I totally agree! Our neighborhood has become a huge dumping place. I live on Edes ave and some days, we have to swerve to avoid driving on the dump. This is unacceptable from Oakland to leave this area in such condition (would it be Rockridge, the problem would be solved right away) and from the criminals who get away with this!

Operationally all the City has to do is patrol this area weekly and direct the current street sweepers to 1) not AVOID the debris, and 2) document and report the piles to a Central office that would then deploy the heavy-crew or hazardous material crew as the case may be. Why do they have to wait for citizens to alert them to where piles are? THERE ARE ALWAYS PILES - just got out and clean them up, maybe you will even bust an offender in the process. How hard is this, unless you have not resources or are intentionally choosing to avoid East Oakland for4 some reason?

The city will say they don't have the resources. I read the city auditor's reports on the PWA. Take a look:

http://www.oaklandauditor.com/audits/reports

The auditor made some good recommendations that were not implemented.

The City Attorney announced that illegal dumping would now be a misdemeanor, as opposed to an infraction, with higher penalties this past fall. That was another feel good, let's pretend this will help moment until people realized we had no plan to catch dumpers. We, the public, are supposed to witness it and report it, giving details like license numbers of vehicles, descriptions of dumpers and provide photos, if possible. I have seen several of these reports on seeclickfix. It's more effective to call the police if it's in progress ot the PWA to make a report if it's already happened, but, obviously, not enough of the offenders get caught to be a deterrent.

Many people dump bulky waste items because they are not eligible for a free bulky waste pickup or don't have a truck or the money for dump fees. I believe the city should offer free bulky waste pickups for all on a monthly, street by street basis.

We also have fly-by-night constructions crews, remodelers, carpet layers, etc., dumping instead of legally disposing of waste. They need to be reported, caught and heavily fined.

I believe we need surveillance cameras in chronic dumping hot spots. This was part of the City Auditor's recommendations.

I've been happy to see Councilmember Gallo has organized and supported a bunch of neighborhood cleanup days in his district. He also regularly makes illegal dumping reports on seeclickfix.

I'm very interested in working on Oakland's illegal dumping problem (and blight) and would love to work with anyone else who is interested.

Maybe it will be a good idea to install cameras, that will replay clear images. Otherwise, those who dump illegally may never get caught.

They have the resources for other neighborhoods...

The majority of Oakland neighborhoods don't have the widescale, insane amount of dumping that is shown in these photos. As to other neighborhoods, Councilmember Gallo has been organizing lots of neighborhood cleanups for his district because it's a mess, but not as bad as what is shown here. Adams Point is littered with couches and mattresses and misc. furniture at the beginning and end up each month due to renters moving out not bothering to dispose of their things properly. You'll see West Oakland Neighbors posting about their neighborhood here on seeclickfix, ditto Temescal. Both of those neighborhoods also do cleanups. Neighborhoods with a higher proportion of owners have less illegal dumping. Illegal dumpers think they can dump in areas where people aren't around or won't report them. That's why you see them dumping up in the Oakland hills: no eyes.

Yes, survelliance cameras in chronic dump stops would be a good idea.

Yes, the majority of the neighborhoods do not suffer from chronic illegal dumping. That's one of the reason why I don't understand the lack of resources dedicated to this problem. Also, my major problem with this whole entire thing is the response from the city. How can debris just be left, on site, for months at a time eleven with the promise of removal within a certain time frame.

Stanley Roberts, People Behaving Badly, has been out on the street today and interviewing people. He reported on his about 6 months ago, and has returned to note that there has not been any real improvement in the conditions. Expect this in heavy rotation on KRON shortly.

If you want to reach out to Stanley on this - Tweet him at: @SRobertsKRON4

Great! Maybe there will be a real, continuous solution to this problem.

What I am waiting is for the City to join this conversation so that it is possible to work WITH THEM, not just complaining, shining lights on problems, getting angry, hurting in turn their morale and just playing a bad game of whack a mole.

