NCPCs (SNITCHES) Are Behind Oakland Housing Authority Lawsuit

NCPCs (SNITCHES) Are Behind Oakland Housing Authority Lawsuit

By Lynda Carson
March 1, 2007

Oakland, CA -- The recent lawsuit filed against the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) by the City of Oakland, has left many to wonder what is really going on.

The numerous articles by mainstream media barely made a superficial attempt to cover the real story, and failed to uncover the driving force behind the lawsuit against the OHA.

In the lawsuit, the OHA is accused of being a slumlord, and the lawsuit implies that public housing tenants are involved in pimping and pandering, drug dealing and drug possession, and other criminal activities that terrorize Oakland's neighborhoods.

Looking deeper into the lawsuit against the OHA and searching for some answers, it turns out that Oakland's premier snitch group, also known as the NCPC (Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council), is the driving force behind the push to file a lawsuit against the OHA.

Old East Germany has it's legendary stories on how one neighbor after another was spying on their neighbors, and reporting on their activities so that files could be maintained on various housing properties, block by block throughout the country.

In Oakland the same is taking place, but the spies are all members and affiliates of a group called the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). A notorious group of PIGs that promote the spying of one neighbor against another, in the City of Oakland.

Regarding the lawsuit against the OHA, no one is going on the record to claim that criminals actually reside in Oakland's public housing units.

In addition, no one is willing to go on record to say what percentage of OHA housing units have code violations, compared to what percentage of public housing units that may be involved in criminal activities.

It is a stealth lawsuit, that seeks to restructure the way the OHA operates on a day to day basis.

It took some digging before the truth finally came out that the NCPCs, were the ones that pushed Oakland into a lawsuit with it's own Public Housing Authority.

According to Erica Harrold (spokesperson for Oakland's City Attorney's office), out of the 254 housing sites listed in the lawsuit, only 20 to 25 properties are the most egregious. She did not specify what she meant by egregious.

The City Attorney's office tells me that "3 city council members" (Brooks/DelaFuente/Kernighan) were the ones pushing for the lawsuit against the OHA, NOT the office of the City Attorney. Apparently, the City Attorney's office may have some doubts about what they are doing.

Looking deeper into the affair, Councilwoman Patricia Kernighan's office revealed that the NCPC's are the real driving force pushing the councilmembers to sue the OHA.

Erica Harrold also confirmed that the NCPCs, were behind the lawsuit when questioned. "After failing to receive a "Letter of Agreement" from the OHA which would be binding in a court of law, the NCPCs decided on a lawsuit against the OHA."

After a year and a half of negotiations and NCPC demands not being kept by the OHA to the NCPCs, the "NCPCs and 3 councilmembers" lost their patience and decided to sue the OHA on February 15, 2007.

See link & NCPC info below for; Increased Accountability and Improved Performance from the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA)

Apparently the lawsuit may be intended to be a vehicle meant to restructure the mission of the housing authority, according to the way the NCPCs want it to be run.

Public housing tenants lack representation and have not been integrated into the lawsuit against the OHA, which was filed in state court. Theres no monetary remedy being sought for the tenants that may have been forced to reside in slumlike conditions in public housing units in Oakland, or for those that may be forced to relocate as a result of the lawsuit that was filed.

In the lawsuit, the OHA is being accused of not keeping track of maintenance or criminal problems at their properties.

According to Jennie Gerard, Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Kernighan, Oakland's Code Compliance office is not allowed on OHA properties to document defects in units or document code violations on OHA properties.

Contradicting what Jennie Gerard says, Erica Harrold of the City Attorney's office, stated that exterior public housing code violations or blighted conditions are being documented and photographed by John Stewart, of Oakland's Code Compliance office, and the photos are being returned to the City Attorney's office to be used in the lawsuit against the OHA.

In addition, Jennie Gerard states that the complaints that generated the lawsuit are coming from the NCPCs. "The NCPCs have been soliciting complaints from property owners and neighbors residing near OHA properties, and the complaints are being funneled to city council members, who in turn are turning the complaints over to the City Attorney's office to be used in the courts to have the properties declared as Nuisance Properties," says Gerard.

A check with Oakland's Code Compliance office to see if public housing tenants are actually allowed to file complaints with their office, have not yet been verified one way or another.

254 OHA housing sites are involved in the lawsuit, including 1,615 units, out of a total of 3,300 public housing units in Oakland (around half of Oakland's public housing units).

Erica Harrold of the City Attorney's office says, "We are VERY CONCERNED that the OHA continues to buy properties, while at the same time not being able to maintain what properties they already own."

It is the mission of the OHA to buy housing properties in order to offer low-income housing to Oakland's poor, and concerns about the OHA being involved in landbanking sounds like a red herring, meant to promote further fear mongering about the poor moving into Oakland's many diverse neighborhoods.

But it may be worth looking deeper into as to why why the OHA continues to buy numerous properties, that in turn are being sold to non profit housing organizations throughout the City of Oakland.

During the past 6 months, I also received e-mails from a maintenance man who worked for the OHA for around 18 years. He states that my article on the privatization of Oakland's public housing units barely scratched the surface of whats really going on in Oakland. He says that he is outraged that many small properties bought by the OHA, have been turned over/sold to some of the local non profit housing organizations.

