PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATION Crankstart will invest more than $9 million towards combating the persistent issue of illegal dumping in Oakland, city authorities announced Thursday.
Over the course of three years, San Francisco-based Crankstart will contribute $9.275 million, which will be used to prevent new illegal dumping, clean up existing dumping sites, deploy AI-assisted drones to gather information, and add more illegal dumping cameras for enforcement.
“Our residents deserve basics [like] clean streets,” said Mayor Barbara Lee on Thursday. “To bring businesses to Oakland, to bring more conventions to Oakland, more tourism to Oakland, we have to have a clean city.”
In the June 2 election, voters rejected Measure E, a proposed parcel tax to raise revenue to tackle illegal dumping, among other issues like homelessness, public safety, and emergency services.
Back in April, an audit by the City Auditor’s Office found that high waste-disposal costs, gaps in enforcement, and limited access to legal dumping options are contributing to the illegal dumping problem.
Also in April, the Oakland City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that increased penalties for illegal dumping in the city.
The fines for dumping trash on Oakland streets, parks, sidewalks, and other spaces are now $1,500 for the first offense, $3,000 for the second, and $5,000 for the third.
Additionally, the ordinance made it a crime for anyone who owns a car to use it or allow it to be used for illegal dumping, and for people to haul trash without a license plate on their vehicle.
A person caught dumping illegally multiple times on private property within a 10-year period could face triple the initial civil penalties, as per the ordinance.
How the money will be spent
At Thursday’s press conference, city officials said that the public-private partnership with Crankstart will allow city staff to build upon the ordinance by stepping up enforcement efforts and adding more legal dumping infrastructure.
“There’s a particular focus on neighborhoods that have borne a disproportionate share of the impacts of illegal dumping for too long,” said Liam Garland, director of Oakland Public Works. “Every dollar, public or philanthropic, will be measured against a simple question: Are open streets getting cleaner?”
Garland said that as early as July 1, some of the investment money will be available for additional illegal dumping cameras, which will be used for enforcement.
The city currently has 35 cameras, which will increase to 85 after the expansion.
Garland added that AI-assisted drones, manufactured by San Francisco-based municipal infrastructure company Aerbits will help the city better identify garbage piles so that authorities can initiate cleanup efforts earlier.
“I noticed that the city is very good at picking these things up, when we know where they are, when we know how large they are,” said Brian Johnson, CEO of Aerbits. “And if we can bridge that information gap, if we can take the burden off of residents and use technology to bridge that gap, we can solve that problem.”
Johnson emphasized that the AI-assisted drones do not capture individuals’ faces or license plates.
The drones and additional illegal dumping cameras were approved unanimously by the city’s Privacy Advisory Commission, Garland added.
The city will also use the invested funds to identify the neighborhoods that are worst-hit by illegal dumping and divert additional resources — like larger 60-gallon bins for legal dumping — in those areas.
Garland reiterated that all households, whether homeowners or renters, are entitled to one bulky item pickup per year at no cost.
“Right now, that [the free pickup] gets utilized by between 9 to 20% of our residents,” said Garland, “and we want to bump up that number significantly, and the education and outreach effort is really to get that information in the hands of the people.”
The investment also presents a shot in the arm for illegal dumping enforcement, police said at the press conference.
“I want to speak to those who would continue to dump in the city of Oakland after hearing this message today,” said Deputy Chief Anthony Tedesco of the Oakland Police Department. “You should be nervous.”
The post Oakland secures $9.3M in investment to bolster illegal dumping crackdown appeared first on Local News Matters.