My Request for City Auditor's Report Spotlights Failure of City Administration to Use $2 Million of Federal Funding to House Unsheltered

Hello Neighbor,

I calling on the Oakland Administration to implement City Council’s adopted budget amendment and immediately release funds to the Homeless Administrator meant to provide immediate shelter for the unhoused. I have continuously introduced, and with support of my colleagues on the City Council, passed legislation and budget actions to allocate funding to respond to the growing unsheltered population. In the summer of 2020, the City Council unanimously passed my budget amendments, which included $2 million to be under the Homeless Administrator to shelter unhoused community members in available hotel rooms and other strategies to help people get off the streets. Many months later, those funds have not been provided for that use, as the unsheltered population continues to rise.

At my request, the Life Enrichment Committee asked City Auditor Courtney Ruby to report on the status of the $2 million of CARES Act funding that the Oakland City Council allocated in FY 2020-21 to immediately provide hotels for the unsheltered. Yesterday, the Oakland City Auditor released her findings, the auditor’s memo states:

After reviewing video tapes of City Council meetings and associated records, interviewing Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) staff, and consulting with the City Attorney’s Office, we confirmed the $2 million in supplemental funding the City Council requested to be used “to be able to put people up in hotel rooms and related tasks” was assigned from the CDBG-COVID funding. Specifically, the funds originated from $4,532,841 in CDBG-COVID funding the City Council accepted and appropriated to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus pandemic (Resolution 88135 adopted in May 2020). This money is available for urgent assistance for those experiencing or at imminent risk of homelessness.

HCD reported that in July 2020, the $2 million had been identified for immediate housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness. However, my Office determined these funds have not been used as of June 16, 2021.

Link to the Auditor’s Memo on CARES Act funds for homelessness:

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:26bc59f1-5fa0-4b7b-bfc1-d4f995069e4e

Related Tweets:

https://twitter.com/Kaplan4Oakland/status/1410682896331919361

https://twitter.com/hyphy_republic/status/1410416210693394434

At the April 26, 2021, Life Enrichment Committee, I submitted a memo to discuss during the City Auditor’s Presentation Of Homeless Services Performance Audit, which found the City to be failing our most vulnerable population. My memo lists previous Council actions on housing and homelessness that have yet to be implemented by the City Administration.

Link to Kaplan Memo of Council Actions on Housing and Homelessness: https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=9335402&GUID=2145E85D-EA10-47ED-BA8C-32A04677CC7C

In Solidarity,

𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧

#LOVELIFE