Have you noticed that not once has the City ever posted a personalized authentic post via See Click Fix - only form responses as if they are forbidden to communicate. If my theory is correct, then that policy that puts a firewall between citizens and its public servants needs to be broken down by edict of the City Counsel or others in charge of this - IMO.

for reference; photo set on the general area:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bennetthall/sets/72157631575630779/with/11258683805/

Councilmember McElhaney has commented on seeclickfix about dumping in her district so it can't be against policy and we can certainly write to them directly. I'd like to hear from Councilmember Reid on the massive dumping in his district.
lreid@oaklandnet.com
Reporter Matthai Kuruvila has written some articles on the dumping in Oakland. Here's one where Reid is quoted, as well as Kaplan.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-seeks-new-ways-to-end-illegal-dumping-3448879.php

This was a feel good moment that has gone nowhere:

http://kaplanforoakland.org/2013/09/release-legislation-advances-to-enhance-illegal-dumping-penalties/

There are cameras in place at various locations on Pearmain, however the technology that would actually capture license plates and suspect IDs is far beyond what exists and would likely also be assailed as Orwellian. I understand however the DA will respond to suspect IDs from citizens and will act on evidence if they believe that they can file charges that have a chance of success.

It would be terrific if ANYONE from the City would participate in the forum See Click FIX and provide guidance - however sadly, in the year or so I have been posting I have not seen ANY POSTS from the City there were not simply a "form reply".

I am hoping that the operational team that hits the "acknowledge and "closed" bottom on this system can step up and join the conversation; great when the politicians can speak up, but we need boots on the ground, need to know how to action evidence and send it to the DA and OPD etc. That said, I agree with you on Councilmember Reid, he should speak out loudly on this, even though I heard he may not be well.

I just watched Stanley Robert's "People Behaving Badly" video on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYqUIC5dHUg&feature=youtu.be

if true, regarding the homeless man being with Santana, and should the Band/Santana reach out and help this man get a leg up, the serendipity of our struggle to clean up East Oakland leading to this good news story would make up for a whole lot of people behaving badly.

A person posted a week or so ago that evidence he called in to the PWA was pursued by the DA and did result in the perpetrator being fined. I would love to hear more of this follow up from the DA or the city attorney or someone from the city so we know what happens to the info we provide. They cannot pursue anonymous seeclickfix reports, so that's why I posted the guidelines for reporting witnessed dumping. Will post them again:

How to report illegal dumping in Oakland:

Public Works Agency Call Center:

Email Public Works:

Sign up for SeeClickFix:

Dumping in progress:

Oakland Police non-emergency line:

(510) 615-5566

pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com

http://www.seeclickfix.com/oakland/

(510) 777-3333

Tips for submitting evidence:

Photos of vehicle license plates are ideal. If a photo is not available, write down the license plate number.

Include time, date and location.

Include your contact info – the City must contact you to verify evidence.

More information is always better – photos of company names or logos on vehicles involved in dumping may be helpful.

Avoid confrontation when documenting illegal dumping incidents.

I'm sure that the technology, to capture license plates, exist. How are they able to capture plates at the bridge toll crossing? They have what they call automatic plate recognition. Not only that, satellite makes it possible to see almost everything. The question is, does the city think that this a high enough priority that they should funnel resources in the direction of this problem?
This problem is deplorable and a slap in the face to this city's taxpayers.

Dear Neighbors,

I so appreciate the conversation going on here. I took a photo of a mountain of trash on the corner of 98th and C Street (across from Elmhurst Park) and private messaged Mayor Jean Quan on facebook. Two days later, it was cleaned by the owner of the lot. What she did was get the right city department to threaten a lien on the property unless they clean it up. Here's her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MayorJeanQuan

I also private-messaged Rebecca Kaplan who took about two weeks to respond but had nothing helpful to say except "please report it to the Public Works call center - PWACallCenter@oaklandnet.com."

I also PM'ed Larry Reid who has been unresponsive since I emailed him on Nov. 18.

Let's raise hell! These public officials aren't doing their jobs and should be held accountable!

Yes, there are license plate readers.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/crime-law/piedmont-say-license-plate-readers-have-helped-com/ncGWz/

It's not just about getting the mess cleaned up. It's about preventing it in the first place. We need to get people to stop dumping on Oakland streets. We need to look at who is dumping and why. If it's lack or resources for proper disposal, we need to address that. If it's ignorance, we need to address that. If it's unscrupulous scofflaws trying to save money by using Oakland streets as a dump, we need to address that.

congratulations on messaging Mayor Quan on her Facebook page! sometimes, it is better to shortcut all steps and reach out to the top.
I agree that the perpetrators need to be punished for their actions. Cameras would act as a deterrent but possibly the dumping would take place somewhere else (where there is not camera).

