City Council
July 1, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: To The Honorable City Council FROM: Jestin D. Johnson City Administrator
SUBJECT: Wood Street Decommission DATE: June 24, 2025
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
Waiving Bidding/Request For Proposals Requirements And Small/Local Small Business Enterprise Requirements And Authorizing The City Administrator To Contract With Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, A Nonprofit Organization, In An Amount Not To Exceed $700,000 Through September 30, 2025, To Perform Site Preparation Work Necessary To Return 2201 -2601 Wood Street To The Property Owner According To The City’s Lease With Gamechanger (San Francisco), LLC
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of the proposed resolution would authorize the City Administrator to utilize City of Oakland General Purpose Funds (GPF) to decommission the RV Safe Parking and Community Cabins homeless services program sites at 2201-2601 Wood Street. The sites will be restored to the condition of when the City entered into a lease agreement with Gamechanger (San Francisco), LLC in November 2020.
The propose d resolution will allow the City Administrator to waive the bidding/request for proposals and contract with Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods (SUN) in an amount not to exceed $700,000 through September 30, 2025.
REASON FOR URGENCY
The RV Safe Parking and Community Cabin programs were established on a parcel of land leased by the City from Game Changer (San Francisco), LLC (Owner) at 2201-2601 Wood Street. The two programs were provided by Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) and were set to close on June 30, 2025 , in order to decommission the sites so that they could be returned to the property owner. The Owner has indicated that they no longer wish to lease the land to t he City, and the lease is set to expire on December 31, 2025. On May 31, 2025, BOSS walked away from the programs and left program participants without services. Since then, the City has been working with Alameda County to transfer remaining participants either to permanent housing or to other interim shelter programs. To date, there are 28 participants on the site.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Wood Street Decommission
Date: June 24, 2025 Page 2
City Council
July 1, 2025
The City Administrator has used his emergency authorities pursuant to Oakland Municipal Code section 2.04.020.F and G and the Shelter Crisis Ordinance No. 13759 C.M.S. to enter into (1) an emergency PSA without bidding for food service with Flo’s Friendly School Lunches Inc., a nonprofit organization, in an amount of $40,000 for a term throug h July 31, 2025, and (2) an emergency PSA without bidding for security with Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, a nonprofit organization, in an amount of $244,346 for a term through September 30, 2025 . But additional funding and authority is needed to contract for the work necessary to return the site to the Owner.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Homelessness has been, and continues to be, a crisis throughout California, with Oakland being the most impacted City in Alameda County. Oakland residents are regularly displaced from their homes to the streets of the city and need urgent support. As of the most recent 2024 point -in- time (PIT) count numbers, the number of homeless persons in Oakland increased nine percent over 2022 to 5,485. Of those counted, 3,659 (67%) are living without shelter. The homelessness problem affects Oakland's population disproportionately; a majority of the unsheltered identify as Black or African American, while Black and African American households are a minority in the City’s overall population.
On February 26, 2019, the City Council approved Resolution No.87538 C.M.S., declaring a local emergency due to the welfare and safety conditions of those who live in homelessness or are at risk of homelessness and pursuant to Government Code section 8630.
In late 2021 and into 2022, the City, along with Caltrans, worked to relocate people f rom Wood Street encampments, as it was one of the largest encampments in the city, and transition them into emergency housing shelter programs. 100 persons from the Wood Street encampment area were transitioned into the Wood Street Community Cabin Program with the use of the Encampment Resolution F und Program (ERF) from the State of California . The funding was utilized to construct and operate the facilities, as well as cover the long-standing rental costs of Herc generators at the site.
Persons were also enrolled in the RV Safe Parking Program to support up to 40 individuals and/or couples to connect to support services. Since its inception in July 2021, several rounds of HHAP funding have funded the RV Safe Parking Program.
On July 21, 2022 , the City Council approved Resolution No. 89378 C.M.S., to accept the encampment resolution funds for a homeless intervention at 2610 Wood Street. The grant requirements mandated the expenditure of funds by June 30, 2024. The funds for this program have been expended, and additional funds are needed to continue to execute it through the end of the calendar year 2025.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Adoption of this resolution aligns policy priorities adopted by the Council, identifying homelessness as a primary concern to address in the City of Oakland. This resolution is related to homeless interventions and ultimately moving people off the street and into housing, thus advancing the Citywide Priorities of Housing, Economic, and Cultural Security priority by Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Wood Street Decommission
Date: June 24, 2025 Page 3
City Council
July 1, 2025
funding services related to maintaining and expanding access to clean, safe, dignified shelter beds accessible to the homeless community in Oakland.
