold" enough spots to accommodate all the 1707 Wood Street residents who wanted to be sheltered. The Encampment Management Team tracks all known encampments and prioritizes interventions based on health, safety, and size issues. Previously, she covered breaking news and crime for The Chronicle. 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. they paid around $400 a month in public assistance and charged. 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. But Orrick said requiring Caltrans to provide those resources was beyond the scope of the law. The Encampment Management Team is responsible for implementing the Encampment Management Policy and directing coordination across city departments. Stuffed animals are seen on a couch at the Wood Street encampment on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California. Caltrans crews remove a vehicle from the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on July 19, 2022. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? Oakland, together we can meet this crisis, expand our progress, and reduce homelessness in our community. 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. According to a report by the city administrative officer, the new East Hollywood campground costs approximately $2,663 per participant per month. 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. Caltrans crews wait to clear the Wood Street encampment in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2022, while residents and advocates block the road. View the map in a new window. Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. 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.. 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. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones points to a map of the area hes living near. It is . The man was bleeding and was very confused asking police what he had done wrong. The departments goal is to respond to 90% of calls within seven minutes. 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. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years 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. Talya Husbands-Hankin, a homeless advocate who witnessed the incident, said the city was out in extreme force, resulting in more trauma for the unhoused residents.. 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. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove a couch 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. After Caltrans clears part of the encampment, residents move to another part sometimes city property. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing 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. Raised eyebrows. The audit found the City was not adequately prepared to shoulder such a massive project and the (encampment management team) was overwhelmed by the undertaking of closing and cleaning encampments throughout Oakland, City Auditor Courtney Ruby wrote in an open letter to Mayor Libby Schaaf, the City Council and other city officials. Some people keep watch out for fires or other dangers. There are about 4,000 homeless people many of them living in at least 140 . 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Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7. 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. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? The city estimates there are at least 140 encampments scattered throughout Oakland. Newsom paid a surprise visit to the encampment in April to show the inhumane living conditions too many Californians face.. people had to eat at charity style centers, and a sunday 'picnic in the park' feed. City workers do a sweep at the homeless encampment under Interstate 580 in West Oakland as the city promise to deliver porter potties, fences, regular trash pickup, and counseling . To reduce homelessness, we must slow its growth and keep more people in their homes. The complaint stated, "The residents of 1707 Wood Street have nowhere to go. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation 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. 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. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group). All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! The city has demonstrated it now has enough shelter beds for everyone who will be displaced by the camps closure, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled. But a solution might be on the horizon. The report lays out 26 recommendations, all of which the city has committed to following, according to the auditors office. Hall of Justice. 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 city wants to build the state-funded community cabin site in partnership with residents and a provider who would offer wraparound services at the site. Copyright 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Santa Ana, California 92703. 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. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. 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. 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. 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. After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp Homeless advocates said residents were offered alternative shelter spaces. They did not respond to questions as to what the object was. Russell Wilson asked for Pete Carroll, Seahawks GM to be fired; QB denies report. The encampment is one of the. The EMT is facilitated by the City Administrator's Office via the Homelessness Administrator and receives input and advice from the Commission on Homelessness. The choice: Leave, or hunker down. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. (KRON4 News) OAKLAND ( KRON) - A two-alarm fire in an Oakland homeless . But those plans were slow in coming. 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. Residents of the encampment said they know that Caltrans has long wanted to clear them out and plan to resist if the sweep happens. A separate request earlier this month to halt Oakland workers from clearing parts of the encampment on land it owns was denied. Police said a person allegedly assaulted a public works employee and when officers tried to detain him, he refused and they used force. On Monday, police said the man is facing charges for throwing an object at a vehicle. But if it fails to get people into real shelter and housing, it could be a cautionary tale for officials throughout California struggling with mushrooming encampments. 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. Fed up with homeless encampments that have taken over streets, parks and open spaces, a group of Oakland residents is suing the city. 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. Cars, RVs and debris burned Monday, sending a giant cloud of smoke into the sky, and freezing highway traffic in the vicinity. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Their model is wrong, he said. Its unclear if the transportation agency meant the entire Wood Street encampment or only the part located on land it owns. kept in homes through Keep Oakland Housed in Fiscal Year 19-20, moved from homelessness to permanent housing in Fiscal Year 19-20, Oakland doubled transitional housing capacity from 2018-2020, City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street, Estelle Clemons, Interim Director of Human Services and, Daniel Cooper, Homelessness Administrator, The Funding will enable the Kingdom Builders Transitional Housing project to make accessibility and other improvements to the building to address the needs of some of our most vulnerable neighbors, Learn About the City's Homelessness Strategy, Joint Statement regarding Homeless Services Performance Audit, City of Oakland Receives $5.6M Homekey Award for Transitional Housing Acquisition and Rehabilitation. The city also spent money on contracts, legal costs, towing abandoned cars and police and fire responses to encampment emergencies. 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. At issue is a large encampment on a city-owned piece of vacant land off Wood Street in West Oakland. We're not homeless. 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