City Government

Oakland to Determine Shelter Options for Evicted Homeless People in New Year

Published

5 years ago

December 23, 2020

Kiki

During a meeting on December 15, Oakland’s City Council discussed defining what shelter options Oakland would be required to offer homeless people if the city clears their communities during the local emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They postponed making a final decision on the matter until the new year. Given dangers posed by the pandemic, the City Council will determining whether it sees it as safe for homeless people to live in homeless shelters.

The City Council unanimously approved the Encampment Management Policy (EMP) on October 20, which set clear parameters for where the City could choose to focus clearances. The resolution stated people living within 50 feet of a residence, business, park or sports court could face eviction. But the EMP did not overturn a resolution Council also unanimously passed on March 27 that requests that the City only execute evictions if “individual housing units or alternative shelter is provided.”

City Administrator Edward Reiskin has proposed using its Community Cabin Program (informally known as the Tuff Shed Program), Safe Parking Lots, trailers operated through Operation HomeBase, limited transitional and permanent housing units, and “congregate shelter with reduced capacity and physical distancing measures.” But in an agenda memorandum, City Council Pres. Rebecca Kaplan and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunado-Bas requested the City “not consider congregate shelter as a form of alternative shelter.”

Kaplan and Bas’ proposed changes to Reiskin’s plan claim that “moving or relocating from an outdoor encampment to an indoor congregate shelter places people at a greater risk for COVID-19 transmission then they would be in by living in an outdoor encampment.” They pointed out COVID-19 outbreaks that have occurred in homeless shelters in San Francisco, Spokane, Wash., Salem, Ore., and Calgary in the Alberta, Canada.

“There’s a number of things we’re doing to try to make congregate shelter as safe as it can be,” said Lara Tannenbaum, of Oakland’s Human Services Dept. during the meeting in response to Kaplan and Bas’ proposal. Tannenbaum as well and Homelessness Administrator Daryel Dunston said the City’s homeless shelters have PPE, use symptom and temperature checks, reduce capacity and carry out COVID testing events.

But even under reduced capacity, the Kaplan and Bas’ memorandum claims that congregate shelter is not a safe option during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People living in congregate settings comprise less than 1% of the U.S. population, but nearly 50% of coronavirus deaths,” Kaplan and Bas wrote in their proposal.

During the meeting, District 1 Councilmember Dan Kalb asked what specifically Kaplan and Bas’s proposal would change in Reiskin’s proposal. Kaplan responded by saying that it would strike the line that allowed “congregate shelter with reduced capacity.” Bas concurred and added she wanted to expand on language in Reiskin’s proposal that required “reasonable accommodation for mental and physical disabilities.”

On their website, the Center for Disease Control has used the terms “congregate shelter” and “shared shelter” interchangeably. But Kaplan and Bas’ proposed changes focus specifically on homeless shelters, and instead uses the terms “congregate shelter” and “homeless shelter” interchangeably. Their changes, as they currently stand, would effectively ban homeless shelters as an “alternative shelter” option but “shared shelter” would still be allowed.

They have not proposed striking out language that includes the City’s Community Cabins Program as an “alternative shelter” option. The Cabins are shared housing as they require residents to share 8-by-12 foot structures with a roommate.

Council ended their discussion of Bas and Kaplan’s proposed changes when Bas proposed a motion to continue the decision until the next City Council meeting, requesting time to clarify their changes and consider amendments and questions Kalb proposed. The continuance means that exiting Councilmembers Lynette Gibson-McElhaney and Larry Reid will not vote on the proposed changes while entering Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Treva Reid will.

Homeless Resident Pastor Preston’s Experience, and Proposed Alternative Solutions from the Community:

Preston Walker, a 63-year-old Oakland native and unhoused resident better known as “Pastor Preston,” has lived in a Days Inn hotel room through a state and county funded program called Project Roomkey. He qualified to obtain the room, which is neither congregate nor shared shelter, but a private unit, due to an immune disorder that makes him more susceptible to pneumonia and COVID-19.

“This hotel here is a blessing for me,” said Preston. “This is the first time eight years that I had my own personal space where I didn’t have to worry about theft. The sad thing is if it wasn’t for the virus this never would have happened.”

Preston, who has spent time in both the Community Cabins and homeless shelters in Oakland and throughout the Bay Area, expressed skepticism of sharing space with people during the pandemic. He stressed that it would be impossible for people to wear masks all the time in shelters due to people having to eat. He worried about the particularly close quarters people in the Community Cabins have to live under and their lack of control over who they live with. Preston ended his three-month stay in the Community Cabins in late 2019 due to a roommate who smoked crystal meth in their shared space, which made it difficult for Preston to breathe or sleep well.

Since the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on December 18 that it will continue to fund Project Roomkey through the duration of the pandemic, Preston will continue to be secure in his hotel room. But at the time of this writing about 30% of the hotel rooms secured by the state of California sit vacant, and activists have called on state, county and city governments to fill them and secure more rooms through state-of-emergency powers. The housing and racial justice non-profit, Just Cities, has repeatedly called on Oakland to make use of its 50-plus acres of vacant public land to shelter its homeless people.

Kiki

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

5 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.

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Black Arts Movement Business District Named New Cultural District in California

Located in the heart of District 3, the BAMBD is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most important centers of Black cultural production — a space where artists, entrepreneurs, organizers, and cultural workers have shaped generations of local and national identity. The state’s recognition affirms the district’s historic importance and its future promise.

Published

1 week ago

December 20, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Carroll Fife celebrates major milestone for Black arts, culture, and economic power in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) has been selected as one of California’s 10 new state-designated Cultural Districts, a distinction awarded by the California Arts Council (CAC), according to a media statement released by Councilmember Carroll Fife.

The BAMBD now joins 23 other districts across the state recognized for their deep cultural legacy, artistic excellence, and contributions to California’s creative economy.

“This designation is a testament to what Black Oakland has built — and what we continue to build when we insist on investing in our own cultural and economic power,” said Fife.

“For years, our community has fought for meaningful recognition and resources for the Black Arts Movement Business District,” she said. “This announcement validates that work and ensures that BAMBD receives the support it needs to grow, thrive, and continue shaping the cultural fabric of California.”

Since taking office, Fife has led and supported multiple initiatives that strengthened the groundwork for this achievement, including:

Restoring and protecting arts and cultural staffing within the City of Oakland.
Creating the West Oakland Community Fund to reinvest in historically excluded communities
Advancing a Black New Deal study to expand economic opportunity for Black Oakland
Ensuring racial equity impact analyses for development proposals, improving access for Black businesses and Black contractors
Introduced legislation and budget amendments that formalized, protected, and expanded the BAMBD

“These efforts weren’t abstract,” Fife said. “They were intentional, coordinated, and rooted in a belief that Black arts and Black businesses deserve deep, sustained public investment.”

As part of the Cultural District designation, BAMBD will receive:

$10,000 over two years
Dedicated technical assistance
Statewide marketing and branding support
Official designation from Jan. 1, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030

This support will elevate the visibility of BAMBD’s artists, cultural organizations, small businesses, and legacy institutions, while helping attract new investment to the district.

“The BAMBD has always been more than a district,” Fife continued. “This recognition by the State of California gives us another tool in the fight to preserve Black culture, build Black economic power, and protect the families and institutions that make Oakland strong.”

For questions, contact Councilmember Carroll Fife at CFife@oaklandca.gov.