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I got an email from a friend who's homeless and reports that a man by the name of "ED" decided to end his life by walking in front of a train one morning at 711 Harrison St, near where she sleeps in her car. She reports that this happens a lot. My fear is that the cities of Oakland and Berkeley are doing nothing to curb the real source of new homeless people: landlord activity in those cities. Just look at the California Hotel matter, which the City of Oakland seems to be a partner in with Oakland Community Housing. It's an outrage.

Calfornia Hotel Resident Eviction Calls For Oakland City Attorney Action ASAP The California Hotel is the center of a battle between poor tenants and Oakland Community Housing, Inc. The California Hotel is a historic landmark building in Oakland currently owned by Cahon Associates, Inc., an affiliate of Oakland Community Housing, Inc. The building, located at 3501 San Pablo Ave. near the Oakland border with Emeryville, currhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifently has: • 75 single occupancy rooms, • 58 efficiency apartments, • 16 studio units, • a supportive services area, a large lobby and mezzanine, and • several ground floor commercial spaces. UPDATE: Congresswoman Barbara Lee's Office pointed to for inaction on this matter. Here's the problem. Last year, Oakland Community Housing put out this Request For Proposals to find a developer to, as the RFP put it: take over ownership and to convert the existing property into a model permanent supportive housing complex as