City Government

Oakland Allocated $2.2 Million to Prevent Evictions, But Mayor’s Staff Failed to Spend the Money

Published

8 years ago

May 31, 2018

As part of the budget adopted 11 months ago, the Oakland City Council directed $2.2 million in state funding to anti-displacement and homeless prevention services – particularly legal representation for tenants facing eviction. But the money so far has not been spent.

First, the money was “mistakenly allocated” to the wrong city department, the Public Works Department, rather than the Housing and Community Development Department, which is supposed to disperse the funds, according to a report to the council prepared by Michele Byrd, director of Housing and Community Development.

Then, the Housing and Community Development has been so short staffed that it has not been able to set up the funding and hire nonprofits to implement the program, Byrd told councilmembers at this week’s Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee meeting.

The implementation of the program is supposed to be back on track by the time the council takes its summer break at the end of July. The money is intended to be used for counseling for homeowners facing foreclosure, arrange for attorneys to represent tenants facing eviction, and to provide outreach to educate renters of their rights.

“I certainly have sympathy for Ms. Byrd’s department, which has been severely hit by work overloads and staff reductions,” said James Vann of the Oakland Tenants’ Union, speaking to councilmembers.

“But almost a year has past since the council approved $2.2 million for putting into place an effective anti-displacement program,” he said.

“It has been shown that people who have legal representation have a 95 percent success rate (in opposing) an unfair eviction,” he said, adding that in the months since the funds were approved but not dispersed, an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 families were displaced.

“We are losing our city, the way people are getting displaced,” he said. “We need to put an urgency on this and get this out the door immediately.”

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said these anti-displacement funds are another way of fighting homelessness.

More people are becoming homeless, she said, “because people whose evictions could have been prevented are not being prevented.”

“This also happened in 2015 when there was a budget authorization for anti-displacement services, but it was not (implemented) for about nine months after the council authorized it,” she said.

Kaplan also questioned how $2.2 million could be misplaced.

“I read the report that says the money was lost for some period of time,” she said. “That was certainly concerning.”

Miss Sherry, a member of Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) said:

“Let’s be expedient making sure these funds are rolled out as soon as possible. We’re losing residents, and they are becoming the unhoused.

“We want to show the people of Oakland that we love them, that we care about what happens to do them, so that when they go to court, they have adequate representation. The Post asked the Mayor how the money could be “lost,” but her office referred the questions to Michele Byrd.

According to Post Publisher Paul Cobb, “Mayor Schaaf has a pattern and practice of diverting, failing to spend or returning funds that would have helped the Black community.”

Itemizing some of these practices, Cobb said, “She had to return $600,000 in job training funds to the state. She left $2 million for youth jobs on the table, and she significantly reduced job-training funds for Neighborhood Career Centers.

“And she instructed her staff not to seek community benefits for foreclosure and displacment funds while placing $2-plus billion of public money annually in the bank the city uses.”

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

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March 1, 2026

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February 20, 2026

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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO STATE OF CALIFORNIA PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DIVISION NOTICE TO BIDDERS FOR ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III

WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

Oakland Post

PROJECT NO. 2020.0050

BID NO. 25-26.011

BID OPENING: The bidder shall complete the “Proposal to the City of San Leandro” form contained in the Contract Book. The proposal shall be submitted in its entirety. Incomplete proposals will be considered non-responsive. Sealed bids containing the completed Proposal Section subject to the conditions named herein and in the specifications for ANNUAL STREET OVERLAY/REHABILITATION 2019-21 – PHASE III/PROJECT NO. 2020.0050 addressed to the City of San Leandro will be received at City Hall, 835 East 14^th Street, 2^nd Floor San Leandro at the office of the City Clerk up to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at which time they will be publicly opened and read.
WORK DESCRIPTION: The work to be done consists of roadway paving, base cement stabilization, concrete curb ramps, driveways, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, traffic detection loops and pavement striping, and doing all appurtenant work in place and ready for use, all as shown on the plans and described in the specifications with the title indicated in Paragraph 1 above, and on file in the office of the City Engineer. Reference to said plans and specifications is hereby made for further particulars.
OBTAINING THE PROJECT PLANS AND CONTRACT BOOK: The project plans and Contract Book may be obtained free of charge from the City’s website at:https://www.sanleandro.org/Bids.aspx Bidders who download the plans are encouraged to contact the City of San Leandro Public Works Department Engineering division at 510-577-3428 to be placed on the project planholder’s list to receive courtesy notifications of addenda and other project information. Project addenda, if any, will be posted on the website. A bidder who fails to address all project addenda in its proposal may be deemed non-responsive.Bidders may also purchase the Project Plans and Contract Book from East Bay Blueprint & Supply Co., at 1745 14^th Street, Oakland, CA 94606; Phone Number: (510) 261-2990 or email: ebbp@eastbayblueprint.com.
PRE-BID CONFERENCE: A mandatory pre-bid conference will be held on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM and on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM as follows:
Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM
Zoom Meeting ID: 883 8752 6074
Passcode: 502955
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/88387526074?pwd=hZ5rjB8AWdLAUem3CtByFiZxqKarHj.1
And
Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM
Zoom Meeting ID: 898 2672 0472
Passcode: 091848
Zoom Link: https://sanleandro-org.zoom.us/j/89826720472?pwd=JgZX2nXMpLSRM5xDPr7EJUxl7QIznr.1The information presented at the conferences will be identical, all bidders must attend one of the pre-bid conference and sign the attendance sheet. A firm that didn’t attend the pre-bid conference isn’t qualified to bid on the project.Questions regarding the plans and specifications may be submitted in writing to the project engineer until 5:00 p.m. five (5) days before, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, bids must be received by the City. The City will not respond to oral questions outside of the pre-bid conference. The response, if any, will be by written addendum only. Oral responses do not constitute a revision to these plans or specifications.
VALUE OF WORK: The Engineer has estimated that the value of work is between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000.
SAN LEANDRO BUSINESS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION GOALS: The work performed under this contract is subject to Section 1-6-225 of the San Leandro Municipal Code regarding local business preference and participation. A list of companies that hold a San Leandro business license is located on the City webpage under the finance department, here: https://www.sanleandro.org/340/Business-License
SAN LEANDRO COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT: The work performed under this contract is subject to the Community Workforce Agreement adopted by City Council Resolution 2015-104. Contractors attention is directed to Section 10.