Oakland creates homelessness commission
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf appointed nine people, including nonprofit workers, community leaders, formerly homeless people and a doctor, to a new advisory commission on homelessness as the city’s crisis deepens.
All members work with unsheltered people daily. At least four appointees have been “housing insecure,” and two others have experienced homelessness, Schaaf said in a letter to the City Council. The commission will make budget and policy recommendations to the mayor’s office and City Council.
“I am pleased to submit nine strong candidates that ... bring truly impressive expertise, deep knowledge, respect and love for our struggling and unhoused neighbors,” Schaaf wrote.
Schaaf’s appointments were confirmed Tuesday by the City Council.
Oakland’s homeless population increased 47% to 4,071 from 2017 to 2019. The number of unsheltered homeless people, during that same time period, increased by 68% from 1,902 to 3,210 people.
The appointees are Janny Castillo, Tomiquia Moss and Trent Rhorer for threeyear terms; Candice Elder, Alexis Lozano and Joey Harrison for twoyear terms; and Beth Stokes, Mark Walker and James Mittelberger for oneyear terms.
Castillo is formerly homeless, but became a homeowner 20 years ago in West Oakland. She is the director of outreach and community services at St. Mary’s Center, a nonprofit that addresses poverty in neighborhoods. Moss is the CEO of All Home, an organization that focuses on regional solutions to address homelessness.
Elder is the executive director of East Oakland Collective, an organization that addresses racial and economic equity in the community. Rhorer is an Oakland resident and the executive director of San Francisco’s Human Services Agency. Lozano is a data and performance analyst for EveryOne Home, which conducts the county’s biannual pointintime count. Harrison is the executive director of the Village of Love, which provides services to homeless people in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood.
Stokes is the executive director of Episcopal Community Services, a San Francisco agency that helps homeless people and families get housing. Walker is an associate director at Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit that supports veterans. And Mittelberger is the chief medical officer of Center for Elders’ Independence, which helps seniors.
“I am excited about serving on this very new and very important commission,” Elder said. “We’ve been in a state of crisis definitely over the last few years as we are seeing homelessness explode in our beloved Oakland.”
Schaaf’s selections were met with criticism from homeless advocates who say that the commission should include at least one currently unsheltered person.
“It is critical to include curbside community leaders in policy and decision making that directly impacts their lives,” said Talya HusbandsHankin, an advocate who advises the city on homeless issues. “Listen to them. Let people have agency over their lives.”
Schaaf said she deliberately did not select anyone experiencing homelessness to volunteer on a city commission. Instead, she recommends that the commission create a council of unsheltered people who will advise the commission and be compensated for that work.
The commission was created by Measure W, a tax on vacant parcels passed by voters in 2018 to fund homelessness services and address illegal dumping. The tax was implemented last year and is expected to generate $ 7 million per year. In 2019, Oakland budgeted $ 87.4 million for homeless services and affordable housing over the next two years.