Yesterday, Oakland officials passed a new encampment abatement policy — a controversial rewrite of its previous, encampment management policy.
The Encampment Abatement Policy was co-authored by District 7 Councilmember Ken Houston and Patricia Brooks, who works as Chief of Staff for Council President Kevin Jenkins.
On Tuesday morning, Oakland hosted a special meeting of the city council to discuss the long-debated new policy that will change the way the city manages unsheltered homelessness.
The new policy expands the city’s ability to quickly close encampments.
Notably, it introduces one key revision to the city’s previous policy: It removes vehicle homes from the definition of “encampment,” making it easier for them to be towed and impounded.
Under the previous policy, individuals living in RVs or cars were managed by the city’s designated encampment management team. They were meant to receive the same protections as any other unhoused person, such as receiving shelter offers before their vehicles were towed.
Under the new policy, vehicle dwellers will be managed by the Oakland Police Department. The policy encourages the city to offer them shelter, but does not require it in the same way it does for those who do not live in vehicles.
However, the city will be required to provide some notice before towing vehicle homes, because of an amendment by Councilmember Unger.
The new policy also expands the footprint of “high sensitivity zones,” where encampment closures will be prioritized.
The council chambers were full of public speakers, who came to speak out both for and against the new policy. Renee Hayes is a Senior Advocate at Oakland’s St. Mary’s Center senior shelter.
"Evidence shows that encampment abatement or sweeps... They do nothing to solve homelessness," said Hayes. "The fact that they have to be repeated over and over again suggests that that's ineffective."
A small number of speakers were in favor, like Stephanie Tran, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.
"We support the intent of the encampment abatement policy, particularly the ability to respond more quickly to urgent health and safety conditions for our business corridors," said Tran.
Tuesday’s vote comes after 9 months of discussion about the controversial new policy — the first draft was introduced by District 7 Councilmember Ken Houston last summer.
The policy that passed on Tuesday omits some of the most controversial elements of earlier drafts, which would have allowed the city to close all encampments without offering shelter to their residents, and arrest or fine them simply for sleeping outside.
The Encampment Abatement Policy passed with five yes votes. Councilmember Gallo voted no, Councilmember Fife abstained, and Councilmember Ramachandran was absent.
