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Unhoused West Oakland Residents Evicted

Published

6 years ago

September 26, 2019

Oakland’s Department of Public Works (DPW) and Police Department followed Mayor Libby Schaaf’s city administration’s orders on Tuesday to evict about two dozen homeless residents who lived along the perimeter of Raimondi Park in West Oakland.

“[The City of Oakland] is messing with peoples’ lives,” said 56-year-old homeless resident Larry Coke, who grew up in Oakland. “This is not a checker or chess game and they can’t just move people around anytime they feel like it.”

Many of the Raimondi Park homeless residents were surprised at the sudden eviction. In the past, city workers had come by to do outreach work and had given residents two weeks notice before they were forced to relocate. This time, Coke reports, no representatives came and he found out about the move due to a notice posted four days before the eviction by Operation Dignity, a local non-profit that works in collaboration with the city.

The homeless residents were also surprised at the sudden move because on May 1, 2019, the city had provided toilets, barriers to protect them from traffic, and had given them permission to live along Raimondi Park’s perimeter between 18th and 20th streets, an area that borders a field used for soccer and football. Previously they’d lived scattered all around the park.

Oakland’s DPW removed the barriers and bathrooms during the eviction. They also destroyed two self-made homes and cleared debris. Auto Plus Towing towed at least three vehicles out of the area, one of which belonged to Anthony Thompkins, a person who has lived in Oakland since his childhood and had been using his vehicle as a home.

Thompkins had trouble moving during the eviction day due to various health problems and a recent operation. His right toe appeared swollen to roughly twice its normal size as he talked with The Oakland Post.

“The people in that area were…recently evicted and forced to move all of their belongings over to this spot where the city said they would be safe,” said Talya Husbands-Hankin, who volunteers with the Homeless Advocacy Working Group and was on site during the eviction to help the homeless residents. “For the city to ask them to move again on an extremely hot day with nothing provided except what volunteers bring is unacceptable.”

Accuweather reports that the temperature reached 95 degrees in West Oakland during the eviction day.The Oakland Post has emailed Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney three times over the past month asking for comments related to the homeless people staying in her district but she has not responded.

The Oakland Post asked Assistant City Administrator Joe DeVries why the homeless people were being forced to move, but he has not responded.

Homeless people that The Oakland Post spoke with insisted that they want more communication, collaboration, and better plans from Schaaf and the city officials who directly make policy.

“I don’t need to hear from Operation Dignity or the police and I’m not blaming them” said Larry Coke. “I need to hear from the people who are in charge.”

“They don’t have nobody come out and try to help people like me who had an operation and can’t get around,” said Anthony Thompkins. “They should collaborate with us instead of sending the police who just run us off the place.”

Zack Haber

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Oakland Post: Week of July 2- 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 2 – 8, 2025

Published

1 week ago

July 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Trump Set to Sign Largest Cut to Medicaid After a Marathon Protest Speech by Leader Jeffries

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S.

Published

1 week ago

July 3, 2025

Oakland Post

By Lauren Burke

By a vote of 218 to 214, the GOP-controlled U.S. House passed President Trump’s massive budget and spending bill that will add $3.5 trillion to the national debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The bill also represents the biggest cut in Medicare in history and is a threat to the health care coverage of over 15 million people. The spending in Trump’s signature legislation also opens the door to a second era of over-incarceration in the U.S. With $175 billion allocated in spending for immigration enforcement, the money for more police officers eclipsed the 2026 budget for the U.S. Marines, which is $57 billion. Almost all of the policy focus from the Trump Administration has focused on deporting immigrants of color from Mexico and Haiti.

The vote occurred as members were pressed to complete their work before the arbitrary deadline of the July 4 holiday set by President Trump. It also occurred after Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the House floor for over 8 hours in protest. Leader Jeffries broke the record in the U.S. House for the longest floor speech in history on the House floor. The Senate passed the bill days before and was tied at 50-50, with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that, “my hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.” There were no changes made to the Senate bill by the House. A series of overnight phone calls to Republicans voting against, not changes, was what won over enough Republicans to pass the legislation, even though it adds trillions to the debt. The Trump spending bill also cuts money to Pell grants.

“The Big Ugly Bill steals food out of the hands of starving children, steals medicine from the cabinets of cancer patients, and equips ICE with more funding and more weapons of war than the United States Marine Corps. Is there any question of who those agents will be going to war for, or who they will be going to war against? Beyond these sadistic provisions, Republicans just voted nearly unanimously to close urban and rural hospitals, cripple the child tax credit, and to top it all off, add $3.3 trillion to the ticking time bomb that is the federal deficit – all from a party that embarrassingly pretends to stand for fiscal responsibility and lowering costs,” wrote Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Yvette Clarke (D-NY) in a statement on July 3.

“The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 17 million people will lose their health insurance, including over 322,000 Virginians. It will make college less affordable. Three million people will lose access to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And up to 16 million students could lose access to free school meals. The Republican bill does all of this to fund tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and corporations,” wrote Education and Workforce Committee ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) in a statement. The bill’s passage has prompted Democrats to start thinking about 2026 and the next election cycle. With the margins of victory in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate being so narrow, many are convinced that the balance of power and the question of millions being able to enjoy health care come down to only several thousand votes in congressional elections. But currently, Republicans controlled by the MAGA movement control all three branches of government. That reality was never made more stark and more clear than the last seven days of activity in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.