A federal judge on Friday refused to let Caltrans “wash their hands” of people living in a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland by clearing them from it.
It is unclear though to the camp residents whether the city of Oakland or BNSF Railway Company will be clearing the parts of the camp that they own. The camp is on land owned by all three and possibly land owned by individuals.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick upheld a temporary restraining order preventing the state’s transportation agency from clearing its part of the encampment.
Early in the hearing, Orrick was critical of Caltrans, Oakland, and Alameda County. Attorneys for the three entities had few answers for the judge’s questions. Orrick said Caltrans officials told him the agency is not in the housing business. Oakland and the county are working with Caltrans to provide housing for the homeless residents.
“Everybody wants to wash their hands” of this particular problem, Orrick alleged. “And that’s not going to happen.”
Caltrans attorney Stephen Silver said his agency is concerned about safety following an encampment fire July 11 that got close to oxygen tanks owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
The fire got 215 feet from the EBMUD plant and may have impacted it if the wind was blowing toward the plant that day.
“This is simply a potential catastrophe,” Silver said.
But Orrick said the potential catastrophe has been there for six years, implying Caltrans has done nothing to mitigate it in that time.
Silver also showed the judge a freeway support structure that was damaged by an encampment fire, but Orrick said that the fire was three years ago.
Orrick said Caltrans has made no progress to house the encampment residents, calling that a state-created problem, too.
Brigitte Nicoletti, an attorney representing the camp residents, said there is nothing in the restraining order that prevents Caltrans from abating fires. She told the judge that residents have said Caltrans has increased the fire danger at the camp.
Nicoletti also said there is no evidence camp residents were involved in the fires.
Oakland fire officials said about 100 fires of various sizes and severity have occurred at the camp between April 2021 and July 1 of this year. One person died in a fire in April.
The state has provided $4.7 million in grants to the city of Oakland specifically to help house people at the Wood Street encampment, according to the governor’s office.
Without a place for them to go what is the sense of kicking them out. The problem is statewide but the state has no ideas. In the meantime maybe Caltrans and the city can teach these vagrants how to keep their area cleaned up so they can’t start more large fires. Organize the place.
I wouldn’t necessarily call them vagrants but I wouldn’t call them homeless either. I live over here. For many, this is a lifestyle. They do not want traditional housing. They want to be left alone to live their own life but they want the city to provide water, electricity, garbage pick up, toilets. I constantly see encampment residents hauling trash of various sorts down the street and into the encampment. There’s a lot of theft from nearby building sites. There’s a lot of mentally unstable that tear landscaping around the area walk the street exhibiting questionable behavior. And all of this directly across the street from and along a neighborhood park. You’d be shocked by the number of BMWs and other nice cars that drive into the encampment.
Lol! Teach the mentally ill and cracked out addicts how to clean up better! We could just get them vacuum cleaners and feather dusters and stuff. Maybe some throw pillows and a few doilies.
Your comment illustrates how off in lala land California is. At this point I am acceleratioinist. I want the open air drug scene homeless camps to come to the nice suburbs, on private property. The people that vote for this need to feel the pain they are propagating.
You wanna see them come to suburban lands and get on private property: I’m happy to put them down like I would a rabid dog on my property.
I said next time just let the fire burn and it’ll take care of the problem for us
Some if not many of these people actually have an income. It may be disability, social security or a retirement.
Like many have suggested they should be separated and treated accordingly. I believe they should also start helping support many of the offered services.
Also they are not the only “bad guys”. Many nonprofits make a good living serving the homeless. SF spent $390 million a couple of years ago. Much of that money paid some pretty nice City/County salaries in the name of Helping the Homeless.
Nuckin Futz…. .
Well you know the next fire in that encampment let it burn, don’t send the FD and fire will rid the whole area quickly if those people.
It’s not hard to do people!
No brainer …. just spend a fraction of what is paid into the “Homeless Industrial Complex” … build tiny home villages in unused land plots … Staff within competent management, medical care, education, mental health, diet/healthy living, addiction treatment, job placement … and let’s help out fellow humans get back on their feet and recover some dignity in this miracle life on planet URTH.
No, thank you. If you don’t like “Homeless Industrial Complex”, why do you fall for yet another brainchild of theirs? Or do you think these “tiny home villages” are anything other than open drug markets, like Tenderloin, only replicated on a grand scale across California?
