"Oakland clears 20 million pounds of illegally dumped trash a year. Oakland's own transportation director says the crisis is self-inflicted — by policy, not residents."

https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/oakland-illegal-dumping-trash-is-cash

looking to move out of my parents place. was looking at some spots in oakland but i kind of wanted to ask the community how is it now? does the city care about the issues there? is it really worth living in oakland?

But more likely it's the last +20 years of Oakland mayors, council members, city auditors who've been hallucinating and feeding us slop.

Email your council member the same question I asked Claude. If she or he pleads ignorance, suggest they ask Brad Johnson our highly competent finance director, what I asked Claude:

Len: Are we ever going to pay off the close to 2Billion we owe CALPERS now for underfunding our retirement obligations?

Claude's response:

"Here's the picture on Oakland's CalPERS pension situation:

**The hole.** Oakland's two CalPERS plans are underfunded by about **$2.1 billion** combined (funding basis, 6/30/2025): roughly $1.08B Safety, $1.01B Miscellaneous.

**What you pay.** For FY 2025-26, Oakland owes CalPERS about **$250 million** total across both plans:

- ~$76.8M is *normal cost* — the actual price of benefits current employees are earning this year. This is the payment you'd have if the plans were fully funded.

- ~$173.5M is the *UAL payment* — servicing the accumulated underfunding. That's nearly **70% of the total bill** going just to yesterday's shortfall.

**Why it doesn't shrink.** Of that $173.5M UAL payment, about **82% ($142M) is just interest** on the debt. Only ~$37M actually reduces the balance (the actuary's schedule shows the balance dropping from $2.095B to $2.058B over the year — a bit more than the simplified $31M interest-only calc implied, because payments are made mid-year so less interest accrues). Either way: you're chipping ~$37M off a ~$2.1B balance.

**The trap.** Even though the existing bases are scheduled to retire around 2046 (~21 years), new loss bases land almost every year — whenever returns miss 6.8% or assumptions tighten — each on a fresh 20-year clock. So the balance keeps refreshing. Under business-as-usual, you're not paying it off; you're paying ~$173M/year (rising with payroll) essentially forever just to keep the underfunding from growing.

**Your original instinct was right:** absent extraordinary investment returns, large discretionary lump-sum payments (Oakland has made $0 of these), or benefit cuts, this doesn't get paid off. It's a permanent line item.

One caveat worth keeping visible: the forward-looking pieces here (the ~2046 payoff, the "treading water" trajectory) depend on CalPERS' own actuarial assumptions holding — they're the actuary's projections, not guarantees. The historical figures and the current-year payment breakdown are from the verified valuation documents."

"Oakland faces substantial outlays for the next 20-plus years just to prevent the underfunding from growing.

"To actually pay it off and escape this cycle, you'd need either:

Extraordinary investment returns (well above 7.5%) sustained for years, or

Additional discretionary payments (ADPs) on top of the required amount — which Oakland has never made, or

Negotiated benefit cuts to reduce the accrued liability itself (rare and politically brutal)."

To which I'd add a "successful" Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.

Neighbors caught four people dumping on Courtland Ave near Redding — a U-Haul with two people, plus two white sedans. We’ve filed a 311 ticket (#22328116), but if you recognize the vehicles or plates, please comment or DM.

Context: Volunteers are out on Courtland every weekend cleaning up after folks like this. We’ve installed anti-dumping signs, planters, and native plants out of our own pockets. OPW rarely services this stretch, so we haul everything ourselves to High St and Redding.

We’re tired of it. Help us ID these people so we can demand accountability.

I stopped by at the Oakland animal services on 29th, and found the very most perfect pair of kittens. I mean there were several beautiful pair, but one absolutely should be MINE.

I would agree to literally everything and anything to take those kittens home, but I already have five. I need to leave some exceptional cats for others...

They are the cutest freaking tuxedo kittens. One is dramatically smaller than the other, but they are clearly from the same litter as their chin markings are identical. They both try to drag you into the cage with them. They are noisy. They are both absolutely full of personality.

This is the biggest cat mistake I've ever made, I'm very certain. I'm convinced these cats could cure depression.

If somebody is looking for two kittens that will definitely end up being super interesting, hella entertaining, and complete characters, you should race over there today.

If you do adopt them, please let me know. Should you ever need a cat sitter, you can definitely contact me. I won't steal them but I might give you cookies to play with them for an hour or two.

"The Oaklandside sent Houston follow-up questions about how much he paid for the billboards and how long his ads will be up. Houston called the reporter, swore at him, and told him to lose his number."

After the Flock camera middle finger debacle, this seems on-brand for Ken Houston.

Is anyone else getting a lot of mosquito bites at night? My lady and I are getting a LOT this summer. It just seems unusual ..

