Good Morning Oaklanders,
Most community members are aware of our City’s severe and ongoing homelessness problems. Although the most recent major count (three years ago) was in 2019, it showed a total of 4,071 homelessness individuals in Oakland, and it is likely there has been not much change since then. Much needs to be done.
Over the course of the next year, the City of Oakland will be drafting its Housing Element – a plan to build its share of housing over the next eight years.
Oakland will not only decide how to build the housing we need, but whether we will do so in a way that achieves our equity and environmental sustainability goals.
In her most recent newsletter, Mayor Schaaf urged availability of related information as follows:
“Help shape Oakland’s General Plan Updateby participating in our upcoming community meetings. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for all Oaklanders to create a visionary blueprint together for the future of our City. Find meeting times here.”
We urge Oaklanders to attend the first meeting scheduled – on Zoom – on March 26: https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/meetings-and-events
There are five excellent community organizations advocating improved City actions to significantly reduce Oakland homelessness: Housing Action Coalition, East Bay for Everyone, East Bay YIMBY, Greenbelt Alliance, and SPURin Oakland.
The action they are urging is a plan providing the following:
• Streamlines housing approvals to reduce building costs and make new homes available for residents sooner.
• Pursues an Affordable Housing Overlay policy to ensure homes for those who need them most.
• Changes zoning to encourage new housing in affluent, high-resource, and low vehicle miles traveled (VMT) areas that are currently zoned low-density and have been historically exclusionary.
• Develops without displacement to ensure strong protections for residents of Oakland’s rent-controlled multifamily housing.
• Provides opportunities for longtime and multi-generational Oaklanders to realize the increased value of their property without having to sell their property and leave the city.
• Creates more ADA accessible, family-sized, and deed-restricted affordable homes.
• Ensures zoning changes that create more walkability and transit accessibility necessary to help achieve our climate goals.
• Increases density within existing communities in non-high fire severity zones and away from flood zones.
We strongly urge Make Oakland Better Now! Committee of 50 members and all other Oakland Community members to support this plan by signing the petition presented by Greenbelt Alliance right here.
Hog wash the funding for the homeless otherwise refered to as mostly bums and junkies goes to the SEIU and nonprofit social workers.Why would you end such a good deal by removing the cash cow ? Sending the junkies to rehab sending the mentally ill to mental facilities and the criminal element to jail .stop funding the homeless industrial complex its corrupt