APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
__________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ______________ C.M.S.
ADOPT A RESOLUTION RENEWING AND CONTINUING THE CITY
COUNCIL’S DECLARATION OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY DUE TO THE
EXISTENCE OF THE CITY’S HOMELESSNESS CRISIS
WHEREAS, homelessness has long-term and serious consequences to the health and safety of those who experience it, in particular children who are at risk of health problems including life-long behavioral health challenges; and
WHEREAS, homelessness is a national crisis where the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that 553,000 Americans were experiencing homelessness on a single day; and
WHEREAS, according to this 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, California accounted for 24% of the nation's homeless population; and WHEREAS, California “does not have enough affordable housing stock to meet the demand of low-income households” and “the state’s 2.2 million extremely and very low-income renter households compete for 664,000 affordable rental homes” as stated in a report by the 2018 League of California Cities Homelessness Taskforce; and WHEREAS, in the 2017 Alameda County’s Homeless Persons Point-In-Time recorded 5,629 people experiencing homelessness the night of January 30, 2017, an increase of 1,489 people from the 2015 count; and
WHEREAS, in 2017 Alameda County’s Homeless Persons Point-In-Time Count, 2761 homeless persons were counted in the City of Oakland; and WHEREAS, on September 19, 2018, a United Nations report on “adequate housing” described Oakland’s efforts to “to discourage residents from remaining in informal settlements or encampments by denying access to water, sanitation and health services and other basic necessities” as “cruel;” and
WHEREAS, on January 5, 2016, and also on October 6, 2017, the Oakland City Council adopted ordinances (No. 13348 and No. 13456 respectively), both of which declared a shelter crisis due to a “significant number of persons…without the ability to obtain shelter, resulting in a threat to their health and safety;” and
WHEREAS, conditions described in Ordinance Numbers 13348 and 13456 persist including the exposure of “homeless individuals to traffic hazards, crime, risk of death and injury, 2 exposure to weather, lack of adequate sanitation and debris services, and other conditions that are detrimental to their health and safety;” and
WHEREAS, the number of unhoused individuals or individuals living in substandard or temporary conditions continues to overwhelm our limited City resources and has a devastating impact upon the public health and safety of our residents and the citizenry; and WHEREAS, multiple cities across California have declared homelessness an emergency including Los Angeles and San Francisco and in California, former Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in 2017 for a Hepatitis A outbreak in San Diego that killed 20 homeless individuals and left hundreds ill; and
WHEREAS, on February 26, 2019, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 87538 that proclaims that , a local emergency exists due to the welfare and safety concerns of those who live in homelessness or at risk of homelessness and pursuant to Government Code section 8630 does so declare; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the City Council of the City of Oakland finds and proclaims that a local emergency exists due to the welfare and safety concerns of those who live in homelessness or at risk of homelessness and pursuant to Government Code section 8630 does so declare; and be it
RESOLVED: That the City Council will renew its declaration of a local public health emergency about the homelessness crisis, as stated in Resolution No. 87538 at each of its regular Council meetings to assure that efforts to solve homelessness remain in the forefront and the emergency will continue until its termination is proclaimed and ordered by the City Council, and will be reviewed every 14 days by the City Council.
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Clerk shall communicate this resolution to all City Departments, to the Governor, to the President Pro Tempore of the California Senate and the Speaker of the California Assembly, to the regional California Congressional delegation and Senators, and to President Trump.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - BROWN, FIFE, GALLO, HOUSTON, RAMACHANDRAN, UNGER, WANG, AND
PRESIDENT JENKINS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
3394910/AS