OAKLAND — City officials can now clear homeless encampments and tow vehicles used as shelter without first offering immediate housing, a sharp change of direction in Oakland’s approach to homelessness.
The new policy approved Tuesday shifts the city from managing encampments to clearing them, allowing workers to act without first securing shelter.
Oakland has struggled to provide enough temporary beds to homeless residents amid local shelter closures, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2024 cleared the path for cities to ban encampments.
In a 5-1 vote, with one abstention, the Oakland City Council approved stricter rules for vehicles that remain parked in front of residences for months on end and tents that generate waste and, in some cases, hazardous fires.
Those living in encampments can be redirected to areas in which schools and businesses are not within close proximity and won’t be subjected to arrest or citation.
Under the new policies, workers must provide a week’s notice to an encampment’s residents before clearing it and offer shelter to displaced tenants “as soon as it becomes available.”
The city can move more quickly, providing up to three days notice if there are immediate concerns in an area, such as fires, illegal wiring or criminal activity.
“Living with no fixed address does not confer the right to engage in dangerous or illegal behavior,” said Councilmember Zac Unger, who represents North Oakland and voted to adopt the new rules. “That needs to be dealt with, just as if somebody is living in a home that they rent or own.”
The council’s decision offers a formal rebuke to city policies during the COVID-19 era, which prioritized the well-being of homeless residents over more sweeping encampment clearings.
Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston, left, and Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins react after participating during the Oakland Ballers open tryouts at Raimondi Park in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
It follows a trend in Oakland away from the policy leanings of progressive activists in favor of a tougher-on-crime approach that includes robust police surveillance.
Votes for the new rules were secured by Councilmember Ken Houston, who represents the furthest-flung southeastern neighborhoods that deal with illegal dumping and blight, as well as Council President Kevin Jenkins, whose own district is in East Oakland.
Houston has maintained that his policies do not significantly differ from Mayor Barbara Lee’s own prescriptions for homelessness, which mainly involve widespread construction of affordable housing.
“Residents and businesses are suffering — they’re being pushed around,” Houston, whose blunt, often-freewheeling approach has raised eyebrows around town, said in a recent interview. “I’m puzzled why this has taken so long.”
Cities across California and Gov. Gavin Newsom have urged more sweeping encampment clearings.
But in Oakland, where the homeless population is well over 5,000 by official estimates, some advocates have questioned whether tent clearings create a whack-a-mole problem — given that most homeless residents have nowhere else to go.
“We need a designated space where folks understand they can live — not live … where they can survive. Because that’s what people are attempting to do,” said Councilmember Carroll Fife, who abstained from voting on the new policy.
Chief Homelessness Solutions Officer Sasha Hauswald speaks during a Homelessness Commission meeting at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Fife, who represents parts of downtown and West Oakland, said she never received an answer from Houston or city officials about where displaced homeless tenants would go if their vehicles were towed or tents carted off.
Councilmember Noel Gallo, the least active of Oakland’s eight representatives in council discussions, voted against the new policy, placing blame on city workers who have been slow to respond to service calls about illegal dumping.
“I’m reaching out to the churches to allow, perhaps, their parking lots to become places where we can drive and park, temporarily,” Gallo said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Houston and Jenkins also noted they are working to identify areas that could be defined as “low sensitivity” — where clusters of people living temporarily would not cause immediate harm.
Nearly 100 speakers at Tuesday’s meeting addressed the city’s newfound approach to encampments.
Damion Scott of East Bay Housing Organizations said Tuesday the city’s green light to displace homeless residents would reliably direct them to lower-income neighborhoods instead of wealthier communities in the Oakland Hills.
“The solution to our housing and homelessness crisis — and in California, for that matter — is more services and more affordable housing,” Scott said.
On the other side, Houston and the council found support from residents who said the prevalence of homeless encampments hurt lower-income residents the most.
“My tenants are teachers, food servers and other local workforce,” said Nick Myerhoff, a landlord who owns several properties across Oakland. “Their rights matter, too. Who’s speaking up for them?”
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.