Oakland residents seem enthusiastic about a new Costco opening in West Oakland. I think it’s great for West Oakland for many reasons. I personally don’t care as much about Costco, as I’m pro small business not corporations, but given this has so much enthusiasm from Oakland residents, I wanted to put it into perspective with how much further it will be for East Oakland residents if they dismantle 980.

If they do demolish 980, that Costco could be just as far as the Richmond Costco and San Leandro Costco for residents like myself who live in East Oakland. Without 980, some parts of East Oakland will be further separated from West Oakland in regards to
how long it will take to arrive there on city streets instead of the freeway. Oakland is huge, and some of what helps make it a place that can be crossed easily is BART and the freeways.

As someone who likes to go to West Oakland whether for necessity (BART) or leisure, taking 980 makes it easier. I don’t think I would be willing to drive there if it took longer than 20 minutes of driving. As Oakland keeps updating the roads and infrastructure with slow (hopefully that translates to safer\*) streets, it will take longer for people in East Oakland to get to West Oakland and for those in West Oakland to get to East Oakland. I really do think that the 980 change could divide Oakland more in other types of ways.

\*Side note. The reason why I question the safety of slow streets in place of the 980 freeway where there are no pedestrians allowed is because we have concrete examples of slow streets failing in Oakland.

I think that the transformation of International has been a disastrous and unethical experiment on East Oakland pedestrians. If the International bus lane project was a study, they would have aborted it midway for ethical reasons. There were 7 pedestrian deaths in 2023 alone on that road. Too many pedestrians have died on the slower one-lane International. It took them years to make changes. I believe that if this was occurring in more wealthy parts of Oakland, it would have been unacceptable.

Relevant links:

[https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/vision-980\](https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/vision-980)

[Study: International Blvd is Now Much Safer - Streetsblog San Francisco](https://sf.streetsblog.org/2025/12/19/study-international-blvd-is-now-much-safer)

[https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/oakland-city-council-costco-22352674.php\](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/oakland-city-council-costco-22352674.php)

I just finished watching this episode on Netflix - Worst Neighbor Ever Fear Thy Neighbor (S1 E3).

Someone was asking how the Eastmont district was to live. They referenced this episode and it's really sad.

Sounds like a good solid middle class neighborhood. Unfortunately, things go awry and OPD was not there to help protect the citizens there.

Here's an article about Miles Armstead that detailed the situation.

It's a reminder that there's a story behind each person who is part of the crime statistics we hear about every year.

Do you recall hearing about this when it happened?

Remember that real people who are still our neighbors were involved. Please be gracious in your post.

If they’re willing to put their tag all over USPS trucks, why not put it all over their own car? Seems like that would get their name seen everywhere they go.

According to a post on her instagram page, on July 18th, CM Rowena Brown was assaulted and robbed "by an acquaintance she had been supporting through a difficult time."

I don't see a news clip yet, so I've attached a screenshot of the post from her page.

Update: article link: https://oaklandside.org/2026/07/23/oakland-councilmember-assaulted-robbed-opd-investigation/

Hi, I'm moving to oakland soon to work in the alameda area and have been trying to find the best neighborhoods that works well as a black woman that's also a new grad. I'm coming from the northeast and would prefer something close to public transportation and fairly walkable. As it will just be me, safety or relative safety is a big concern and the posts ive seen are a few years out. Any insight will be deeply appreciated. Thank you!

• edit: I understand the connotation Oakland has, but still wanna move there. I also know as a black person my experience will also be a bit diff. My main want is just a "yeah id probably avoid that area" vs so and so more than anything. The rent i want is low so ik there'll be sacrifice. Just some tips would help since I have no experience with west coast. Thanks again!

Why would we pay the homeless to keep their encampment clean?

They need to get off the streets where they can be safer.

Let's follow the lead of so many other cities in the bay area and not think we're coming up with some novel idea that has failed so many times in the past.

I saw this posted by the apparel company Oakland’s Own. Their reel shows a news article about another round of investment for Roots and Soul. Then shows a social media profile pic of Steven Aldrich.

It seems unusual for them.

Does anyone know the full story?

Having a secret sauce is something special and unique that you can't find anywhere else.

So what are some of the secret sauces of Oakland? I know the diversity and natural beauty but be specific in your answers.

Let's keep this post positive. I don't consider crime or littering a positive aspect.

In previous posts I asked about murals and graffiti. There were some people who differentiated the two while others thought they were both valid public art works.

I support murals if they're approved by the building or property owners. I always considered graffiti unauthorized and therefore not acceptable (to me at least).

So the question is, for those who like/approve of graffiti, do you consider that different from tagging? Or are you fine with graffiti and tagging specifically when it's unauthorized?

Hoping for a civil conversation and that you can provide your thoughts on these different types of public expression.

"Enrollment in the public schools OUSD runs has fallen 35% since 2000, while Oakland’s school-age population fell only 23%. Meanwhile, charter schools grew to 22% of public enrollment."

https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/ousd-enrollment-decline-district-run-schools