North Oakland Under Attack by Taggers

North Oakland appears to be under attack by taggers. Telegraph Avenue, Shattuck Avenue, and Martin Luther King Jr. Way have recently seen a significant spike in graffiti. Graffiti is a way for gang bangers and others to mark their territory--not unlike a dog pissing on a tree. If your property is tagged, please make an effort to remove the graffiti as soon as possible. Graffiti attracts graffiti. If you see graffiti on private or public property please use the links on our blog to report it to the City of Oakland. CEDA can address graffiti on private property as a violation of the City Blight Ordinance and Public Works can remove graffiti from public right of ways, telephone poles, utility cabinets and other street furniture.

Shattuck Avenue--the City of Oakland Maintains Blight

The purpose of the City of Oakland's Blight Ordinance is to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens by requiring a level of maintenance of residential, commercial, and industrial property which will protect and preserve the livability, appearance, and social and economic stability of the city and which will also protect the public from the health and safety hazards and the impairment of property values which results from the neglect and deterioration of property. (Ord. 12046 § 1, 1998: prior code § 15-1.01)

Shattuck Avenue, between Woolsey Avenue and 60th Street in North Oakland has a large number of potholes and cracked surfaces in violation of the City's Blight Ordinance. When driving down Shattuck Avenue it feels like a third world country with pothole, after pothole, after pothole. Why does the City of Oakland feel that it is exempted from its own Blight Ordinance and is allowed to maintain many of our streets in conditions that are unsafe and contribute to the appearance of blight? According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the City of Oakland has some of the worst street conditions among all communities in the nine Bay Area Counties (99 out of 107). We think this is completely unacceptable.

The following request was sent on January 4, 2009 to the City of Oakland Code Enforcement Officer:

Shattuck Avenue, between Woolsey Avenue and 60th Street in North Oakland has a large number of potholes and cracked surfaces in violation of the City's Blight Ordinance. In part, the City's Blight Ordinance defines blight as parking lots, driveways, paths, and other areas used or intended to be used for commercial and industrial business activities including, but not limited to, selling, manufacturing, processing, packaging, fabricating, treating, dismantling, processing, transferring, handling, transporting, storing, compounding, or assembling which are inadequately maintained and pose a risk of harm to public health or safety including, but not limited to, unpaved surfaces which generate fugitive dust and paved surfaces with cracks, potholes, or other breaks. Shattuck Avenue is a paved surface with cracks, potholes and other breaks and it is used for commercial and industrial purposes--transporting goods and people. We are requesting that the Code Enforcement staff open a complaint against the Public Works Department and enforce the City Blight Ordinance. The potholes, cracks, and other breaks on Shattuck Avenue create a public safety issue and contribute to the appearance of blight in North Oakland.

We do not think that the City of Oakland Code Enforcement has the chutzpah to actually enforce the Blight Ordinance against a sister department. However, we are willing to push this issue because we believe that it is vital to the economic prosperity of the City. Well maintained streets are a signal to the business community and residents that Oakland cares and is willing to invest in its infrastructure and support the efficient distribution and transportation of goods and people.

Making Progress in North Oakland

The We Fight Blight Campaign is seeing the fruits of its labor in North Oakland. As we drive around the neighborhood, we can see abandoned and inoperable vehicles being towed and properties being cleaned up and repainted. The Vehicle Abatement Unit of Oakland has been nothing but stellar. We have provided them with many, many locations for abandoned and inoperable vehicles. They are steadily working through the list, tagging the vehicles and towing them. As well, the Oakland Public Works Call Center and the online reporting system has been working quite well. We had doubts about the online reporting system being a black hole. Although, we have rarely gotten a call back from the Building Inspectors, we have noticed that several of the problem properties that were reported by residents using the online reporting system are being cleaned up. In following up with the Call Center, residents have gotten updates indicating that the property owners have been notified and given a certain amount of time to remedy the blight problems. One problem house that has been a source of blight and crime for the neighborhood for years is finally being cleaned up. We credit this both to the recent good work of the Oakland City Staff and to the persistence of residents in making multiple calls and sending emails. Fighting blight must be a partnership with the local government.

Berkeley on the other hand has been a bit of a disappointment. As a test, we notified the Environmental Health Services of several abandoned and inoperable vehicles one month ago. In that time we have had no indication that the property owners have been notified, the vehicles tagged and certainly none of the vehicles have been towed. In a month, Oakland has removed at more than 30 abandoned and inoperable vehicles in North Oakland as a result of the We Fight Blight Campaign.

Apparently, the East Lorin Neighborhood Association also reported ten South Berkeley properties to the City Manager's Office for investigation earlier this summer and met with the City staff on July 11, 2008. That effort has gotten mixed results. The City apparently notified the property owners of the blight issues and some have already voluntarily remedied the problems by removing abandoned and inoperable vehicles. However, with other properties there seems to be little or no improvement. Part of this stems from the City's weak blight ordinance that exempts owner occupied, single family dwellings and part stems from the City's lack of organizational structure and well-defined roles and responsibilities to address blight. We will continue to monitor the efficacy of the Berkeley Blight Ordinance and the organizational structure of the City to deal with blight. It is clear that revisions to the Berkeley Blight Ordinance are necessary to address these failings. Such changes can come either through the introduction of proposed changes by a City Councilman or through a ballot initiative.