Public Policy

Nuisance Eviction Ordinance changes regarding sex workers upset advocacy groups

Sex worker advocacy groups in the Bay Area have taken to social media and traditional media methods to express their outrage over Oakland’s recent updates to an existing “nuisance eviction ordinance” for housing. Advocates believe that the newest addition will allow landlords to unfairly evict those who are voluntarily working as sex workers in commercial and residential spaces. Oakland’s city council unanimously voted on October 21 to amend an existing eviction ordinance—originally instated in 2004—to allow landlords and/or the city…

Sold out show at the New Parish benefits unaccompanied migrant youth

President Barack Obama’s recent executive order defers the deportation of undocumented parents of American citizens or legal permanent residents who have been in the country for at least five years. This is expected to affect approximately 4 million undocumented immigrants, but excludes approximately 7 million others, according to a recent report on NPR. Among those excluded are the tens of thousands of unaccompanied child and teenage migrants that arrived to the U.S. border earlier this year. The Oakland-based Social Justice Collaborative (SJC)—a nonprofit…

In East Bay, immigration reform gets lukewarm reviews

As word spread through Richmond, Oakland and other East Bay cities with large immigrant populations of the President’s executive orders easing some restrictions of federal immigration policy, families and support groups affected by the new orders reacted with a mix of relief and disappointment.

Oaklanders prevent flooding by adopting storm drains

You can adopt a cat, dog or rabbit anywhere. Now in Oakland you can adopt a drain. In early 2014, the city of Oakland launched its Adopt a Drain program. Oakland has over 10,000 storm drains, spread over the city on every street. When clogged with trash, water in the drains overflow, flooding streets and sidewalks. This happens particularly often during fall and winter, due to storm season and massive amounts of fallen leaves. Creeks, storm drains and sanitary sewer…