That's why cameras get rotated.

I agree with Eileen's inference that Waste Disposal/City and others could make it easy for contractors and citizens to manage debris - In our case, we tend to stockpile our hazardous materials and dead electronics, for example; getting rid of them means driving them somewhere - and various rules that are complex - no "one stop shop". Even the annual bulky waste pick up is riddled with somewhat complicated incomplete rules IMO combined with threats of onerous fines if you do something wrong - which is why I have never used the service; I find it easier to just load up the truck and do a dump run to Berkeley and pay by the pound.

Therefore YES - the City could make the communication easier and this would likely mitigate the problem a bit; however, this ignorance does NOT excuse any of the criminal dumping that is happening here and well everywhere.

If a contractor is caught - they should be fined triple and lose their license. They know better - but I think many are just fly by night craigslist dump hauls;

City of Oakland Public Works Agency addressed this issue on 12/11/2013, service request # 493883.

Really? As of 12:15pm 12-11-13 it was not resolved; It is NOT OK if the City is making false statements. Who is responsible for this erroneous reporting to our area?

The City of Oakland Public Works Agency has received this issue. It is registered as service request # 494439. Please check back for status updates or contact us directly at (510) 615-5566.

Wow City of Oakland! Get it together!

I just called the city and they are not sure why the ticket was closed. Supposedly, this issue will be expedited to a supervisor and this issue is supposed to be resolved within the next 5 business days.

City of Oakland Public Works Agency referred this issue to OPD, PWA CONTACT service request # 494439. Please contact that agency to follow-up. For more information, please visit the "Helpful Links to Other Resource Partners" at the link below.
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/Connect/ReportaProblem/index.htm
Thank you.

If only the City was in fact helpful. I spoke with the Mayor's office an hour ago and they are keen to know who would post this as closed when in truth that was in effect perjury. It would be SOOOO much easier if the City would do something other than make Robo-replies. There must be a human reading these posts! Therefore my question is - to you - the City worker reading this - are you REALLY BANNED from communicating with the citizens of Oakland? TRUE OR FALSE? Tell the truth PLEASE! If you are BANNED from engagement with citizens, this needs to be 'nuked' by the City policy and operations team right away so you can work WITH citizens.

I spoke with the Mayor's office and they are keen to know how issues could be closed by the 'cloistered unnamed' humans at the City when in fact said 'robo-closing' is a false statement. Geez - if only [t]hey could simply communicate, as we do, and join the conversation - as a REAL human - would not that be nice? Engage the citizens that pay the taxes? Novel concept no?

When it comes to illegal dumping in Oakland, what we have been doing isn't working. "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Can we try please something different? And, yes, I have suggestions.

Eileen - I think most can agree what is happening here is not sustainable or best practices. Let's try to crwdsource ideas that could be actionable......

I remain of the view that the City could help this matter, and their "brand-posion", by joining the conversation. As the problem is multi-factorial, its resolution, other than the removal of the latest pile, is far from simple, no magic pill here. That said, I honestly do not know who is listening and who could make a difference on the public sector side. I have some ideas, and some contacts at DPW and the Mayor's office, and an election year is upcoming, and this issue is also tied to economic vitality and job creation in many ways. Will the Pols stand up on this? I have no idea.... Citizens catching offenders in the act and/or someone stopping them or enabling prosecution would could help somewhat. However that is not without risk. One this that may help is posting on Craiglist warnings aimed at "dump-run" contractors, and to citizens that may hire them, imploring them to require the dump receipts. When people hire a guy to remove a pile from their house and they offer a crazy low bid, they frankly should know better, and that makes them IMO culpable, even they are in a fancy house in the Hills, they should still be cited. That (illegal craigslist movers) is one large source of the debris. Finding a way for the City to partner with Waste Management on programs to mitigate this would also help. Comments last night on this included, "people dump because the dump fees are outrageous". Not sure that is true, and they have to pay living wages, workers comp and all that, but either way that does not excuse illegal dumping. Point is though to some extent determining ways to address the cost or make it easier to handle garbage legally would also help..........

Your thoughts???