(Click onto article on privatizing Oakland's public housing directly below)
Oakland renters displaced by Hope VI program

By Lynda Carson Oct, 2006
Wikinews publication

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Oakland_renters_displaced_by_Hope_VI_program

The NCPCs may want to force the housing authority to stop buying housing properties in Oakland that would house the poor, and they may want to displace tenants from existing OHA properties in certain neighborhoods, and it's apparent that they may want to accelerate the privatization of OHA properties.

The lawsuit against the OHA, is complaint driven by Oakland's Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils (NCPCs).

The lawsuit is not driven by unit by unit documented code violations by certified building inspectors, that may actually be able to prove if the OHA is really a slumlord.

See more information & reports below regarding the feud between the NCPCs and the OHA.

Lynda Carson may be reached at, tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com


**************
Report from Patricia Kernighan's office:
OCTOBER 2005 REPORTS/INITIATIVES

http://www.patkernighan.com/News/October05.htm#5a

5) Increased Accountability and Improved Performance
from the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA)

On Thursday, September 29, 2005, Council President De
La Fuente, District 2 residents, and I made tremendous
progress in our ongoing effort to improve customer
service, curb appeal, and tenant behavior at Oakland
Housing Authority (OHA) sites. The September 29
meeting was a follow-up to a meeting between
Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) leaders
and the Oakland Housing Authority that took place on
August 15 that left many residents perturbed and
frustrated by the lack of tangible deliverables that
OHA proposed.

On September 29, OHA staff came out in full force with
eight staff, including Executive Director John
Gressley, Deputy Director Sharon Cossey, Director of
Resident & community Services Patricia Ison, Director
of Housing Management Joyce Roberson, and OHA Chief of
Police Carel Duplessis. With intense pressure from
both the district 2 and 5 offices, Mr. Gressley
delineated nine deliverables built around three
points:


Communications and Accountability

• OHA has setup a live hotline (510-874-1653) and an
email address (info [at] oakha.org) to receive complaints
about OHA properties at. Calls and emails will be
returned with details about when and how OHA will
address the reported concern.
• OHA will post the customer service phone number and
e-mail on its buildings to enable concerned community
members to contact OHA
• OHA will produce a brochure listing names and
titles of key OHA staff
• OHA staff will attend Service Delivery System (SDS)
and Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC)
meetings when OHA items are on the agenda
• OHA will restructure to better align with Police
Service Areas (PSA)


Property Maintenance


• OHA will paint and rehabilitate 2-5 scattered sites
within each of the 7 council districts within 1-2
years
• OHA will paint out graffiti within 24 hours of
report, using matching paint (goal is to implement by
June 30, 2006)

Tenant Behavior

• OHA will create an Intervention Team to address
problem tenants using case management, social
services, and police services
• OHA will work more closely with OPD, Public
Nuisance Manager, Neighborhood Law Corps, and City
Council offices to evict problem tenants as a last
remedy


Affected neighbors: Please continue to call the OHA
hotline, email in your concerns, and track how long it
takes for problems to get resolved, and your level of
satisfaction with the resolution. It is essential that
residents continue to take detailed notes of the
problems that they have witnessed, including the dates
and times of the nuisances and the descriptions of
people engaged in nuisance behavior.

I will work with OHA on implementing their new
management plan for a minimum of six months. At the
end of the six months, OHA, District 2 residents, and
I will reconvene and evaluate the degree of success or
failure of the proposal and continue to work with
residents to determine what further courses of action
must be taken to relieve residents from the enduring
problems emanating from OHA properties. I assure you
that improving the quality of life in neighborhoods
situated near historical problem OHA properties is a
high priority for me.

If you would like to find out more about the OHA
Response to Community Concerns, please contact our
office at 238-7002.



***************
Google search results for NCPC and Oakland Housing
Authority

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=NCPC+and+Oakland+public+housing&btnG=Search

***************
Dawn Hawk
Brooklyn–Bella Vista area neighbor
Community Board Member, Friends of Bella Vista Park
Co-Secretary, 17Y Bella Vista-Highland Neighborhood
Crime Prevention Council (NCPC)

http://grandlakeguardian.org/index.php/letters/2006/10/31/dawn_hawk_kernighan_delivers_below_580

• Developing new paradigms for City Departments and
Agencies that WORK for our neighborhoods
Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) restructuring — Pat is
working closely with residents to hold
federally-funded OHA administration accountable to
their mission of providing good housing to low-income
tenants, and to be more accountable for properly
managing scattered site public housing throughout our
neighborhoods. We need to continue this vital work to
bring real change to our community.
• Experience
Nuisance liquor stores — Pat helped residents work
with the Neighborhood Law Corps to bring nuisance
stores into compliance with community standards. As
Chief of Staff to former District 2 City Councilmember
Danny Wan, and in her first year in office, Pat has
shown she has the experience needed to continue to
improve District 2 and the City as a whole. We know
that real progress is hard won, and demands expertise
and diligence, not empty promises.