A new city-county collaboration has been put forward by Oakland City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, along with Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, in an effort to grapple with the East Bay’s increasing homelessness crisis.

Kaplan and Miley are proposing the implementation of a number of short-term solutions to tackle the issue immediately, including extending winter shelters into the summer, acquiring SRO (single room occupancy) buildings to be used as service centers, and allocating public space for encampments where the homeless could legally camp and receive city services.

“Homelessness has always been an issue, but it’s more of a concern particularly in Oakland and other places,” said Miley, who represents Oakland on the county’s Board of Supervisors. “We see it more, we see the encampments out in the public, on the street in the corners, along freeways. I think that’s what’s heightened the concern.”

Read the rest of the story by Lizzie Roberts at Oakland North.

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