Thank you for your request. According to our system, we already have an open service request of this kind at this location. Your request has been combined with service request #725977. If you would like to check the status of the request, please contact the Public Works Call Center at 510-615-5566 or pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com. This issue can also be followed by watching http://seeclickfix.com/issues/3345175.

Service request 3345175 has been open for over a month and has only gotten worse. I have emailed the city and there is no response to my request for updates.

Please do something about this unsafe environment. This is having a negative impact on the community and has been getting worse for a month with no help from the city.

Please do something ASAP. The pot holes and garbage are horrendous that I can no longer ride my bike through there to work. Also my partner got sexually harassed by the "residents" so bad while jogging she no longer feels safe doing Her normal route. This is now a major public health/safety issue– needles, broken bottles, and fluids galore.

This area remains dangerous to pedestrians and bikers. Please do something. Yesterday we drove through and saw a drug deal out in the open in broad daylight.

This area remains unusable to the neighborhood. We drove through yesterday and saw a drug deal occur in broad daylight with no attempt to hide. Please help the neighborhood by cleaning up this underpass.

The sidewalks are almost completely impassable, the street nearly so, and the stench of human waste is repellent. It's time to clean it up!

Why is nothing being done about this area that has been reported by neighbors for MONTHS?

It's incredible how many people are reporting this, and that cesspool continues to grow and thrive on a daily basis. I drive through there on my way to/from work every day and now am even seeing outright drug selling and use in plain view. It's unbelievable! Enough is enough and clearly many folks are sick of this. Do something about it already!!!!

We all need to write emails and call Councilmember Kalb (this area is in his district) about this challenge. He also has open community meetings once per month so meeting with him in person will help even more. The more he is pushed on this public health and safety challenge, the quicker change will occur!

Here is Councilmember Kalb's email address (found on the city's website). dkalb@oaklandnet.com

I emailed Mr. Kalb several times and spoke to him at the Temescal street fair. He told me to take pictures and when we tried we were attacked by a man with a golf club. Reported to the police who said there was nothing they could do. I am at a loss how to have an impact.

Here is my response from Monica, from Kalb's office

Thank you for contacting Dan about this. The City of Oakland in conjunction with Alameda County and several other municipalities have been doing a number of things to address the historically high homeless problem that we are seeing.

We are aware of the issues at 42nd Street and have reported this to Public Works several times over the past few weeks. I was told by the Call Center Manager of Public Works that 42nd Street has been added to the priority list for clean-up but we have not been given a date certain for when action will be taken. We hope to see changes very soon.

Public Works is overwhelmed with a large backlog of requests to abate homeless encampments because as you know, the numbers are greater than anything we have seen in the past and Oakland Public Works is understaffed on top of that.

The larger issue is that the homeless individuals are very likely to find another nearby park or underpass to set up camp and we will be in the same situation, at a different location. We need to work on permanent solutions to this problem.

Dan has stated publicly that one of his biggest budget priorities is to address not only short-term solutions of services that our homeless population needs but also the long term solution- housing for the homeless. Please see Dan’s budget priorities here: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/government/o/CityCouncil/o/District1/Issues/Budget/index.htm

The City of Oakland’s Human Services Department has also completed a report, requested by Councilmember Kalb, that details what our options are given our current budget and what we could possibly see in the future if we partner with other entities. The fact is, the City of Oakland cannot take on all of these costs independently. The initial and supplemental reports can be seen here. Please also see the Alameda County homelessness report:

http://everyonehome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Everyone-Counts_Alameda-ES-5_12.pdf

I hope this adds a bit of perspective. This is an issue that requires a vast amount of coordination throughout multiple agencies within Alameda County and beyond. We are hoping to get state and federal grants as well because the problem is so massive that we cannot solve this issue without additional assistance.

This area remains too dangerous for residents to pass through yet school is starting in two weeks. How will the children attending NOCC, Park Day or Oakland Tech get to their classes? Do we want elementary children walking through this area?