Hi Bennett, People dump for different reasons, so we have to keep in mind who is dumping and why when we look for solutions. That's what I have been doing for the past year, in addition to reading about the history and evolution of waste management, looking at ways to affect behavior, watching the dumping hot spots and looking at what has worked in other cties. I emailed you at the address listed on your website. Not sure if you got it. I hope so. Feel free to email me to continue the conversation.

BTW: City of Oakland: do I really have to post a case about every pile - ergo the 3-4 tires across the street - would you pick up one tire and not all? Would it not be easier to just do this job "right once" as we train our staff to do? I guess I will proceed to post the tires that were across the street from this pile meanwhile that you chose not to collect.

Eileen - got your email - thanks - we are super busy - however I think we have a lot to discuss - there are a number of businesses in the area that are stepping up on this and have been for a while - there is a coliseum group that is also active on this. Will be in touch via email soon.

GOOD NEWS FROM THIS STORY! Although there are still a few couches there - the News story shown on this blight led to Santana reunited with a bandmate living homeless in the area!!
......

Santana reunites with bandmate Marcus Malone, living homeless on the streets near our frame shop/studio in East Oakland. Ultimate serendipity-pivoting from segment by our friend Stanley Roberts about chronic illegal dumping on Pearmain, Stanley found Marcus, realized who he was and connected him with the Carlos Santana. Best Christmas ever was knowing that I had a small part in driving this to happen - Brilliant outcome! Trash to Treasure.

This story should go viral.

( PS please please Oakland if you could clean up East Oakland soon...that would also be nice)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYzoiqm973M

Wonderful news, Bennett! Well done for asking Stanley Roberts and his People Behaving Badly team to film the dumping here in Oakland. Treasure among the Trash. You had a large part in this, Bennett. I hope things improve for Marcus and Oakland.

There are a few sofas here last I drove buy - seems like this is ultimately just a regular dumping point - Perhaps the city should place a dumpster here to make the process more convenient? The 'dead dog' was still in situ on Stone, now about a month a super gross, near the abandoned blighted house on top of the toxics.

The stick approach of threatening fines doesn't work, so promoting a system that gives people a convenient way to responsibly dispose of bulky waste seems worth trying. A dumpster would be an improvement. I just made another request to animal services to pick up (or scrape or scoop up) the very dead dog.

This location is clearly a standard drop point for the offenders - this sofa was present 12-23-2013 - is there some reason the City will not do this the "easy way" and just conduct regular patrols - who knows, you may even catch someone in the act? As you can see from the graffiti, this is just right of the "640" marking

The mound is now regrowing its usual "Mount Pearmain" look. Seems that one may as well just leave this one open forever - perma-issue - There will always be debris to pick up there - City of Oakland should just make it a regular pick up, throw in the towel and install a dumpster there. Would that not be cheaper as there seems to be now police or any method to catch the offenders?

per the system request, I am posting that this is not only unresolved to the extent that City may as well on an annex of the City Dump at this location. IT seems that this location may as well be seeded to the criminal that dump the streets and that there is little or not hope of this ever being resolved. Carlos Santana may have connected with an old band mate over this, but no other good or change seems to be afoot here. I left a couple messages at the Mayor's office as well - zero reply

I feel your pain. Same regular dump spots in our neighborhood. What seems to work somewhat is regularly reporting and re-opening an issue here for same location (rather than posting a new issue each time), knowing your OPD contacts, and sending regular problem spots to your councilperson's office for escalation within city ranks.

All true Kendall, however we are focused on creating jobs and the failure of the City to operate efficiently, their only being able to Robo-sign this system, often inaccurately, and ultimately only respond to squeaky wheels leave us with the findings that the City is not ready for prime time and that we should consider our options when the time comes. There is a catch 22 afoot here of course - but the City truly needs to lead on this as it is THEIR job not mine to resolve this tragedy.

From my 'Rolodex' - Lynn - and others - time to make those calls - as well as to keep reaching out to Stanley Roberts (via Twitter is best) and others

1.1 Mayor's office main number: 238-3141
1.2 Hatzune Agular, works in Mayors office, likely best person on this topic: 238-7072
1.3 Brooke Levin is Director level and public works or "C level" for the City - 615-5451
all in the 510

We should keep this "perma-open" as this is a standard dumping stop for whatever reason - therefore, pretty much ANYTIME DPW is in the area - they should inspect this location

new mounds of debris is evolving here - anyone from the City out there listening - Also, across the street there is a massive and impressive sofa Mountain growing by the large debris truck of some sort - quite impressive - gives you that real third world country feel - perfect for our customer experience (SIC) - What a waste of time all this is, including have to remind the city to pick up trash as they literally drive right by it and ignore the piles....

