Bay Area

Unhoused Residents Challenge Legality of City Run Eviction

Published

4 years ago

March 12, 2020

The City of Oakland is in its final stages of evicting unhoused residents from living on land near East Oakland’s Home Depot in the Community of Grace. Unhoused residents in the community filed a temporary restraining order that ensured The City wouldn’t steal or destroy their possessions during the eviction. Photo by Zack Haber.

As the City of Oakland continued evicting unhoused people living in the Community of Grace by East Oakland’s Home Depot, two unhoused residents filed a complaint requesting a temporary restraining order against The City, Mayor Libby Schaaf, and Oakland’s Police and Public Works Departments in an effort to ensure the eviction only happen if it followed the law and the City of Oakland’s own policy.

“The Court holds that the City may remove Plaintiffs and their property…only if it fully complies with its own stated policies,” wrote Northern District of California Judge Carl R. Breyer, ruling on March 3, 2020, in response to the complaint filed on Feb. 28.

When Judge Breyer’s ruling came through on March 3, about a dozen unhoused residents still remained at the site. Residents and housing justice advocates claim that unhoused people have lived by East Oakland’s Home Depot, some in tents, some in vehicles, others in self-made structures, for at least five years and that the site’s population was over 100.

The City of Oakland has been clearing the site of inhabitants since mid-February and plans to finish the process by mid-March. Some people living in RVs and trailers moved across the street to a sanctioned safe parking site where the city is allowing them to stay. The site, operated by a non-profit called The Housing Consortium of The East Bay, has room for about 40 vehicles.

The Oakland Post counted over 60 vehicles that appeared to serve as homes at or near The Community of Grace on Jan. 23 and also noted dozens of tents and self-made homes. The safe parking site does not allow people to live in tents or self-made homes and bans children. One resident had her child move in with another family so she could stay at the site.

The Community of Grace’s plaintiff’s complaint alleged that recent Oakland evictions and actions The City were taking related to their current eviction had violated their 4th, 8th and 14th amendment rights.

“These evictions and the failure to follow policy are cruel and unusual. They cause us depression, trauma, and stress. They cause us deeper instability…We lose vehicles we live in, store belongings in and materials we use to make ends meet. We lose countless personal property including money, medication and family photos,” The Community of Grace plaintiffs wrote in their complaint to the court.

The Community of Grace plaintiff’s complaint claimed the city was required to provide alternative shelter and an opportunity to retrieve property that The City confiscates from them. While Judge Breyer ruled against their request for alternative shelter, he agreed the city was required to store confiscated belongings for pick up.

Judge Breyer emphasized that The City’s policy states they can’t “remove belongings from a site when the occupant is present” unless those belongings cause an immediate public health or safety risk.

Amy, a Bay Area resident of about 10 years who says she needed extra time to gather and organize her possessions due to a brain injury, claims she lost almost everything when the city destroyed her self-built home in the Community of Grace in late October 2019, citing fire code violations.

While she had arranged with a Department of Public Works (DPW) worker to get extra time, it wasn’t enough to ensure her belongings would be safe.

“He didn’t happen to be there when my place was destroyed, no one listened to me, and they demolished everything,” Amy said.

During the recent eviction, DPW workers and housing justice advocates helped Amy move her belongings off of the site and unto a nearby street. Amy, who lives in a tent, is now cut off from her former community and is trying to obtain an RV so she can move into the safe parking site. She didn’t lose possessions during the recent eviction.

Zack Haber

Posts by Zack Haber

Related Topics:City of Oakland Zack Haber

Up Next

Oakland Youth Return Home from Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage in Alabama

Don't Miss

Voters Overwhelming Approve Oakland Measure R, Allowing Notices to Be Published in Diverse Newspapers

Zack Haber

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”