Oakland Mayors’ Waste Millions on Homeless Sweeps; Will a New Mayor Be Different?

What: Press Conference 

When: April 14, 2025 at 9am 

Where: 34th Street and Wood Street Intersection, Oakland, CA 94608 

Over the last several years, the Wood Street curbside community has been pushed around through acts of state violence, that have occurred under the orders of Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson, Homelessness Administrator Harrold Duffy, former Mayor Sheng Thao, and now interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins. Millions of dollars are being wasted yearly through “encampment closures” that do nothing to solve the housing crisis. A new Mayor is about to be elected, and Oakland needs a mayor to change course to stop wasting money in a budget crisis.

On Monday, April 14th, members of the Wood Street Commons community are being swept again with nowhere to go. It costs the city roughly $12,000 a day to displace a curbside community from one street to the next. One of the former residents named Freeway said, “the fact that 2 years ago we were doing the EXACT same thing is a prime example of the failure this city calls ‘homeless services.’ This is not an accident, it is a humanitarian crisis.” When people are being pushed from one street to the next, and no one is getting housed, something needs to change.

Criminalization is not the solution. A better approach to the housing crisis is needed. A short-term solution would be to improve the living conditions for people living on the streets, by providing water, bathrooms, and trash services to keep the area clean. Also, preventing illegal dumping by businesses and neighbors would go a long way to stop blaming people experiencing homelessness for the trash that accumulates. Then, a pilot program that uses vacant land and provides wrap-around services should be funded with the money being saved from “encampment closures” or through the Measure W money that was passed in 2020 from a countywide sales tax in Alameda. Long-term solutions include creating more permanent supportive housing and preventing people from entering homelessness through evictions. 

We can balance the budget, and help solve the housing crisis but we need to listen to people directly impacted, who have real solutions.