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(Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Workers remove a couch from the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. But the lots homeless residents, who have developed a tight-knit community they call the Commons, argue theyll suffer when that community is broken up and theyre forced to scatter to other locations including to shelter programs that might not meet their physical and mental health needs. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members watch as workers clear a section of the Wood Street homeless encampment near an area known as Cob on Wood on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. They're looking to make us homeless. Plaintiffs' lawyers did not respond to an inquiry as to whether they would seek to appeal or otherwise challenge the determination. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. Cold Bay Area rains fail to shut down vibrant Holi celebration in Fremont. But the money is insufficient to help all the camps residents. The conditions at the encampment which has mountains of trash and burned-out vehicles were called cruel and inhumane in a U.N. report from 2018. A show made by people behind bars in California prisons. City officials have been . The land was mostly owned by Caltrans and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents five-days' notice to clear the site. LA CITY COUNCIL GREENLIGHTS BAN ON HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS 500 FEET FROM SCHOOLS, DAYCARE CENTERS Though Newsom's handling of the Oakland matter was worded authoritatively, the governor has also. The city doesnt have the resources to close something as large as Wood Street, said LaTonda Simmons, the citys former interim homelessness administrator. Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. Specifically, the audit found the City lacked an effective strategy for dealing with the growth in encampments and did not provide sufficient policy direction or adequate funding at the onset of this crisis, the letter continued. Its unclear if the transportation agency meant the entire Wood Street encampment or only the part located on land it owns. Caltrans reports it's on pace to close 1,200 encampments in this fiscal year up nearly 500% from the 269 cleared last year. OAKLAND - Fire swept through a homeless encampment near the MacArthur Maze highway interchange in West Oakland on Monday morning. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. Settlement reached between . But those are things that are beyond what can be ordered in this case.". And Orrick agreed. Thats on top of nearly 90 fires at the site for the 12 months through March. In an attempt to fend off the impending closure of the Commons, residents sued the city in early January. OaklandWorkers continued Monday to clear the massive homeless encampment along Wood Street in West Oakland. If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. What could reparations mean for Black residents of Alameda County? The city needs to fund a formal encampment management program to implement the policy passed in October, and to address the findings of the audit, the auditors office wrote. He allowed Caltrans to continue removing debris from the area, as long as it didnt involve residents belongings. Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street Encampment What was once northern California's largest homeless encampment at Wood Street in Oakland now has a. 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Santa Ana, California 92703. People are seen in a homeless encampment on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) SAN FRANCISCO (CN) A temporary restraining order put in place last month to protect the unhoused residents of an encampment the city of Oakland had hoped to clear to make way for new affordable housing has been dissolved. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group). Reporting an Issue If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. Ideally, the auditors office wrote, those calls should have been responded to in 10 to 15 minutes. The audit found the new policy lays the groundwork for needed change, but implementation has been slow, as the city is inundated with complaints about encampments. The plaintiffs and all living at the Wood Street encampment must make immediate plans to move.". The man was bleeding and was very confused asking police what he had done wrong. On Monday, six weeks later, he proved his suspicions correct and dissolved the TRO, authorizing the city to clear the site and begin to ready the property for an affordable housing development. In May, city officials told The Chronicle that they dont have enough shelter beds to offer to everyone at Wood Street. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. Review and respond annually to the Citys Homeless Encampment Policy and the Permanent Access to Housing Path Plan which shall be presented to the Commission, as well as hear reports on the housing, programs, and services for persons experiencing homelessness in the City including, but not limited to. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? He says Caltrans has forced him to move several times. That case was assigned to Judge Orrick, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options. Partner with us by contributing resources or time to respond to the homelessness crisis. At issue is a large encampment on a city-owned piece of vacant land off Wood Street in West Oakland. We are in a catch-22., Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. people had to eat at charity style centers, and a sunday 'picnic in the park' feed. The department is taking this action to address the increasingly serious safety risks to life, property and infrastructure at the encampment, including from the fire this week that prompted the closure of the MacArthur Maze, Caltrans said in a statement. Its uncertain if Caltrans has the authority to clear land it doesnt own. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation The city estimates there are at least 140 encampments scattered throughout Oakland. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Stuffed animals are seen on a couch at the Wood Street encampment on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California. Local News | California snowpack hits highest level this century for March, could I-80 closed across Donner Summit as snowstorm pummels Sierra, San Francisco citizens once traveled by gondola. We appreciate your patience; the homelessness@oaklandca.gov service has been restored. Its absurd to think that we've gotten this far through this process and we have not had anybody take a survey of who is actually affected by this, McGowan said at the hearing. The city did not immediately return a request for comment. Caltrans plans to clear 200 homeless people from the sprawling site by the first week of August, officials said. Under state law, working with homeless individuals to identify housing or shelter alternatives is a local, not a state, responsibility.. Clutch, a 40-year-old Wood Street encampment resident who said he has no last name, was one of the five people moved last month. The City Council has to approve the plans and construction is likely to take longer than other sites because a set of railroad tracks cuts through the property. As in the earlier case, the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the eviction would amount to an unconstitutional state-created danger. Thursday evening, representatives from the city of Oakland submitted a plan for a phased closure of the site, beginning at its northernmost edge, where a fire on July 11 sent plumes of black smoke onto the 880 overpass. Since the policy has gone into effect, two Oakland nonprofits have burned as a result of fires started in areas where the city knew there to be encampments. Workers have been clearing the sprawling camp in phases, a process that started in July. She started her journalism career reporting on crime and breaking news for The News-Press in Southwest Florida. Our housed and unhoused residents are counting on us to make this right, Ruby wrote. Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. Officials said they do not know when construction on a community cabin site would begin. City of Oakland Opens 100-bed Cabin Shelter Program at Wood Street, Estelle Clemons, Interim Director of Human Services and, Daniel Cooper, Homelessness Administrator, Court order would allow phased clean-up and closure operation to resume to abate potentially hazardous conditions that threaten public health and safety, Completed Encampment Management Operations, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Update - October 2022, FACT SHEET: Wood Street Encampment - July 2022, HOJA INFORMATIVA: Intervenciones para la gestin del campamento de Wood Street, FACT SHEET: East 12th Street Median Encampment - October 2022, Completed Encampment Management Team Operations Since 2021, Joint Statement regarding Homeless Services Performance Audit, Federal Judge Indicates Approval of City of Oaklands Thoughtful Outreach and Services Plan in Support of Caltrans Encampment Closure Operation on Wood Street. To report an encampment online, please scan the QR code below to access the Reporting Tool page: Or go to the Reporting Tool website: https://reportencampments.tucsonaz.gov/ To report an encampment by phone, please call the City of Tucson Resource Line: (520) 791-2540 Initiation of Protocol He said his latest order could be rescinded if the city fails to provide enough shelter beds or fails to make outreach workers available to help displaced residents find alterative shelter. Husbands-Hankin said she saw an officer tase the man and tackle him to the ground. The number of people sleeping on Oaklands streets jumped from 1,902 in 2017 to 3,210 in 2019, according to the most recent point-in-time counts. I stretched the point up until now in order to try to get to some sort of a place that recognizes the humanity of the people who've been talking to me.. On Monday morning, workers removed vehicles, furniture and other items from the encampment on Caltrans property underneath the MacArthur Maze. Its unclear whether residents will be open to moving to a city-sanctioned site. Home used to be a tent at the 77th Street homeless encampment, where they had to fill two . Attorneys for Caltrans said the encampment posed a serious health and safety risk, citing some 200 fires at the Wood Street encampment over the past two years. Officials have argued that they dont have enough shelter beds to accommodate the number of people living at the encampment, which spans 25 city blocks. They have lacked funding, housing options and staff, he said. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing. Oakland. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oaklands most vulnerable. Their. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones plays guitar. I do not look forward to being kicked out. We are ready to scale up for reductions in homelessness, though new state and federal funds and more intergovernmental coordination are needed. Multiple. There are another 40 spaces available in pre-existing tiny home, safe parking and other sites throughout the city and there likely will be dozens of beds free at St. Vincent de Paul, a dorm-style shelter in West Oakland, according to the city. Earlier this week, a coalition of residents wrote a public letter to state, city and county officials urging them to work with them. Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. The city has demonstrated it now has enough shelter beds for everyone who will be displaced by the camps closure, U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Sign up for our daily newsletter. She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Multiple fires have erupted at the citys largest homeless encampment, which extends for several city blocks and has been home to hundreds of people. Marisa Kendall is a housing reporter for the Bay Area News Group who covers homelessness for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. News Feb 07, 2023 Wood Street residents deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, Husbands-Hankin said. Stay in touch. The city of Oakland pursued closures of 98 encampments during the two years we examined. Their model is wrong, he said. Credit: Darwin BondGraham. Complete clearing of total area without option to return, Partial clearing of an encamped area without option to return, Cleaning of an area with the option to return, May apply to a portion of or the total area, Regularly established garbage clearing and temporary sanitation. Repairing damage to lighting at Union Point Park is expected to cost another $500,000, not including additional repairs that must be done to bathrooms, landscaping, benches and other amenities. In July, a large fire damaged a portion of Interstate 880. 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