Mayor Fails Residents In Fight Against Illegal Dumping: Activists

OAKLAND, CA —An East Oakland community group says that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's recently-announced plan to hire three litter enforcement officers to fight illegal dumping isn't a strong enough measure to fight the perennial problem in her city.

Members of the East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods said in a statement that Schaaf's announcement last week of a plan to hire three litter enforcement officers at a annual cost of $452,000 is "insufficient and overly focused on enforcement as a solution."

The community group organized a "Trash Tour" on March 17 that began at Schaaf's home and continued to several affluent areas to highlight what it alleges are unequal services in the city's high-income areas in the
hills and low-income neighborhoods in the flatlands.

The group said the city didn't respond to its proposed solutions so on April 16 hundreds of residents from East and West Oakland rallied to express their frustration with the lack of action to solve the illegal
dumping crisis in flatland neighborhoods.

The East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods said it proposed hiring three litter enforcement officers but it also made other demands: having one new Public Works crew focused on illegal dumping, better lighting in chronic dumping areas and a zone-based clean-up system focused on illegal dumping hotspots instead of simply reacting to complaints.

The group said city councilmembers Desley Brooks, Annie Campbell-Washington, Noel Gallo, Abel Guillen and Rebecca Kaplan have all agreed to find funding for that package of demands in the mid-cycle budget
review process that ends in June.

Schaaf's spokesman Justin Berton said, "Our community asked for three litter enforcement officers to catch illegal dumpers and Mayor Schaaf and Councilmember Guillen responded."

Berton said, "The shared goal is to see an Oakland where every neighborhood is clean and no child is forced to walk around a garbage pile.

Until that's a reality, the mayor, city staff, and the community will work on solutions together - including catching those responsible for dumping on Oakland."

Evangelina Lara, a Congress leader who lives in council District 2, said, "We pay taxes just like residents in the hills. We want to see the same level of city services here in the flatlands."

Lara said, "We expect all of our demands to be met in the mid-cycle budget review process, as was promised on April 16. We intend to make sure that city officials fulfill their commitments to the community."

She said, "The time for partial solutions and unmet promises is over."

Chris Jackson, a Congress leader who lives in council District 7, said, "The issue of illegal dumping is an issue of access and equity. We have some councilmembers and a mayor who tell us that Oakland is 'inclusive' and a
'sanctuary' for the vulnerable, yet the streets in sanctuary neighborhoods are uncared for."

Jackson said, "They can do more. Equity is everyone getting what they need to thrive. We expect elected leaders to support all of our demands, not the punitive ones they like best."

Manuel Arias, a Congress leader in District 5, said, "We will continue to organize -- our children, elders, parents and all residents deserve better. No one's children should have to walk over garbage to go to
school."

— Bay City News; Image via City of Oakland