NEWS ADVISORY: Outraged by the unresolved issue of illegal dumping on Oakland streets, community leaders from Faith in Action East Bay and Block By Block Organizing Network will hold a virtual action event with city officials at 6 p.m. Thursday, December 7.
Oakland, California – At 6 p.m. Thursday, December 7, leaders of Faith in Action East Bay (FIAEB) and Block by Block Organizing Network (BBBON) will hold a virtual action on illegal dumping in Oakland. All concerned citizens and members of the media are invited to attend. Register at tinyurl.com/IDactionDec7.
The virtual, citywide action will include at least four council members: Dan Kalb (District 1), Nikki Bas (District 2), Janani Ramachandran (District 4), and Rebecca Kaplan (at large). It is expected that other city officials will confirm their attendance. Community leaders will demand that citizens’ taxes be put to work to clean the streets of trash, abandoned vehicles, and toxic waste that jeopardizes the mental, emotional, and physical health of Oakland’s children and families.
The leaders will request appropriate funding to increase capacity to implement and enforce Oakland’s illegal dumping laws. The leaders will also request adequate waste management contracts for businesses and waste management services for unhoused people.
“Residents, taxpayers, and business owners should want to know why our city is so filthy and what the mayor, city council, Oakland Public Works (OPW), and Department of Transportation is or is not doing to remove this assault on our city,” said Faith in Action East Bay leader Ernestine Wilson. “All elected and appointed city officials must be compelled to exercise their resources and invest in an indefinite resolution to the appalling blight on the Oakland landscape.”
In a June 27, 2023, Public Works Committee meeting, OPW Director Harold Duffey said that over 18 million pounds of trash is illegally dumped on Oakland streets annually. The leaders point out that in nearby cities of Emeryville, Piedmont, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Alameda, Castro Valley, and San Leandro, the problem of illegal dumping is nonexistent and propose that solutions might be found in nearby civic responses to the issue.
FIAEB and BBBON have been fighting the issue of illegal dumping in Oakland since 2015. Oakland families in the flatlands have been neglected by the city for almost ten years forcing them to live under unhealthy conditions caused by illegal dumping. While gains have been made in adding security cameras to problem areas and increasing fines, the problem of illegal dumping in Oakland continues to grow. Leaders will ask the city to clean the streets and return dignity to Oakland families.
WHAT: Action on Illegal Dumping
WHO: Faith in Action East Bay and Block by Block Organizing Network
WHEN: Thursday, December 7, at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Zoom, Register: tinyurl.com/IDactionDec7