More Oakland encampments could be cleaned up after executive order from mayor
A new policy just announced in Oakland could lead to the city clearing out more of the city's encampments sheltering unhoused residents.
On Monday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao issued an executive order that allows the city to get more aggressive with clearing out existing sites.
The encampment along East 12th Street from 14th to 18th avenues is visible from Interstate 880. It's most known for the shed homes: makeshift cottages cobbled together from plywood and scraps.
But the street is overrun with trash, and due to the conditions, it's another high-priority area the city wants to clean.
"We've got everything. We can even lock the door," said one of the residents living in a shed home.
She declined to give her name out of fear the city might target her during future sweeps, but she did invite KPIX inside the shed home.
Her plywood home provides housing to five people in East Oakland. They have a generator that runs the lights, two flat-screen TVs and an entire makeshift kitchen. It's taken 10 years to build and is at least 500 square feet.
It's one of many make-shift homes lining East 12th Street, the site of one of Oakland's largest and most prolific encampments now that the site on MLK was cleared last week.
During that cleaning effort, the city says 35-40 people were forced to leave the area, and 25 accepted the city's offer of some sort of alternative housing.
"It's not fair at all. A lot of people don't know where they're going and a lot of people don't know where they're going to wind up," said John Whiteside. He said he's put a lot of time into his shed, and doesn't know what he'd do if the city tore it down.
"I don't know at the moment. I've actually never thought about it. When it rains, it won't rain on my head, so that's all I'm worried about now," says Whiteside.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said while it's no longer required by law, the city will still offer a shelter bed to every person at an encampment the city decides to clear.
"We have to prioritize how we combat this because it's been so many years of not doing anything," said Mayor Thao.
The latest homeless count showed the city of Oakland has about 3,600 people living on the streets. The new executive order gives the city the right to clear an encampment with less than 24 hours notice if it's an emergency situation that threatens critical infrastructure or other essential services, but the mayor said Alameda County needs to do more to help and bring in state and federal resources.
"I do believe that the county needs to bring all the cities together, but of course, if you don't have someone encamping in your city because they're being sent to Oakland, you're not going to have the incentives in your city to actually stand these programs up," said Thao.
But for those like Whiteside who disagree with the policy, he said the best way to fight back is at the ballot box.
"I don't think it's fair, but that's why we've got to vote," said Whiteside.
The city has been working on this encampment for years. So far, crews have removed more than 100 tons of trash, and the fire department responds to a fire or two at the camp each week. The concern now is that some structures are so big they could fall into the roads, creating a risk to those who live in them as well as drivers.
The Oakland Police Officers Association, the union that represents the officers, issued a statement about Thao's executive order calling it a "last-minute political stunt" before the recall campaign. Voters will decide whether to recall Thao as mayor on Nov. 5.