The Terrible State of Oakland

The United Front Against Displacement and the West Oakland Wood St Community will rally on February 7th at 5 pm to condemn the Oakland State of the City Address (1000 Oak St, Oakland, CA 94607).

The City is in a terrible state. The State of the City Address is an opportunity for Mayor Schaff and the city administrators to lie about the horrendous conditions of the people of Oakland. The City of Oakland has invested millions in “managing” and sweeping homeless people out of site and done little to provide services, housing or employment opportunities to the thousands of dispossessed people of Oakland. Conservative estimates put over 4000 people on the streets of Oakland every night, actual figures could be twice as high! This does not account for the thousands more that are housing insecure. With the rising cost of housing, many are forced to live in cars, trailers or with friends and extended family.

This situation demands that people take action and organize to end homelessness.

The City of Oakland has consistently failed the West Oakland Wood st community and has instead chosen to collaborate with the surrounding real estate developers that seek to evict the community!
Mayor Schaff''s office has collaborated with Fred B Craves, a SF billionaire to develop an abandoned lot in West Oakland that sits at the heart of the West Oakland Wood st Community.

Craves and he City claim that they plan to build a “Safe Parking” lot on Wood st. What they leave out is that after the lease expires (18 months after its finalized) that Craves intend to develop the land at a profit and leave the community with nothing an nowhere to go!

Fred Craves has even enlisted the legal services of the Law Offices of Alan Horowitz, afirm that focuses on evictions and who describe themselves as “The Evictors”.

This is not a struggle just affecting the West Oakland Wood St community. The City of Oakland, real estate developers and law offices across the city collaborate to displace working people and it is time to fight back!