The proposed resolution will authorize a contract with Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, using funding from available General Purpose Funds to decommission the sites located at 2201-2601 Wood Street and return the property back to the obligations stated in the lease with Gamechanger (San Francisco), LLC, by the date of the lease expiration. Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods has previously contracted with the City in several capacities for more than five years. They have performed construction work at several homelessness services sites, including connecting them to electricity and water, installing cabins, and decommissioning sites.
FISCAL IMPACT
The funds for t he decommissioning of the sites at 2201-2601 Wood Street been designated through City of Oakland, General Purpose Funds (1010), Community Housing Service Organization (78411), DP780 Administrative Project (1000017), and Homeless Services & Support Program (NB41) in the amount not to exceed $700,000.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures.
COORDINATION
Preparation of this report included coordination with the Human Services Department, the City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and the City Administrator’s Office.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: All funds proposed in this report are related to interim housing and services designed to prevent, address, and ultimately end homelessness.
Short-Term – Program Continuity During Fiscal Emergency: Reallocating General Fund Program (GFP) resources to th e Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program ensures the uninterrupted delivery of essential services. This approach keeps trusted community organizations operational during the City’s fiscal emergency.
Long-Term – Extension of Program Lif espan: The increased investment in Kingdom Builders doubles its service capacity from four to eight years. This expansion secures the program’s long-term viability and reduces reliance on future emergency funding.
Environmental: The provision of housing a nd supportive services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness is a critical step toward reducing the environmental impacts Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Wood Street Decommission
Date: June 24, 2025 Page 4
City Council
July 1, 2025
associated with unsheltered living. By transitioning people into stable housing, the City can mitigate the degradation of public spaces and promote cleaner, safer streets.
Short-Term – Immediate Public Space Improvements: Housing placements and supportive interventions reduce encampments and related waste in public areas, leading to quicker, visible improvements in street cleanliness and community safety.
Long-Term – Advancement of Environmental Justice: This initiative supports environmental justice by addressing the disproportionate impacts of homelessness on both vulnerable populations and the urban environment, foster ing healthier communities for all residents.
Race & Equity: In Oakland, the drivers of homelessness fall most squarely on the backs of the African American community, who, due to long -standing structurally racist practices such as redlining and employment discrimination, are most vulnerable to losing their homes. According to the 2024 Point In Time count for Oakland, 53 percent of the population experiencing homelessness in Oakland identifies as Black or African American; however, this demographic is only 22 percent of the general population. Ending homelessness in Oakland must be defined by what works for African Americans first and foremost: reducing racial disparities. As identified in the 2021 Guide to Including Equity in the Design of Homeless Systems, the drivers of homelessness include:
• Structural racism
• Insufficient controls on the rental housing market that create vulnerability and housing instability for tenants
• Insufficient housing units that are affordable to households with the lowest incomes, including particularly those whose incomes are below 20 percent of Area Median Income (AMI)
• Systemic barriers that often prevent residents who are returning home from incarceration from living with family members and/or accessing both public and private rental housing and employment opportunities
• Inadequate pay and benefits for many of the jobs that are available in the community, and insufficient access to quality employment opportunities that pay wages that meet the cost of housing
The City of Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity developed a Racial Equity Impact Analysis (REIA). The REIA framework is a data-driven, structured problem-solving approach that explores the systemic benefits and burdens on communities most impacted by racial disparities when designing and vetting potential solutions to ending and preventing homelessness. This requires:
• Focusing intentionally on race, including raising awareness of historical factors that advantage some and disadvantage others based on race.
• Using disparity data to center further investigation of root causes of disparities in the present time.
• Engaging people who have been impacted by disparities to challenge assumptions about their experience.
• Using quantitative and qualitative information to shape pro-equity programs and inventory recommendations to reduce racial disparities in outcomes.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Wood Street Decommission
Date: June 24, 2025 Page 5
City Council
July 1, 2025
• Implementing system-wide pro-equity programs and approaches to reduce racial disparities in outcomes.
• Ongoing evaluation and accountability through the development of equity performance measures to track progress.
The REIA framework guides the City’s approach to addressing homelessness and ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and equitably, and targeted strategies are employed to end and prevent homelessness.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
Waiving Bidding/Request For Proposals Requirements And Small/Local Small Business Enterprise Requirements And Authorizing The City Administrator To Contract With Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, A Nonprofit Organization, In An Amount Not To Exceed $700,000 Through September 30, 2025, To Perform Site Preparation Work Necessary To Return 2201 -2601 Wood Street To The Property Owner According To The City’s Lease With Gamechanger (San Francisco), LLC
For questions regarding this report, please contact Tiara Jones, Program Analyst III, at 510-238- 7562.
Respectfully submitted,
Jestin D. Johnson
City Administrator
Prepared by:
Chrissie Love, Acting Program Planner
Community Homelessness Services
Betsy Lake (Jun 27, 2025 12:09 PDT)