Oaklands $117 Million Budget Deficit Homeless Encampments Grow City Is Like a Video Game Now

Shang Tang is out here with a budget shortfall of the equivalent of 117 million dollars. 117 million dollars in a budget shortfall. Do you know what that means? Do you know how bad that is? I do. Let’s have a conversation. The Oakland City Council is meeting today to discuss the budget for this fiscal year. Mayor Shang Tao released her budget proposal last week announcing the city is facing a 117 million dollar deficit for this fiscal year. As the council prepares its own version, ABC 7 News reporter Ryan Curry heard from two community groups divided about what should and should not be cut.

fiscal disaster fiscal disaster pointing the finger at city leaders while Oakland faces a multi look at the people that’s on the list. Do y’all notice what it is? Do y’all notice what it is? These are the people that we advocated for for diversity, equity and inclusion and the ones that Melinda Gates is trying to support. They said, listen, we need Shang Tsung, the mayor, Nikki Bass, council president and Carol Fife, council member. Diversity, equity and inclusion does not mean that they actually qualify for the position. A million dollar budget shortfall. That is top of mind for this group.

Number one is public safety that needs to stay taken care of but expanded as well. The Oakland City Council is meeting Wednesday to discuss the budget for this fiscal year. Last week, Mayor Shang Tao released her version of the budget which mostly relies on hiring freezes and money from the Coliseum sale to close the deficit. Listen, you know how I know that people don’t know what they’re doing? I’ll give you an example, right? They’re relying on monies that is unsustainable in order to be able to close the deficit. So the way that budgets work is very similar to what happens inside of your household, right? Let’s say you have an ongoing expense or ongoing expenses that you know is going to be extended beyond this year, beyond next year, and so it’s just a part of the budget, right? Whether it’s housing, cell phones, the water bills, maintenance, whatever it is, if you do your household budget, I’m gonna try to break it down from a C student’s perspective, right? You do your household budget or you do the budget for your business.

There’s ongoing expenses. There’s rent, you gotta buy food, you gotta have employees, you gotta pay insurance, you gotta do all these things, right? So what they’re doing, not only is Oakland in a budget deficit, California too, but we’re gonna get there, not only is Oakland in a budget deficit, but they’re now trying to rely on short-term solutions for long-term issues, meaning that next year they’re going to be even more in a deficit, even higher, but they then can’t even depend on the possibility, because right now they’re hoping in order to close the budget deficit by doing short-term solutions, and they’re losing all of their revenue, but they still have high-ass expenses, so you still got high expenses when it comes to police, high expenses when it comes to public safety, high expenses when it comes to social services, high expenses across the board, and so instead of them aligning the budget to more closely grow, not only stop the stem of the problem that’s in the city and dedicate more resources over to the things that actually help the city grow, they continue to spend on things that don’t really matter, and then they hope for short-term sales and solutions in order to close the gap, which then makes it or exacerbates the problem in the future, and this is how you know that just because these people say that they qualify or they put some glasses on in a pantsuit, it doesn’t necessarily translate into success from a public perspective, and so you very much have to have a business acumen or a business mindset when it comes to being able to manage a city in addition to y’all just voting in, community leaders or people that’s based off of diversity, equity, and inclusion, oh, I’m the first mayor, I’m the first Asian woman mayor, I’m the first black woman mayor, that doesn’t matter, that matters none, zero, zero, shnada.

When you’re talking about what’s in the best interest of the people, it’s jobs, public safety, transportation, infrastructure, making sure that you create an environment that’s conducive for people to be able to buy homes, all of those things are paramount, we don’t care about that other stuff, it’s paramount, and you’ve got an exploding homelessness population. But there is a debate about funding the police. Mayor Tao’s current plan freezes some positions, but the department’s funding isn’t changing that much. Not only does this group want more police, they think the city should put as much money toward public safety as possible.

It’s not just more police, yes we do need a minimum number, a proper ratio of police to citizens, residents of Oakland, but it really should be a lot of focus on crime prevention. Others don’t agree. Cap Brooks with the Anti-Police Terror Project believes violence prevention is achieved with more funding for social services. Now haven’t we seen this play out time and time again and it doesn’t work? Haven’t we seen this play out time and time again and it doesn’t work? You cannot continue to throw money into social services. You’re basically throwing it into a black hole.

