So why, then, did Houston ask the officer on 100th Avenue to release the suspect?<\/p>\n
According to the police report, it was all a big misunderstanding. Houston told the officer he\u2019d actually asked the man to empty the dumpster\u2019s contents and remove the container from the intersection. Houston had told him he\u2019d arrange for the city\u2019s Public Works Department to clean up the trash later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on the information provided\u201d by Houston, the officer wrote, the man who\u2019d driven the truck was \u201creleased from handcuffs without further incident.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The episode is a good example of Houston\u2019s hands-on and in-your-face brand of leadership, which has been a source of amusement and controversy since his swearing-in last January<\/a>. Not content to simply pass policies and let city staff execute on them, Houston has maintained his practice of going out into the streets and trying to get things done himself.<\/p>\n But the dumping incident<\/a> raises questions about whether or not Houston crossed the line in interactions with city staff. The city charter<\/a> gives councilmembers the power to create new laws and determine the city\u2019s budget, but it strictly says the councilmembers \u201cshall have no administrative powers,\u201d meaning they can\u2019t direct city workers in their day-to-day activities.<\/p>\n Specifically, a city rule commonly known as Section 218 prohibits councilmembers<\/a> from \u201cdealing\u201d with city employees other than the city administrator, mayor, or other high-ranking officers responsible for city affairs, and from giving orders to city employees, including police officers and public works employees. Elected officials who are convicted of violating this rule can face criminal prosecution for a misdemeanor and must forfeit their seat.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an interview with The Oaklandside, Houston said he didn\u2019t break this rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t directing staff at all,\u201d Houston said. \u201cI inquired.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n We asked the city administrator if Houston\u2019s conduct ran afoul of this rule, but didn\u2019t receive a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whether or not his interactions with city staff were a violation, the dumpster incident highlights the fine line councilmembers must walk if they choose to be directly involved in city services in their district.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston acknowledged that as a councilmember his job is to focus on legislation and policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really not supposed to be cleaning up the streets,\u201d Houston said. But he added he needs to let his constituents know that he\u2019s on top of their problems, like dealing with a dumpster that has been sitting on a street for months attracting trash.\u00a0<\/p>\n And he said his office\u2019s diligent efforts to crack down on illegal dumping and abandoned vehicles is making his constituents happy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know how many emails and texts I get from constituents who say, \u2018Ken, we appreciate it, we see the improvement\u2019?\u201d Houston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston says he spent months trying to get rid of the troublesome dumpster Houston said he and the man who was going to be arrested were trying to remove the dumpster from its location because it had been attracting illegal dumping to the area for many months. He said the dumpster had been appearing repeatedly at the intersection, aggravating business owners and residents, but nobody knew who was putting it there.<\/p>\n \u201cI had asked the city, \u2018Can you get it out of there?\u2019\u201d Houston recalled. \u201cThey said, \u2018Ken, we just don\u2019t have the manpower to remove that dumpster.\u2019 They said, \u2018If you can remove it, Ken, remove it \u2014 we\u2019ll help you clean it up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Houston\u2019s aide, Lidit Awoke, also met the officers at the scene of the arrest and explained that they were trying to remove the dumpster for these reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston said he called on a friend for the favor, though he declined to say whom. The friend sent someone to do the job. The Oaklandside isn\u2019t naming the man who was detained because he wasn\u2019t ultimately arrested. According to Houston, the container and the mass of trash inside it were too heavy to haul away; the chains on the tractor-trailer broke.<\/p>\n Houston said he called a person he knows at the city and got permission to leave some of the trash on the street for city workers to clean it up later \u2014 which they did, he added.<\/p>\n The man working on the dumpster removal \u201cstarted unloading it to make it lighter,\u201d Houston said. That\u2019s when a neighbor spotted the man and thought she\u2019d caught the person who had been leaving the dumpster on their street, according to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n He phoned the police to tell them about the misunderstanding, so they wouldn\u2019t arrest the hauler.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston said the dumpster, which still has some waste in it, is now in his possession, and when it\u2019s emptied, he plans to donate it or give it to the city.<\/p>\n Houston initially told us he spoke to an Oakland Public Works staffer. But a department spokesperson said no one from Public Works had communicated with Houston, and that it wouldn\u2019t \u201cbe consistent with OPW policy or practice to advise any individual to dump materials in the public right of way for OPW crews to pick up later.\u201d<\/p>\n When we followed up with Houston, he clarified that he spoke with Ivan Satterfield, an assistant to the city administrator. Satterfield previously worked for Public Works as a supervisor. City officials did not respond to requests to interview Satterfield.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Oaklandside reached out to OPD about this incident and asked if the department has any policies that address how employees should respond when elected officials contact them about work. A spokesperson told us that councilmembers do not have the authority to direct police officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Awoke, Houston\u2019s aide, did not respond to an interview request.\u00a0<\/p>\n An employee at a construction company near the intersection told The Oaklandside in December that the area has been a magnet for illegal dumping.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just an extreme, crazy area,\u201d said the employee, who didn\u2019t provide their name. \u201cWe were reporting it all the time. It was really bad. It\u2019s clean right now, thank god.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Son of Oakland\u2019 flouts norms but also wins praise from some <\/p>\n When Houston took office a little over a year ago, he announced in the brazen fashion he\u2019s known for, \u201cI am going to fight for this city. And let me tell you something. I have no filter. None.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n To the delight of his supporters, Houston has been as good as his word, especially when it comes to policing the cleanliness of city streets. In a video posted last fall, Houston recorded himself verbally sparring<\/a> with several people providing support to a homeless encampment in his district. Houston told the group, \u201cYou in the wrong place, fucking with me,\u201d prompting one person to express \u2014 in disbelief \u2014 that Houston is a councilmember.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t give a fuck!\u201d Houston shouted back. In another incident that went viral last December, Houston, who grew up in Oakland and frequently refers to himself as the \u201cSon of Oakland,\u201d appeared to give the middle finger<\/a> to residents protesting the council\u2019s decision to award a contract to a controversial surveillance company.\u00a0<\/p>\n These exchanges won Houston praise<\/a> from some supporters, who believe he\u2019s channeling the frustration of constituents in East Oakland who are upset with the city\u2019s response to homelessness, crime, and illegal dumping.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEast Oakland NEEDS a go-getter to go get it done,\u201d a woman named Leatha McGirt said in a comment under a Dec. 4 post on Houston\u2019s Facebook page. \u201cWho else, other than Ken Houston is stepping up to the plate?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But his combative, hands-on approach to policy has also landed Houston in hot water with city staff. Last November, Josh Rowan, then the head of Public Works, accused Houston of committing a Section 218 violation<\/a> by allegedly interfering with several public contracts. He also accused the councilmember of \u201cabusive\u201d conduct, which included an incident where Houston announced to the council that he had filed a public ethics complaint against Rowan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Garbage piled up at an illegal dumping site on E. 12th Street near High Street on Oct. 2, 2025. Credit: Darwin BondGraham \/ The Oaklandside. <\/p>\n