I ask for EACH of the Mayoral Candidates to state precisely what they intend to do to resolve the chronic illegal dumping, blight, and abandoned house/building/squatting problem in East Oakland. Thus far the silence is bit deafening.

I ponder if operationally speaking ANY of the SEE CLICK FIX reports in our area should EVER be considered closed. Once one dead dog of sofa is removed, another simply appears in its place or across the street,. There is 24/7 trashing everywhere here in this game of whack a mole. The City's choice, whether due to inability or [xyz-policy-excuse] to NOT simply patrol the area, is a #FAIL, and clearly so to any citizens who take the time to think about it.

I also wish the City would choose to respond to the SCF posts vs. Robosigning which is all they do as everyone here knows. IMO, the robo-signing foments the view by the citizens that the City of Oakland disrespects them, which cannot be useful. Are there really rules that prevent them from communicating like real people? (anyone listening City of Oakland?? ) WHY? Bad Policy? Bad Mayor? Bad Union Rules? Bad Supervisors? Bad ____???? I am out of ideas - but I do know that we would be most inclined to relocate our company if circumstances presented themselves that afforded us the opportunity.

This is on public safety, but worth going to:

http://oaktalk.com/author/oaktalk/

The usual array of Sofas and debris are back - apparently keeping this matter on "Perma-See click Fix" is appropriately operationally - If the City would like to be more efficient - why no just patrol the street - it is looking a bit more like a war zone again lately...

So demoralizing for all nearby... can't the city consider another approach to this particular hot spot?

Dumpster placement with regular pick-ups?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jR2xH3m5k

There is a new Mountain of Sofas evolving in this spot - please come pick up -

a few days ago, as appears to be the standard pattern of conduct at Mount Pearmain, the area was once again mounded up with debris and frightening activity in the vicinity - I concluded that this section of the street is essentially lawless, and abandoned by the City from a blight, code, crime enforcement standpoint.

The city installed a camera on the telephone pole at San Leandro at Prune, facing a chronic dumping site. But it doesn't seem to have deterred people from dumping more garbage, dismantling stolen vehicles, or stealing hubcaps in full view of the camera. Since it's been up there, all these things have happened, but I don't think anybody's watching the tapes. Cameras alone won't do it - someone has to follow through.

Add to this Fed UP the other chronic problem, whereby the City does what we call "See Click NOT Fixed". Perhaps that approach is somehow useful to goose the numbers for mayoral politics? That said, making false statements to citizens is just plane wrong no matter why they do it.

Right; they closed the issue I reported (yet more illegal dumping that hasn't been cleaned up) saying it had been "addressed", which I guess is bureaucratese for "we heard you, now shut up about it".

Just drove by "Mount Pearmain" and just as it nearly always is - it looks like a burnt out war zone - such as a nice experience to greet our esteemed customers! Great Job Oakland (and, the criminals that do the dumping)!

And ya know what REALLY burns my hide? This - http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2014/10/09/oaklands-uptown-named-2014s-best-neighborhood/

So I guess we really see where East Oakland ranks on the food chain - funny ..I thought city hall elected officials were for ALL OF OAKLAND ...my mistake eh?

Perhaps Tongue Tied you could post to each of true Mayoral candidates Facebook campaign pages. etc. your/our concern. Seems that as boosters of the City at large, they should answer this.

Bennett - ya know ..that's a very good idea ...considering that we seem to have a situation that is recurrent ..and other sections of the city seem to be pristine ...

Something has to be done ...and this is grossly disproportionate.

This just drives me nuts. Public Works acknowledges the complaint but takes forever to respond. Take that photo and post it on Jean Quan's facebook page or Kaplan's page. Send it to the media. Make noise. I did with my issue. Took them months to fence in the offending property on C Street and 98th.

Back in March, I took a photo of the Book Collection bin that was surrounded with garbage in the lot at 98th and C and am very pleased that Mayor Quan got the property cleaned and fenced. My impression is that Code Enforcement which is responsible for blight is simply overwhelmed. We should be lobbying for additional staffing along with stronger enforcement. If and when fines are levied, the word will get out and the number of offenders will decrease.

