At 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 19, concerned citizens will gather on Zoom with city officials to call for a state of emergency and an immediate strategy for dealing with trash and abandoned vehicles in the Oakland flatlands.
Oakland, California – Oakland flatlands families are in a health and safety crisis. Illegal dumping and abandoned vehicles have put flatland families and communities in danger. Community leaders and residents will bring these deplorable conditions in front of elected and appointed officials at 6:30 p.m. Monday on Zoom. They will call for unity to make Oakland beautiful again. All are welcome.
“Together we represent thousands of families from the flatlands of East, Central, West and North Oakland,” said Lidia Leon, a resident and community leader. “Our vision is that our neighborhoods are clean and receive the services from the City that we deserve. We know that is not the reality. We know our neighborhoods are not treated fairly. Our children have to step over piles of trash on their way to school.”
Organizers of the Monday action aim to address the illegal dumping and abandoned vehicles affecting families in the flatland areas and ask that public and appointed officials declare Oakland a ‘state of emergency’ over the crisis of health and safety.
Community leaders first began organizing in 2015 to fight the problem of illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles, and unhoused encampment issues. Parents, educators, and school communities were also concerned about the emotional impact the trash on the streets had on the children’s physical and emotional health and learning. Yet despite ongoing organizing work, leaders are frustrated with the fact that the illegal dumping issue is worsening: there is now an increase of abandoned vehicles, trash, and encampments outside of families’ homes, schools, congregations, and public libraries.
“We are frustrated that streets are being closed and taken over with the belongings of unhoused people and our families are living in fear due to criminal activities surrounding their homes,” said Ernestine Wilson, a community leader. “This is a result of people using those spaces to conduct illegal business such as drug dealings and pimps bringing young ladies for sex trafficing. We must work together and find ways to fix this situation. We cannot allow our families, elders, and youth to continue living under these unhealthy and unsafe conditions.”
Leaders of the action point out that these conditions would never be tolerated in the Oakland Hills neighborhoods. They also point out that while community clean-up days are helpful, ultimately elected officials are not paid to pick up trash–they are paid to ensure the city’s services are working for everyone. Leaders claim that it should not be an ongoing fight for clean and safe neighborhoods.
“Our health is impacted, emotionally, mentally, and physically,” explained Lidia Leon. “We can’t sleep or rest anymore. We feel scared and unsafe even inside our homes. This issue is in the neighborhood of residences, schools, libraries, churches, parks, and supermarkets. These are places we need to walk daily to get what we need, but it’s almost impossible even to get out of our homes without the fear of being assaulted or harassed. My son and husband leave for work early in the morning and must walk blocks away from our home to reach our parked car due to all of the unregistered abandoned vehicles parked on our neighborhood streets. Enough is enough! We must find a solution before lives are lost. How and why this is allowed to happen in our neighborhood, I don’t know, but may God have mercy on all of us.”
Register for the September 19 Illegal Dumping Action: tinyurl.com/Action919