You need a strong police presence and you need to take the handcuffs off of the police and make sure you stiff these criminals with some steep fines and some some steep penalties to not only solve for the problem but also prevent it from happening in the future. And so a lot of times they continue to want it. How are you going to be anti-police? Did you see what this person’s title is? Listen to this. A lot of focus on crime prevention. Others don’t agree. Cap Brooks with the Anti-Police Terror Project. I’m never rocking out or I’m never going to listen to somebody that said they’re part of the Anti-Police Terror Project.

Get out of here with that crap. Police violence prevention is achieved with more funding for social services not police. Making sure that the city is still running and making sure we have an after-school program. It’s always another woman who got an earring in her and the top of her lip and black lips from smoking trees that’s going to sit here telling you inside of a car of how it is if you’re supposed to run your city and y’all are going to just replace her with her because she sounds good and it makes it seem good.

Oh no we need more social services. Bro you need to get your life together and stop committing crime. Programs making sure that people have social services and resources and we keep divesting or not investing in those things and we continue to invest solely and only in the cross-world state. We reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and we’re waiting to hear back. Last week she said the main focus was keeping public safety funded. In order to close our current deficit I directed city administrator Justin Johnson to propose a fiscally responsible but mid-cycle budget adjustment that prioritizes essential services.

City council member Dan Cobb says he doesn’t want to take funding away from the police department. Certainly retaining our public safety personnel and making sure that we are you know not dropping that down is critically important. Listen anybody that says that they want to cut public safety funding anybody that’s saying that y’all we got to figure out how we can keep our police department anybody that can leave should leave and make sure you change your voting patterns on the way out the door. This is what’s really happening with regard to the budget in addition to the homelessness crisis that’s happening over in Oakland check it out.

The city of Oakland is facing a projected 177 million dollar budget deficit and some worry that will mean cuts to programs that help the unhoused. The numbers show the homeless population in Oakland grew by 9 percent over the past two years while other nearby cities in Alameda County saw a drop in homelessness. Berkeley was down 20 percent. Emoryville saw a 59 percent drop and Piedmont they were down 93 percent. Now that’s according to the county’s point in time count. They are not taking care of the problem they are contributing to the problem.

This is a problem this budget cut is only going to make it worse. A group rallied outside Oakland City Hall today demanding city leaders be held accountable. The city has received millions in state funds to help deal with the homeless crisis but demonstrators say they’ve not seen any results. So we reached out to mayor shang tao for comment on this but have not heard back. And people living in the city’s Fruitvale neighborhood are worried about a growing encampment there. Police say the trash abandoned cars and other debris are just too much to deal with and they can no longer walk there.

The area in question is on East 8th Street between Fruitvale and 34th avenues. It began with a single RV parked along the sidewalk and has grown since. Neighbors told our doll Lynn the sidewalk is now blocked off and there was recently an incident involving an axe. That’s insane. Have y’all seen I haven’t seen a Ford Explorer first generation since probably 2002 when they had the firestone recall. I thought that they traded all of those trucks in for cash for clunkers. I have not seen a first generation Ford Explorer and so long did y’all see what that I say this all the time and this is why I address problems when it first shows up and I say listen whether it’s protest for the whole Israel situation or people starting to park RVs on the side of the road and then turn into a homelessness encampment you have to stem and nip that stuff in the bud because the very minute that one RV shows up it’s going to be two.

Two going to turn to four, four going to turn to eight, eight, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1060. Y’all this is going to grow exponentially across the board. This is unreasonable. This is unreasonable. He parked along the sidewalk and has grown since. Neighbors told our doll Lynn the sidewalk is now blocked off and there was recently an incident involving an axe. Neighbors say they can no longer use the sidewalk on east eighth street near Fruitvale Avenue. A car is parked on the sidewalk. There’s also a bike and a bunch of other stuff.