I posted the question on Kaplan's Facebook with my photo gallery that includes the infamous "Garbage Boat" and its burned out aftermath, "Dead Dog Lane" and of course Mount Pearmain. Still waiting for a reply. scroll down a bit and you will see my post: https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.kaplan.336?fref=ts

again: here is the perm link to my gallery on Oakland dumping - a detailed solution should be provided by all candidates, include the "See Click NOT fixed issued" https://www.flickr.com/photos/bennetthall/sets/72157631575630779/

There is no point in closing this one in the foreseeable future, there is always debris along here to great our customers to scenic East Oakland. Around the corner on Pippin, "Dead Dog Lane" as we named it, has its standard robust mountain of trash as off a few days ago as well, but at least the burned up "garbage boat" is now long gone, along with warehouse that was torched.

Wow ...i just don't get the city of Oakland. So building a stadium is more important than keeping this city clean, safe, and healthy. Unacceptable.

Bennett,

Thank you so much for documenting the filth that gets dumped in this area. I live nearby and am disgusted daily on my drive home. You aren't alone, there are many of us who care and report issues. I know its exhausting, but please continue to shed light on this ongoing problem.

What is up with Oakland? Ms McElhaney has none nothing in west oakland either. You see the same garbage in the same place 365 days a year. It's disgusting.

Thank you 105mama - it is shocking, the pattern of conduct, both by the perpetrators of this and the bizarrely inefficient reactive style the City uses to put Band-Aids on a very large wound. It is a classic "whack a mole operation" and that is being nice. As we run a business here, and have noted little improvement in 4 years now, thinking beyond this location is on the table. We have clients that include federal judges, and whenever they visit, I have to brief them on the issues, including that they are not a risk of violence; though one never really knows for 100% on that either. Very Sad situation.

Simplyblu: This is systemic and unresolved as I noted above - The exploding building next the "garbage boat" as we called it took the cake although our renaming Pippin "Dead Dog Lane" after the carcass stayed unresolved on an oil drum, (likely filled with City excuses), for about a month did rival that matter for the "Crown of Dumping". I keep this post alive only because I feel certain, 100% actually, that this tragedy will never be resolved - I keep hoping that the City will wake up operationally and use proactive patrols rather than driving by one pile to pick up the reported one down the block.... but then again, I am dreaming on that as I watch pigs fly by my window ...

My photo gallery of Dumping in Oakland - in case you have not seen this portfolio documenting this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bennetthall/sets/72157631575630779

Bennett, those were some great pictures and Oakland city leaders should be ashamed that nothing is being done. We live in Ms McElhaney's district and so far have seen nothing from her. I've written to her and our mayor and no response. The homeless are out of control which brings illegal dumping. If they can't come up with solutions, they need to hire someone who does. Excuses need to stop.

Here is a current SCF post made by our picture framing shop manager who endures this tragic situation daily - the current situation of Pearmain City Dump as we are now calling it and comments reflecting the situation on the ground so to speak in this blighted area. Truly embarrassing for us as employers to have to subject staff to this outrage, wasting their time like this, and shocking their senses; let along pondering how this impacts both customer experience or our ability to recruit new employees...

Is this the new normal - that we just have to stop complaining and give up?

https://en-us.seeclickfix.com/issues/2082108#new_comment

Here is a classic: burned out stripped car - just in time for our annual Open Studio this Saturday 11-5 - come and behold it - I think we will decorate it with Helium balloons, unless of course it spontaneously combusts first like the Garbage Boat did

https://en-us.seeclickfix.com/issues/2097223#new_comment

Stanley Roberts needs to come to Oakland again and start shaming city leaders. I believe he is doing his stories again.

Sometimes I feel like @SRobertsKRON4 is the only one in the media that cares about this blight issue - most seem to act as if they see no vil, speak no evil and hear no evil - and as far as I know the "Starving Students Dumping/moving" company that was busted on camera dumping in West Oakland is still operating in Oakland with their license intact. Part of the government problem remains that defective rules that do not allow them to directly engage with the public in SCF or Next door etc.,

Updates - sev real months gone buy - situation remains dire and hopeless - debris everywhere - nothing changes - we have to some explain to our clients - how sad for Oakland

check this one out from today - at our shops front door : See Click NOT Fixed
The City has closed this 2X yet they did nothing - which means they are either willfully issuing false statement or they are negligent in operations - which is?
http://seeclickfix.com/issues/2329125

This is BAT CRAZY wrong

I say both..

