As City Government Drags Its Feet on the Homeless Crisis, Oakland Neighbors Stand Together

OAKLAND, Calif., May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stating local government has failed to live up to its promises, a group of neighbors came together to say, "We Deserve Better."

Seneca Scott, executive director of Neighbors Together Oakland (NT), believes the utilization of public will is the best way to affect change with urgency. NT is dedicated to building community resilience, unity, and preparedness in Oakland neighborhoods.

NT will be seeking legal recourse against the City of Oakland demanding that it follow through with the Encampment Management Plan (EMP), which was unanimously approved by Oakland's City Council last October. NT is calling the initiative "Town Sweep" and will hold an 11am press conference on Tuesday, May 25, at Neighborship, an off-grid eco-village of tiny homes recently threatened with eviction by the City, located at 1778 10th St., Oakland, CA, 94607.

The EMP was created to manage the adverse impacts of homeless encampments by providing a list of do's and don'ts for encampments, balancing the interests of all residents (i.e. unhoused, housed, business community), and focusing encampment actions on mitigating negative outcomes as they pertain to public safety, public health, and equity outcomes. The EMP reserves encampment closure as a last resort, and must provide housing options for all residents.

Scott mentions during his City Council run last fall, he saw firsthand how important encampment management was to voters. He also points out that this policy was voted on at the height of City Council elections, and possibly influenced the outcomes of several tight races. "We will not allow our City Council to vote on a policy meant to address Oakland's most critical issues only to ignore the policy and continue to politically gaslight us by allowing our city to descend into chaos", says Scott.

"Leadership is action, not position," said Scott. "Town Sweep is about taking personal responsibility to grab a broom, go outside, talk to your neighbors both housed and unhoused, and help clean up Oakland together. It's about forcing the city to meet us halfway by enacting the EMP meant to address the most intense issues surrounding homelessness. With some of the most progressive public officials in the country sitting on our City Council, we neighbors should have the confidence that the EMP is a pragmatic, compassionate policy."

"The City of Oakland is a hydra with many conflicting heads," said Neighborship founder Adam Garrett-Clark. "At the same time one department is giving us a month's notice to vacate, another is asking us to help them set up a tiny home community for the homeless. There's not only a lack of humanity but a lack of logic in the city's actions."

"NT is in the process of weighing their options for seeking legal redress against the city for failing to uphold its promises and take real action to implement its Encampment Management Policy," stated Jamie E. Wright, Esq. (J. Wright Law Group, P.C.), an attorney representing the group.

Amongst the speakers at the May 25 press conference will be a truly diverse coalition of Oakland's thought leaders including commercial property owners, clergy, homeless activists and Tajai of the Oakland-based Hip-Hop collective, Hieroglyphics.

For more information about NT and Town Sweep, visit www.neighborstogetheroakland.org or contact the group at [email protected]. For information about Neighborship, visit www.neighborship.org.

SOURCE Neighbors Together Oakland