The Associated Press headline came as a bit of a surprise: LIBERAL U.S. CITIES CHANGE COURSE, NOW CLEARING HOMELESS CAMPS
Seems that from Portland to Seattle, Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, San Francisco to Sacramento, Austin to New York City, “leaders are removing encampments and pushing other strict measures to address homelessness that would have been unheard of a few years ago.” Seattle—hardly a red city--is a good example. Last week, the city gave residents of a large encampment, directly across from City Hall, barely one hour to clear out their belongings—or else.
This is good news. American citizens, who have been putting up with dirty, dangerous tent encampments for years and years, finally feel strong enough to pressure politicians to do something about it. This mounting resentment against camps was boiling in early 2020, but then COVID arrived, and nearly every city in the country stopped whatever efforts it had been making to clear the camps, in the questionable interests of protecting public health.
But with COVID now in the rear-view mirror (let us hope!), citizens are renewing the pressure on officials, and those officials—in nearly every case, Democratic mayors—are responding appropriately. Except in one particular city: Oakland.
Here, Mayor Schaaf and, especially, the City Council steadfastly refuse to do their duty and clean up the camps. They make a lot of self-congratulatory noise about Tiny Houses or Project Roomkey motels, but the truth is that the camps continue to proliferate. This is despite the city’s Encampment Management Policy, which the City Council unanimously approved in October, 2020, and then decided to ignore. That blatantly illegal act resulted in a lawsuit filed against the city to compel it to implement its own law.
How many encampments are there in Oakland? I don’t know the exact number, but I can testify first-hand at the camps near where I live: Snow Park and the Oakland Senior Center. Both are in worse shape than ever before. The north end of Senior Center encampment is an appalling dump of refuse, junk and rot. This is the heart of Uptown, Oakland’s pride and glory of a neighborhood. It boggles the mind that the city continues to allow it to fester. Libby Schaaf could do what Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell did: get tough. But such is her “compassion” that she allows these poor, desperate, and often deranged individuals to live in the midst of squalor, despoiling a neighborhood and creating a horrible image for visitors driving along Harrison Street.
Once again, it all comes down to the November elections. Nothing will ever change in Oakland unless we change our leaders. Schaaf is termed out, so she’ll be gone a year from now. But what we can do is vote out Bas, in District 2, and elect, in Districts 4 and 6, replacements for Thao and Taylor, both of whom are running for Mayor. The Coalition for a Better Oakland has asked all interested candidates to contact us if they share our goals: the elimination of camps and a new respect and funding for the Oakland Police Department. We’ll do what we can to support qualified candidates to retake the city.
Steve Heimoff