See Click NOT fixed is close to a standard procedure for the City - I have tried, as has Stanley Roberts, to determine whether it is fact willful misconduct or simple negligence. The City has obfuscated our attempts to determine which root cause is involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wYo9yhBwAw

Does this still exist after three years almost. Can you post a current picture and what is the status of this issue

Good for you, Bennett, for getting some attention on this issue. Unfortunately being named and shamed hasn't been enough to get the nameless and shameless functionaries in Oakland Public Works to stop signing things off as done when they've failed to do anything about them. Why doesn't Oakland Public Works assign some specific person to communicate with us here, and take some responsibility for their statements? As it is, it's like we're praying to unknown gods, who rarely grant our wishes, and often just lie to us.

Mayor's office main number: 238-3141
-
Councilman Larry Reid
- (510) 238-7007

lreid@oaklandnet.com

- Public works Director:
Brooke Levin, blevin@oaklandnet.com

Public Communication officer:
510.238.2107
hhamilton@oaklandnet.com

This is trending on my Oakland NOW! Facebook page today due to the latest expose by our friend Stanley Roberts of People Behaving Badly

https://www.facebook.com/groups/438923842979658/

Bennett,

Maybe this KRON broadcast will shake things up at City Hall: http://kron4.com/2016/08/03/people-behaving-badly-the-trashing-of-east-oakland/

http://kron4.com/2016/08/03/people-behaving-badly-the-trashing-of-east-oakland/

the ENTIRE area is in a constant state that looks a bit like the pictures of Aleppo - OK perhaps not that bad - but sure is horrible in CAPS, with the takeaway that the area is a blighted train wreck war zone of sorts. Sadly we have to bring high-end clients to the area and the only explanation I have for this does not send a positive message about "Brand Oakland" - Nothing Changes, now nearly 5 years into this - and it leads us to plan on relocation when the time comes

I hate to conclude this FAILRE is based on income level or ethnicity but where we live in Montclair dumping is handling one way and where our frame shop is at 105th and Permian suffice to say it is a night and day difference. Then again, per the City robe-signing, pot hole-road repair are on a 84-year repair cycle. What do they do with the tax money - why no commitment to being efficient and effective not to mention FAIR?

We worked with Stanley/KRON on that piece and many others in the East Oakland area - I have seen no evidence that City Hall or the "Consumers of Tax Dollars" or whatever you want to call them have any ability or possibly not even a genuine interest in resolve this. They say they do. They talk the talk - but I think I will see pigs fly before they walk the walk. We cannot even get them past Robo signing on SCF - and I am yet to see anything that could be defined as proactive. Sad- but fleeing the area seems the ultimate goal for our business in TBD years when we cannot take it anymore.

Better flee soon, while you can still get past the piles of garbage...

I just put in a call to Public Works. They said the supervisor for East Oakland responsible for dealing with illegal dumping is a fellow named Tony Jones, who has just recently been assigned to this duty. His number is 510-615-5566. Let us know if you get through to him, and what he has to say about all this.

FedUp, thanks for the info. We should flood them with calls.

argh - SCF robe-censored my last comment - typical

I may get in big trouble for saying this but there's a big bond measure on the November ballot that would provide funding for street and sidewalk repairs and also for affordable housing. Maybe, you could leverage a commitment to address the illegal dumping problem in exchange for supporting the bond. I'd also add that a key component in making this manageable is strict enforcement. A couple of months ago, I was talking to the owner of Yoshino Sushi on Hegenberger Road and she ushered me outside to show me a huge pile of trash that had been dumped behind her restaurant. This was a dump-truck full - not a one-time home owner avoiding dump fees. I poked around the perimeter for two or three minutes and came up with names and addresses but when I called the City, I was informed that there's no longer anyone available to investigate and follow through with fines.

Just off the phone with Reed's office who provided the explanations as usual as to why this never changes - with some nuanced takeaway. I know they fell our pain, but they are not apparently able to get the operations of public works or enforcement to do anything. They had an explanation for every failure.