The answer not building crappy chicken coops for humans. The answer is building more market rate housing. Making it more difficult for NIMBY activists to block housing development. Making it easier to redevelop old dilapidated apartment complexes. Getting rid of stupid rent controls and eviction moratoriums for small landlords, so that they put their units back into the rental market instead of Airbnb.
I suggest that Caltrans move the homeless camp to this federal judge’s front yard. He doesn’t seem to mind the mess so I’m sure he would be ok with that.
Alternatively, maybe they can bunk down at Nancy’s Napa estate.
Agree. NIMBY!
There is a solution for the homeless in CA. Each homeless person should be evaluated and treated as follows:
1-those with mental illness go into mental health facilities where they can be treated
2-those with drug and/or alcohol addiction go into treatment facilities to get off whatever they are on, then get jobs
3-those that are not mentally ill or addicted (probably very few) get jobs
Gavin has a huge surplus…how about spending some of it to help the homeless? If he has to start a CA version of the CCC then so be it…I’m sure this state could find plenty of work that needs done.
The average California voter will not vote for anyone that does those things, as common sense as the are. They will punish any politician that enacts them. Any kind of solution to the homeless problem will require some sticks to go with all the carrots we give out, and people will not vote for those necessary actions. Until the daily fires, strewn needles, bacterial outbreaks, mentally deranged, and strung out opioid adicts are in the afluent neighborhoods too, nothing will change.
As long as the consequences of their vote doesn’t directly affect them, the average CA voter will keep voting for more of this, while patting themselves on the back for their tolerence and compassion. No different than voting for carbon taxes, cap and trade, and drilling bans and then being outraged when energy costs skyrocket. Some people just need to be punched in the face by reality before they figure it out.
The precedent this judge is setting will mean that if homeless come and squat in your back and front yard, you will not be able to oust them.
I would oust them From my property very quickly. They would not last longer than an hour from when I was made aware. I have a spouse and children. We will challenge you and so would many of my neighbors
I have ousted them from the non-profit I support in unincorporated Concord and would do so again. There are shelters out there that are NOT full. They are many many resources not being utilized by these trespassers (not homeless, but trespassers who are breaking the law!) This was done by calling CoCo County Sheriffs daily and filing complaints and having them come out. I also worked with a local security company who drove by at all hours of the day/night with lights flashing and radios/sirens. My non-profit works with children 4-14, not a good place to have a trespasser who may/may not be a pedophile, druggie. Etc
Liberal Federal Judge Prevents Caltrans From Clearing Homeless Camp. What a shock the Dems are ruining our cities!
This judge would reverse the restraining order with prejudice if the camps were near his home. What a joke.
Bet the judge would feel different if they were camping on his front porch, using his yard for a toilet, and abusing his hibiscus.
Need a place to put them.
The place to put them are mental hospitals, treatment centers, or placed in jobs so they can support themselves.
I’m not talking about mistreating them. Let’s build state of the art treatment centers, if need be, for them. CA could lead the way in treating the homeless and getting them back into productive society.
BORbeleiver – +1 +2 +3
I hear Nebraska is nice 🤦🏼♀️
Herds of goats are often used to mitigate fire hazards naturally. Large carnivores (mountain lions, grizzly bears, komodo dragons, etc.) may also work in this particular instance.
It’s interesting to see so many folks insisting or institutionalizing the mental cases, but one has to remember that Governor Ronald Reagan closed the mental hospitals and turned these folks loose. While I don’t know this as fact it could be that the Judge in this case was appointed by that golden haired President who last lived on Pennsylvania avenue. We must look within and see what has been wrought in our names.
Funny how people forget that John F. Kennedy as president signed legislation for mental health rights because of his sister. How Gov Pat Brown started releasing patients from State hospitals which continued through Reagan and continued through the Jerry Brown administration.
FYI U.S. District Judge William Orrick was appointed under the black haired president Obama.
In SF they had to admit each tent in an encampment cost $60,000 at least per year.
That is more than the tax contribution of the average American home!!!!
This is surely a sustainable system!!!
Why should it be Caltrans responsibility to find these people homes?
Maybe hand out flyers of suitable places for the homeless to go. All our elected officials would be a good start.
https://youtu.be/bpAi70WWBlw
Notice that every chart completely ignores the fact that San Francisco’s data is HIGHER than Seattle. We are living in a crazy place, with crazy people running the state into the ground. For the love of God, stop electing the people who are ruining this beautiful state #SaveCalifornia
The East Bay Times picture today showed RV line-up at Wood St. not decrepit tents so we need a big place for the RVs to move to, too.