They walk into the street to get people pull out whole RVs and just live right there on the street in and out of their homes. The kids who are walking to school have to get off the sidewalk because they can’t go through. It’s the only sidewalk since there isn’t one on the other side. Through a translator Hector Ugo worries a car could hit. Hector I’m sorry big dog we don’t even know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know if you got your papers. Let me see your papers Hector. Before you can sit here and have a conversation of what’s going on here in America Hector and I’m not saying that you’re not a legal migrant but I just need to see your papers.

The same way that I support stopping Frisk over there in New York and in Chicago I support stopping before anybody can get on the news and start talking that mumbo jumbo gibberish to me to where we then got to get a translator talking about Hector talking through a translator. I need to see your paperwork big dog. Hector where your papers at bro? I know your baby got on Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Gear where your papers at bro? This is y’all said be quiet this is why they don’t want to give me my 30 million dollars.

Don’t worry don’t worry I’m gonna get my 30 million one way or another whether I get it with you or without you I’m gonna get my 30 million dollars and I still want to see your papers after I get it. Where your papers at bro? It’s two little girls neighbors and business owners say it started out with one RV a few months ago but it got bigger a second RV and a couple of cars have since camped out on east eighth street they worry it could turn into east ninth street which is filled with RVs and people living in cars and walking through there it’s it’s a death trap and when it starts going dark forget about it there’s no light there it makes it even more dangerous.

Neighbors say this is the other route if families don’t want to walk into the street but the alleyway is filled with trash. I think on Thursday we went past that tipping point. Business owner Evorado Rodriguez says on Thursday someone analyzed a stolen or abandoned car on the street. Cell phone footage also showed a person using a rock to break the driver’s side window. A short time later Evorado says a homeless man walked out with what appear to be an ex in his right hand to confront someone. I’m beyond frustrated I’m beyond disappointed I’m beyond angry.

They say they called the city multiple times but no one has cleared the encampment. It goes beyond atrocious it’s deliberate how can the city not act? I asked the RV dwellers why block the sidewalk one man says he’ll tell his uncle to clean it up. I’ll make sure that that gets cleared up you know but no you’re right absolutely um kids need to walk by for their safety. The man says the RV dwellers don’t want to cause problems but they have nowhere to go. It’s not the homeless people bringing the trash destroying these businesses um abandoning all these cars.

Councilman Noah Agayo met with Evorado about the concerns. He says the city is working to clear the RVs on both east eighth and ninth streets. That’s on the clear list they got to go this guy that started you know he’s from Missouri Canada all over the country coming into Oakland because we’re allowing that behavior to happen. There shouldn’t be on that street there should not be because it’s illegal to block the sidewalk. Evorado and the neighbors hope the city will act fast. This cannot continue because it puts our life in jeopardy.

A lot of neighbors tell me they would like to move but they lived here for a long time and they say they simply cannot afford to leave so now they’re waiting for the city to do something about this. Authorities say illegal dumping cost the city tens of millions of dollars each year. Now earlier this month a statewide conference was held in Oakland focusing on ways to limit the problem. Experts gave presentations focusing on so-called 3E. Oakland what is going on in y’all city? Is this is is this why Keith Lee decided that he couldn’t even stay there? You know in my younger years in my earlier YouTube career I would have immediately immediately booked a flight over to Oakland to see what was happening out in these streets but in my later years once I got past 40 I was like I don’t really want to document it that bad.

I’m not really sure if I want to go over there and see it for myself. I’m gonna just go ahead and let y’all show it to me and see what’s happening in these streets in my later years. I’m a little less likely to make the adjustment or the transition or to make the the flight over to Oakland and see what was going on. I didn’t know that y’all was out here in these streets this bad. Good god what is happening over in Oakland bro? Oh my god. Bro y’all stay where y’all at don’t move.

Listen somebody is coming to Calvary is coming. Biden is coming to rescue y’all. Gavin Newsom is coming to rescue y’all. Stay where you at don’t move don’t pass go don’t do nothing. Stay there we coming to get you we promise you just stay there and wait on it okay. Shout out to Oakland. Good. [tr:trw].

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