City Administrator Statement on Illegal Dumping Grand Jury Report
Published on June 16, 2026
The following statement can be attributed to Oakland Acting City Administrator Betsy Lake in response to the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury Report on Illegal Dumping in Oakland published on June 15, 2026.
The City Oakland City Administrator’s Office is thankful for the Grand Jury’s work on the issue of illegal dumping and strategies to help remedy it in Oakland. We appreciate the time they put into this effort, and we are pleased to see that their recommendations align with the recommendations and actions from our own strategic process.
This unity, in support of a comprehensive plan to strengthen education, eradication, and enforcement of illegal dumping, reinforces the wisdom of the direction Oakland has taken, and supports the current leadership's solutions.
The City appreciates the Report’s strong support for the actions we have taken on items such as aerial camera technology to more accurately track and remedy illegal dumping, and the support for enhanced tools for the workforce, such as hand-held technology for Environmental Enforcement Officers to more effectively issue and collect citations, as well as for trucks and equipment for cleanup teams, and overtime funding for enhanced cleanup, all of which have been approved and launched by the City.
In addition, we appreciate that the Report highlights the importance of adopting a comprehensive Plan to remedy illegal dumping.
The City recently introduced an Illegal Dumping Action Expenditure Plan (Plan), which was presented to the City Council’s Public Works and Transportation Committee on May 12th and passed unanimously by the Oakland City Council on May 19th. The Plan also funds Bulky Block Party events where the public can dispose of bulky waste free of charge – an item also called for in the Report.
The full Plan legislation is online at:
The City’s comprehensive strategy to address illegal dumping prioritizes neighborhoods disproportionately affected by this issue, pairs stronger accountability with expanded legal disposal options, and emphasizes measurable outcomes.
In addition to having a comprehensive Plan to eradicate illegal dumping in Oakland, the City also has obtained more than $10 million in new local, state, and private foundation resources to tackle this problem, including $9.3 million from Crankstart foundation announced last week; nearly $500,000 from CalRecycle to clean up illegal dumping from hard-hit corridors in Oakland; and over $1 million in local funding adopted by the City Council.
Friday's adoption of the midcycle budget adjustment by the City Council added another $1M for additional cleanups, $900,000 for vehicles to help with illegal dumping eradication, and $950,000 to clear dumping and trash from parks.
These critical investments, which include funding for enhanced enforcement including working with OPD and Alameda County officials, along with the roadmap outlined in the recently adopted Plan, will allow the City of Oakland to break the cycle of illegal dumping across Oakland and advance the city on a trajectory toward clean streets.
Details about the Crankstart funding can be found at oaklandca.gov.
We are pleased to be in alignment with the recommendations, and to share that they have already been authorized, funded, and launched.
Sincerely,
Acting City Administrator Betsy Lake
City of Oakland
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Supporting documents: