Calendar

OTU’s Mission

The Oakland Tenants Union is an organization of housing activists dedicated to protecting tenant rights and interests. OTU does this by working directly with tenants in their struggle with landlords, impacting legislation and public policy about housing, community education, and working with other organizations committed to furthering renters’ rights. The Oakland Tenants Union is open to anyone who shares our core values and who believes that tenants themselves have the primary responsibility to work on their own behalf.

Monthly Meetings

The Oakland Tenants Union meets regularly at 7:00 pm on the second Monday evening of each month. Our monthly meetings are held in the Community Room of the Madison Park Apartments, 100 – 9th Street (at Oak Street, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station). To enter, gently knock on the window of the room to the right of the main entrance to the building. At the meetings, first we focus on general issues affecting renters city-wide and then second we offer advice to renters regarding their individual concerns.

If you have an issue, a question, or need advice about a tenant/landlord issue, please call us at (510) 704-5276. Leave a message with your name and phone number and someone will get back to you.

Your support is critical in providing public comment at the Police Commission meeting on May 11! Learn how to give public comment and other ways to support by visiting: https://t.co/yAaGq2B7uB and https://t.co/yO4EwM6c1P pic.twitter.com/5RV4mt1vw2

— GLIDE (@GLIDEsf) May 10, 2022

Agenda and zoom link will be posted here

Our campaign to ban oil and gas drilling in Contra Costa is at a key point:  On May 11 the county Planning Commission will meet to consider the new oil and gas policy in the Conservation Element of the General Plan, which will determine land use decisions for the next twenty years.  Let’s all show up (via Zoom) to tell them: Ban drilling!

Under the current proposed plan, the county would keep approving more oil and gas drilling, with unspecified mitigation of negative impacts.  They are proposing 3,200′ setbacks, but research has found harmful pollution from drilling 2.5 miles away.

And they’re begging the climate issue altogether.  The new “code red for humanity” announcement from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we need to stop extracting fossil fuels before the end of the decade.   Approving more fossil fuel extraction is counter to the county’s declared climate policy — and to a basic sense of survival!

So rather than meeting with each other this month on Sunday (which happens to be Mother’s Day), let’s all get together at the Planning Commission meeting May 11 and deliver our message loud and clear.

Most of the 3,300+ people who signed the petition are Contra Costa residents.  But for this meeting, the Planning Commission needs to hear from people all over the Bay Area.  We all have a stake in this!  We need to tell them we’re counting on them to protect our health: both from immediate toxic pollution and climate catastrophe.

More information and talking points here.

On May 8, we can honor our mothers in our personal ways.  And we can honor all mothers and Mother Earth the following Wednesday by making it clear to the Planning Commission that drilling has to stop.

WHERE

Agenda and zoom link will be posted here

Our Green New Deal Committee meets on the second Wednesday each month. We will discuss eco-socialist issues, upcoming events and actions, committee priorities, and campaigns. All are welcome! Please RSVP to receive the URL to the meeting or email green-new-deal@eastbaydsa.org.

NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:

occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

What: Stop the Money Pipeline Action

Join us to demand that Wells Fargo cut financing for expansion of fossil fuels. There will be street theater, signs and flyering to alert the public to the bank’s ongoing funding of climate chaos. This is part of a national Stop the Money Pipeline week of action.

We have one simple demand for Wells Fargo: stop providing financial services to any corporation expanding its fossil fuel operations. In other words, stop funding the climate crisis. At Wells Fargo’s general meeting last month, a shareholder resolution was presented, urging the bank NOT to fund ANY future fossil projects. The bank urged shareholders to vote against the resolution, which then got only 11% approval by shareholders, but even 11% gets leadership’s attention. We must keep up the pressure!

Come by between 4 and 6pm on May 18th and show that you have had it with Wells Fargo’s business as usual while people are dying and the climate crisis escalates.

We are looking for volunteers to help in the following roles:

• Safety Marshals/De-escalators
• Flyer Team
• Banner Holders
• Photographers

If you can help with any of those, please drop us an email at dawg@xrsfbay.org or let us know on our event RSVP form.

Please spread the word and invite friends through the Facebook event here…or just show up!

Please email contact@oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.

Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for surveillance regulation around the Bay and nationwide.

We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, tracking equipment, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” —  to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.

We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.

Check out some of what we worked on in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Oakland Privacy originally came together in 2013 to fight against the Domain Awareness Center, Oakland’s citywide networked mass surveillance hub. OP was instrumental in stopping the DAC from becoming a city-wide spying network.  We helped fight and helped win the fight against Urban Shield.

Our major projects currently include local legislation to regulate state surveillance (we got the strongest surveillance regulation ordinance in the country passed in Oakland!), supporting and opposing state legislation as appropriate, battling mass surveillance in the form of facial recognition and other analytics, mass aerial surveillance, ubiquitous license plate readers, and pushing back against ICE.

On September 12th, 2019 we were presented with a Barlow Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for our work, and on March 16th, 2021 s James Madison Freedom of Information Award by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

If you are interested in joining the Oakland Privacy email listserv, coming to a meeting, or have questions, send an email to:

contact@oaklandprivacy.org

Check out our website: http://oaklandprivacy.org/

Follow us on twitter: @oaklandprivacy

“WATCHING YOU WATCHING US”

Oakland Privacy works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment.  Oakland Privacy drove the passage of surveillance regulation and transparency ordinances in Oakland and Berkeley and is kicking off new processes in various municipalities around the Bay.  To help slow down the encroaching police and surveillance state all over the Bay Area, join us at the Omni.

Like the Warriors, Empty Homes Tax is on the final home stretch, join our signature gathering mobilization this Sunday at noon on Stanyan and Haight— followed by a celebratory BBQ in Dahlia Dell at 2PM!! Hope to see you there ☀️ https://t.co/DqEOmfFqmx pic.twitter.com/83NoKJ9x3S

— DSA San Francisco (@DSA_SF) May 18, 2022

NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:

occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

< 4th WEDNESDAYs 6-8p (PT) Bay Area Debtor’s Union >>
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81740835248?pwd=MGFCT2xrdHU1cFQxb1lWOTZrZDNaUT09

Meeting ID: 817 4083 5248
Passcode: 123456
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Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 817 4083 5248
Passcode: 123456
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdCenMJaVr

Debt Collective hosts “Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay” Book Club –> REGISTRATION

NYT Student Debt Editorial, Annotated by the Debt Collective May 14, 2022

New Poll: Young Voters Want Biden To Cancel Student Loans For Everyone

by Zack Friedman may 19, 2022

The Failed Legal Case Against Student Debt Jubilee
John P. Hunt University of California, Davis – School of Law May 17, 2022

Exciting as hell. Parents, teachers and supporters are planning to occupy Parker Elementary in protest of the OUSD closure. I think this came close to succeeding at Lakeview ten years ago, but in today's climate, I am predicting more parent/student participation. pic.twitter.com/9FBLxPO63t

— Trash Night Heron (@hyphy_republic) May 20, 2022

Just In;  People’s Park Berkeley is now officially signed onto the
National Register of Historic Places at the level of National significance.

Greetings Comrades
The university is now moving tent people out of the park, making the final preparation for
their final assault on our park.  There are several legal actions making their way through the courts
but we know UC will not be deterred by impending legal action.  Their Anchor House project in
being challenged by a legal suit that includes People’s Park and UC has already cleared the site.

We need to prepare for serious civil disobedience and are therefore asking each of you to extend
to your varied memberships an invitation to meet up at People’s Park this Saturday May 28 at 6 pm.
This will be first a community building by getting to meet fellow park supporters and then followed
by forming working groups to solidify all our strengths into the most effective defense of the park
possible.

We know each of your organizations is busy with its own mission and therefore some of you might
come on Saturday only to show solidarity.  We would deeply appreciate your presence.  Those of
you who have a few hours a week could make a difference in this struggle, considering the years
you have devoted to the cause of justice for all.

To receive an alarm when the assult of the park begins: text  SAVETHEPARK to the number 74121

Thank you,
joe liesner, People’s Park Council, People’s Park Historic District Advocacy Group
Info at: https://peoplespark.org.  and  htps://peoplesparkhxdist.org

NOTE: During the Plague Year of 2020 GA will be held every week or two on Zoom. To find out the exact time a date get on the Occupy Oakland email list my sending an email to:

occupyoakland-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If for some reason the amphitheater is being used otherwise and/or OGP itself is inaccessible, we will meet at Kaiser Park, right next to the statues, on 19th St. between San Pablo and Telegraph. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland. (Note: we tend to meet at 3:00 PM during the cooler months from November to early March after Daylights Savings Time.)

On every ‘last Sunday’ we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over six years, since October 2011! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally. Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

Welcome & Introductions
Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
Announcements
(Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

When the California Public Utilities Commission came out with a plan in December to make installing rooftop solar unaffordable, our huge outcry forced them to back down.  But their new proposal is pretty much the same, so we need to do it again (sigh).   Details on the old and new plans are here.

The plan would continue to impose a “solar tax” on customers with rooftop solar and slash the payments they get for electricity they generate — this time described in slightly different language and with a more gradual implementation schedule to make it seem more palatable.

When they made the original proposal in December, more than 150,000 people submitted comments to the CPUC and Gov. Newsom, along with over 600 nonprofits, cities, schools and elected officials and most major newspaper editorial boards.

We need to rally again to save solar!

***ASAP: Call Governor Newsom at 916-445-2841.
His office is open Monday-Friday from 9 to 5. Say your name and where you live, and something personal.  Here’s a suggestion:

“The CPUC’s latest rooftop solar announcement is a non-starter for me. California should not be taxing solar energy, period. We need more solar, not less. Please show leadership now.”

***June 2, 11 AM – 3 PM: Don’t Tax the Sun Rally – CPUC Offices, 505 Van Ness, San Francisco    Look the CPUC in the eye and tell them what you think in person!  Organizers will kick it off with a rally on the steps of the CPUC, and then help you sign up and speak directly to the CPUC. And, of course, refreshments!    RSVP

Call the CPUC Public Comment Line
Dial remotely into the CPUC meeting on June 2nd to tell them to drop their latest Solar Tax.  Sign up here.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85817209915

Relevant Agenda Items:

5. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – DVP – Apricot 360 database
a. Review and take possible action on Impact Report and proposed Use Policy
6. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – OPD – Annual Reports (Automated License Plate Readers, Cell-Site Simulator,   Biometric Crime Lab, Forensic Logic/Coplink, GPS Tag Tracker, ShotSpotter, Live Stream Camera, Mobile Fingerprint ID,   Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Drones)
a. Review and take possible action on the annual reports
7. Surveillance Equipment Ordinance – DOT – Mobile Parking Payment System
a. Review and take possible action on Impact Report and proposed Use Policy