On behalf of the Oakland Homeless Union
Hello. My name is Freeway. I am a founding member of the Oakland Homeless Union.
I am reaching out to express my concerns for the apparent recent change in policy that the city has undergone in reference to the Encampment Management Policy.
Over the last few weeks, I have witnessed an unsettling trend in the encampment closures- or sweeps, as they're often known. More and more commonly, these traumatic events are beginning to take place over the weekend.
The notice of these sweeps is also becoming more and more vague, as it has become more common to see these pink notices being posted in the cover of dark- a tactic that is both confusing and intimidating.
It has long since been a common narrative of the City and the departments that oversee sweeps to tout that their motivation for these events is the safety and well-being of the unhoused residents. If this were true, why then is it necessary to present in such a secretive and misleading manner?
Additionally, the question of who is responsible for these postings continues to go unanswered.
A friend and advisor, Andrea Henson, informed me recently that she had spoken with the Chief of Police for Oakland and the City Attorney of Oakland. The conversation was based around clarifying who was responsible for these postings. After multiple correspondences, it still remains unclear which department is at the control panel, so to speak.
Of course, neither DPW, nor the Police Department, would take responsibility, nor would either give a straightforward answer.
So I am writing to ask for clarification on this matter. If no one is able to answer this question clearly, my next step will be to submit a Public Records request; afterall, if neither Andrea Henson, nor myself, can effectively get a clear, concise, honest answer, we must not be communicating our request clearly enough and I should just look up the answers for myself.
In addition to these questions, I would also like to know why the city is now making it the standard to not include all of the intended sites for closure on its website showcasing the weekly schedule?
On more than one occasion recently, unhoused residents were forced to endure sudden, unexpected encampment closures, with little or no notice at all. I'm aware of at least one that took place during the atmospheric river we experienced a couple weeks ago. As we speak, the small, majorly disabled encampment at 5th and Embarcadero is in the process of being swept- in the middle of a rainstorm, and right before the Christmas holiday. As if these sweeps were not difficult enough, now these residents are being forced to endure them in a torrential downpour? And with almost zero notice?
This leads me to wonder: how does this fit into the Encampment Management Policy? Unless the policy has changed, these are all direct violations of the city's own policy on how to conduct these sweeps. And, if it has changed, it certainly was not with the inclusion of input by people with lived or living experience. I would strongly urge the city, if this is the case, to reconsider this change and bring everyone back to the drawing board, with those most directly effected present.
I also have to point out, that not only do these policies not represent the needs and the demands of those directly impacted by them, but they are, in fact, directly in opposition to the very well being that they are supposed to be preserving. After all, I can't remember the last time I witnessed a city official, the Governor, or any person who was living inside, undergoing a move where 50-100 police were present, most or all of their belongings were destroyed or disposed of, and the amount of time the person was given to complete the move was less than 30 minutes- that's including how much notice they had of the move even happening.
The city is at the precipice of some very major change. The voices of the oppressed have gone silenced far too long. To summarize the collective conscience in a quote from Desmond Tutu: "I am not interested in picking up the crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights."
We're hungry, we're tired, and we're fed up with being given scraps and being told that we should be grateful for leftovers that nobody else wants. We are your neighbors, and we are fellow human beings. We have solutions to these so called "problems" that are so commonly blamed on our existence, but in truth, have very little to do with us; homelessness is nothing more than another colonizer lie.
We are ready to work with you to solve these problems, but make no mistake- we will work just as hard against you, if that's the path that is chosen. The ball is in your court now.
You may contact via my email, freeway.the.writer23@gmail.com; or you can reach me on my phone, (510) 260-9420. I look forward to your response.
In humble service,
Freeway
