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Oakland leaders address street conditions and crime at forum
Oakland city leaders gathered with residents in Montclair for a pre-planned community meeting focused on addressing illegal dumping, traffic crime, and general street conditions across the city.
Quality-of-life issues
What they're saying:
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland city leaders gathered with residents in Montclair on Monday for a pre-planned community meeting focused on addressing illegal dumping, traffic crime, and general street conditions across the city.
The forum, organized by Faith in Action East Bay, was attended by Mayor Barbara Lee and Oakland Police Chief James Beere.
The event took place shortly after two high-profile violent incidents in the city, including an East Oakland standoff where a suspect fired on police and set a building on fire, as well as a deadly stabbing spree the prior week.
However, discussion during the meeting remained centered on neighborhood conditions and traffic enforcement.
"I want to hear from more people," Lee told attendees. "Because we don’t have all the answers and it’s going to be very important for all of you to let us know what you think needs to happen in your neighborhoods."
Residents in attendance expressed that everyday neighborhood conditions are top priorities for the city to solve.
"As a mom, when you’re walking your kid to school, that’s what your kids seeing, somebody laying on the sidewalk, garbage, trash. They think that that’s normal and acceptable," said 20-year East Oakland resident Myeisha Keys, referring to recent violence.
Crackdown on illegal dumping
Big picture view:
To address trash and neighborhood blight, Lee highlighted a new ordinance that increases penalties for illegal dumping, along with the deployment of technological tools such as drones to detect dumping hotspots and surveillance cameras to catch violators.
"And we’re a data-driven operation," Lee said. "If we know how much gets dumped now, I want to see that reduced by at least 25 to 50 percent."
Faith in Action East Bay plans to host a follow-up session on Sept. 14 at Allen Temple Baptist Church at 8501 International Boulevard in Oakland to review the city's progress on illegal dumping initiatives.
Traffic crime and sideshows
City officials also detailed ongoing efforts to improve traffic safety and curtail illegal sideshows.
According to city data, newly installed speed cameras have issued 250,000 citations so far this year. Additionally, the Oakland Police Department has towed approximately 150 vehicles tied to sideshow activity.
"Thanks to the mayor, we were able to direct resources at the start of this year specifically just to address sideshows," Chief Beere said.
While residents acknowledged the city's efforts, some called for accelerated action moving forward.
"I have seen some improvement in that time, but as stated, they’ve been baby steps," said Keys. "We need bigger steps."
The Source: The information for this story came from a meeting with Mayor Barbara Lee, Police Chief James Beere and residents.