1) SEE CLICK FIX
"they" are not fans like See Click Fix because "there is no way for the [City] to keep up with all the reports. they suggested instead I call in. The fact that we have called in and nothing still happens and buildings have still caught fire and boats exploded and burned apparently is not relevant. SILO!

My suggestion that the City not robo sign and actually engage the community, or stop making false statements on SCF was overshadowed by the above comment.

Note: that would be approximately 2-4X more time consuming - thus SMH on that suggestion

2) Alternative to Public Works (isn't their job to resolve this?)
They are thinking about hiring the 'homeless' to fix the problem...
note: really? Who will be managing that? How will they be paid and insured? Would like to see the operational write up on that one; perhaps $250,000 study could be conducted.

3) Fines
They don't like to issue fines as they are worried that some would be levied on 'seniors that are duped into hire "haul-low bid haulers". Only 10% of the fines have been collected so who knows.

Apparently the ACLU complained about cameras and the criminals mask license plates and other reasons - so enforcement dos not work either - does that mean one should give up?

I think I am more frustrated that I was before.

The other City person in the "recycling department" said we could solve the problem with the "adopt a block" program (translation: getting taxpayers to do work for free to fix the failure) - She also reprimanded me in tone for not having already contributed in this way. Adopt a block? Really - this is a square mile or four or five, and you can frankly get shot at if you are not careful and trying to clean things up.

I have no idea anymore what to even think - the high paid professionals IMO are clearly not going to solve the problem

I have to say - call them call them call them - and CALL the Media - tell them East Oakland needs the national media spot light as clearly nothing else is working.

Tale of two Cities - clearly the services are deployed based on income - there is no other way to frame this.

Thanks Bennett for sharing info. Sounds again like they're r no solutions. Are they looking at what other cities might be doing? The city has let it get out of control, note it's the blame game.

The Media sure needs to get on this !! This makes no sense the way Oakland is deteriorating, no wonder we have no Banks and Grocery stores nothing. It's a reminder of the movie Police Academy. Crime, dilapidated buildings, Illegal Businesses, and Crooked Leadership !! Sick and tired of being Sick and Tired !!!

BTW the comment above was initially censored by SCF based on a vague opaque moderation system, which claimed this information was somehow no appropriate. On the contrary, I would reason that disclose that the City 'is not a fan' of SCF is quite newsworthy don't you think?

Apparently I cannot share the phone numbers at the City for contact reference - the censorship of the SCF system doe snot allow that - and it also deleted the photograph of this post - interesting development that SCF is not muting information.

- Mayor's office main number: 238-3141
- Hatzune Agular, works in Mayors office, likely best person on this topic: 238-7072
- Councilman Larry Reid

- - (510) 238-7007
- Councilman Larry Reid

- lreid@oaklandnet.com
- (510) 238-7007
lreid@oaklandnet.com
- Brooke Levin, blevin@oaklandnet.com

- Public works Director:
- They said the supervisor for East Oakland responsible for dealing with illegal dumping is a fellow named Tony Jones,

- recently been assigned to this duty. His number is 510-615-5566.
- Harry Hamilton
- Public Communication officer:
- 510.238.2107
- hhamilton@oaklandnet.com

- [x] see click (NOT!) fixed
- [ ] latest: http://kron4.com/2016/08/03/people-behaving-badly-the-trashing-of-east-oakland/
- [ ] Stanley Roberts 2016
- [ ] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wYo9yhBwAw

- [ ] Stanley Roberts 2014
- [ ] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5417m5BaQqw

Ted u r so right, Oakland has no grocery stores, no shopping centers, nothing. Oakland needs a big shake up, not just at the police department, the Mayor on down the line...

It's interesting to hear that although there's " no longer anyone available to investigate and follow through with fines" for the illegal dumpers who are making this city a hell-hole, they do seem to have manpower available to censor our complaints about it here. It sounds like we need to find another forum to communicate about the issues of Oakland in, which the Powers that Be can't mess with.

FedUp, I was thinking along the same lines. Maybe, an "Oakland Clean Streets" Facebook page.

Hello keeping our streets clean is a shared responsibility- what's important here is at least the majority of people in the impacted neighborhoods have to care. If the locals are doing the dumping, then solving the problem is moot to start with, meaning they find this issue tolerable. As it is, the culture has to change first!