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Is a Billionaire Serving Unhoused Oakland Residents Eviction Notices?

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Game Changer LLC has erected a fence and served eviction papers to nine unhoused Oakland residents. The fence pictured to the left surrounds the broken down RV that serves as Natasha Noel’s home, who is a long term Oakland resident. Photo by Zack Haber.

In mid-December, Game Changer LLC, delivered eviction notices to and erected a fence around nine unhoused residents who live on a tract of land west of Wood Street in West Oakland in an effort to force them to leave property the company owns but has left unused since its purchase.

Game Changer appears to be owned by Fred Craves, who owns or has owned two other corporations worth over a billion dollars each. Some of the nine unhoused residents have lived on the land for over eight years. The company has recently hired a security guard to keep watch over the area.

“With regard to the eviction suit, well over 90% of the campers who were on the private property left without the need for legal action,” said Pat Smith of Smith LLP, a firm representing Game Changer. “Almost all of them are looking forward to improved conditions that will result from the Safe Parking Center.”

Smith’s statement refers to a proposed city plan to convert the site temporarily into a city-run safe parking site for unhoused residents who live in vehicles. While city documents show plans for a new West Oakland safe parking site that had originally been set to open in November 2019, an email from October 2019 to The Oakland Post from Oakland Assistant City Administrator Joe DeVries, said that “the owner would need to clean [the site] thoroughly first before it could be developed into such use.”

If such a site were opened and were similar to other city-run safe parking sites, it wouldn’t be available to most of the nine residents still staying on Game Changer’s land. So far, the city run safe parking sites have only been available to those living in vehicles. Several of the residents on the land don’t live in vehicles, but in self-made homes or tents. Other city-run safe parking sites haven’t allowed oversized vehicles or vehicles that are inoperable. Several of the residents on the land live in large buses and one lives in a broken down RV. Other city-run safe parking sites also have limited resident stays to six months.

On Nov. 5 and 6, 2019, the City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department cleared abandoned vehicles and asked residents on the site to leave. While it’s difficult to say how many were on the site at the time, most residents estimated the population at around 100. Most residents did leave when asked and many who left moved either to the curbside of Wood Street or onto bordering land owned by Caltrans. But some residents, with the support of a protest staged by more than three dozen Oaklanders, decided to stay on Game Changer’s land. Those who remained are now the ones both fenced in and subject to legal action by Game Changer.

“The owner of the property has entered into a lease with the City of Oakland to enable the city to operate the property as a safe parking center,” said Smith in a Jan. 3 email to The Oakland Post, confirming Game Changer’s plans to let the city use its site. “The initial term of the lease is 18 months from commencement of operations. Rent is one dollar per year.”

Neither Game Changer’s lawyers nor the City of Oakland have yet mentioned who the owner of the company is. But a search into California’s Secretary of State’s online service for information on LLCs shows that Frederick B. Craves, who also goes by Fred Craves, registered Game Changer LLC in June 2012.

While the company’s jurisdiction is listed as “Delaware,” its mailing address is listed in downtown San Francisco. Game Changer’s listed mailing address is the same as Bay City Capital LLC, which Craves registered in 1997 and whose website describes it as “a life science investment firm” that has over $1.3 billion in capital commitments.

In 2009, Forbes reported that Craves funded a firm called Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which he sold to a company called GlaxoSmithKline for $1.7 billion in cash in 2007.

The Oakland Post contacted Bay City Capital and spoke with Craves’ assistant, who said she would pass our inquiry onto Craves. At press time, Craves had not commented and it remains unclear what his intentions are for the site after the 18-month lease is up.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

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Juneteenth: Celebrating Our History, Honoring Our Shared Spaces

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

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Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans
Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

By Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

Juneteenth marks an important moment in our shared history—a time to reflect on the legacy of our ancestors who, even in the face of injustice, chose freedom, unity, and community over fear, anger, and hopelessness. We honor their resilience and the paths they paved so future generations can continue to walk with pride.

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

As we head into the weekend full of festivities and summer celebrations, I want to offer a friendly reminder about who is not invited to the cookout: litter.

At Clean California, we believe the places where we gather—parks, parade routes, street corners, and church lots—should reflect the pride and beauty of the people who fill them. Our mission is to restore and beautify public spaces, transforming areas impacted by trash and neglect into spaces that reflect the strength and spirit of the communities who use them.

Too often, after the music fades and the grills cool, our public spaces are left littered with trash. Just as our ancestors took pride in their communities, we honor their legacy when we clean up after ourselves, teach our children to do the same, and care for our shared spaces.

Small acts can inspire big change. Since 2021, Clean California and its partners have collected and removed over 2.9 million cubic yards of litter. We did this by partnering with local nonprofits and community organizations to organize grassroots cleanup events and beautification projects across California.

Now, we invite all California communities to continue the incredible momentum and take the pledge toward building a cleaner community through our Clean California Community Designation Program. This recognizes cities and neighborhoods committed to long-term cleanliness and civic pride.

This Juneteenth, let’s not only celebrate our history—but also contribute to its legacy. By picking up after ourselves and by leaving no litter behind after celebrations, we have an opportunity to honor our past and shape a cleaner, safer, more vibrant future.

Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about Clean California.

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OPINION: California’s Legislature Has the Wrong Prescription for the Affordability Crisis — Gov. Newsom’s Plan Hits the Mark

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

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Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.
Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook

As a pastor and East Bay resident, I see firsthand how my community struggles with the rising cost of everyday living. A fellow pastor in Oakland recently told me he cuts his pills in half to make them last longer because of the crushing costs of drugs.

Meanwhile, community members are contending with skyrocketing grocery prices and a lack of affordable healthcare options, while businesses are being forced to close their doors.

Our community is hurting. Things have to change.

The most pressing issue that demands our leaders’ attention is rising healthcare costs, and particularly the rising cost of medications. Annual prescription drug costs in California have spiked by nearly 50% since 2018, from $9.1 billion to $13.6 billion.

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

Some lawmakers, however, have advanced legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and set communities like mine back further.

I’m particularly concerned with Senate Bill (SB) 41, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a carbon copy of a 2024 bill that I strongly opposed and Gov. Newsom rightly vetoed. This bill would impose significant healthcare costs on patients, small businesses, and working families, while allowing big drug companies to increase their profits.

SB 41 would impose a new $10.05 pharmacy fee for every prescription filled in California. This new fee, which would apply to millions of Californians, is roughly five times higher than the current average of $2.

For example, a Bay Area family with five monthly prescriptions would be forced to shoulder about $500 more in annual health costs. If a small business covers 25 employees, each with four prescription fills per month (the national average), that would add nearly $10,000 per year in health care costs.

This bill would also restrict how health plan sponsors — like employers, unions, state plans, Medicare, and Medicaid — partner with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate against big drug companies and deliver the lowest possible costs for employees and members. By mandating a flat fee for pharmacy benefit services, this misguided legislation would undercut your health plan’s ability to drive down costs while handing more profits to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This bill would also endanger patients by eliminating safety requirements for pharmacies that dispense complex and costly specialty medications. Additionally, it would restrict home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and affordable service that many families rely on.

Instead of repeating the same tired plan laid out in the big pharma-backed playbook, lawmakers should embrace Newsom’s transparency-first approach and prioritize our communities.

Let’s urge our state legislators to reject policies like SB 41 that would make a difficult situation even worse for communities like ours.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. VanHook is the founder and pastor of The Community Church in Oakland and the founder of The Charis House, a re-entry facility for men recovering from alcohol and drug abuse.

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