Applause thundered throughout the council chamber when Lee mentioned the Oakland Police Department\u2019s exit from federal oversight<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe responsibility is ours now,\u201d she said, echoing commitments she\u2019s made in previous addresses. \u201cConstitutional policing must remain our standard. Accountability and civilian oversight must remain our standard. Community trust must be our standard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Highlighting the reopening or renovation of key city facilities \u2014 Tyrone Carney Park<\/a>, the Mosswood Community Center<\/a>, and the Brookfield library branch \u2014 the mayor veered off script for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives our young people, especially, hope. It gives our residents the trust that we need to build \u2014 that, yes, we\u2019re doing this together, and yes, we\u2019re spending your tax dollars the way you want.\u201d<\/p>\n She heaped praise on her administration and other elected officials for their work on illegal dumping, including the $9.2 million<\/a> in private investment she secured to address trash heaps and the legislation she and Councilmember Zac Unger wrote to boost fines for people caught dumping.<\/p>\n Dumping is one of several topics Lee\u2019s speech covered where the gains she highlighted are paired with ongoing challenges. For example, a recent independent city audit<\/a> found numerous flaws with Oakland\u2019s approach to illegal dumping, and seemingly nobody\u2019s been criminally charged<\/a> for the act, despite pledges by the mayor to work with the district attorney on this.<\/p>\n Lee also spoke about significant progress on housing and homelessness. A report released this spring found<\/a> that homelessness has dropped by an estimated 20% since 2024. Oakland has opened more than 1,300 new affordable housing units in the past two years and has 1,500 more coming, Lee said.<\/p>\n Also in the past year, the City Council passed a controversial policy<\/a> allowing city crews to crack down harder on encampments, in some specific cases closing them without offering residents other shelter.<\/p>\n In her remarks Tuesday, Lee tried to balance her obligation to unhoused people with her responsibility to the housed constituents living and working near camps.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should never have to choose between compassion for people experiencing homelessness, and the health and safety of our neighborhoods,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe can\u2019t solve homelessness by simply moving people from one street to another\u2026When we resolve an encampment, there should be somewhere safer for people to go and a strategy for keeping that neighborhood healthy after.\u201d<\/p>\n She touted the new city office<\/a> she launched focused on homelessness and an action plan<\/a> it\u2019s released.<\/p>\n The mayor also acknowledged the economic realities that threaten any ambitious goals of Oakland\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to fight, quite frankly, for every single dollar Oakland deserves, from the county, state, and, yes, what\u2019s left of the federal government,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n \u201cOakland has many challenges,\u201d she said toward the end of her speech. \u201cWe tell the kids about them. We don\u2019t sweep them under the rug, and then we get to work, because Oakland also has something else. We have strength. We have creativity. We have history.\u201d<\/p>\n On a personal note, she spoke about her aunt and uncle, the Murrells<\/a>, who were prolific property owners in Oakland in the 1950s despite many Black people being barred from homeownership then. In real estate or property management dealings, her uncle would pretend to be the maintenance worker and his accountant would pretend to be the owner. The Murrells started the first Black-owned lending institution in the city, she said.<\/p>\n Her message: Oakland residents have always fought to succeed against incredible odds.<\/p>\n![\"ifpte](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ifpte-union-picket-4.jpg\")
Lee speaks briefly with IFPTE Local 21\u2019s Julian Ware as she arrives at City Hall for her speech. Credit: Natalie Orenstein\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
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Workers with IFPTE Local 21 hold an \u201cinformational picket\u201d along 14th Street before the meeting. Credit: Natalie Orenstein\/The Oaklandside<\/p>\n