Steve Lowe

The dumpsite shown as 980 Castro is the same as 967 10th Street (right at the corner of Castro) where serial dumpings happen almost every week. Though reported to have been fixed last week, it was not, and the pile of junk remains – like a message to prospective dumpers that it's okay to dump here.

We think this spot should be put on the City's regular patrol and remediated at least once every other week, as S-C-F process takes too long to get to the pile and sometimes doesn't even end up getting the dumped material hauled away, even when reported as such.

Three couches, mattress, mini-fridge, etc.

Water heater and trash.

(Side walk is mostly clear because property fence is set back four or so feet, inviting dumpers to use this last corner before they turn onto Castro and the 980 freeway two blocks away.

Mattreaa plus other piece(s) of furniture.

This appears to be the monthly dump of a serial dumper who waits for the area to be cleared before dumping over and over again.

Every time I take a picture of the mess at 10h & Castro and/or the one in the median strip around the corner at 11th & Castro, the SCF app rsponds that it can't upload right now or some other problem that prevents reporting using my cellphone.

10th & Castro is now an "unofficial" City of Oakland dumpsite, with dumpers enjoying the regular impunity of dumping stuff off at the light, and then scooting out onto the freeway for a clean getaway.

Even worse is the median strip where the down-ramp from 980 lets vehicular traffic off at 11th & Castro, creating an opportunity for beggars to hang out and camp on the median strip after they've cut the chainl-ink fencing there. When CalTrans gives notice that crews are about to clean the area, the "residents" throw all their things over the fence onto City property and wait for the CalTrans cleanup crew to leave. That way, their "homesteads" all cleaned up, they can take their belongings right back over the fence and resume their life of grunge, precisely because the City and CalTrans will not coordinate their cleanup efforts and abate the whole problem all at once.

This lack of coordination ends up doing very little if anything in terms of abating trash in the area and cannot be very cost effective at all, as the condition reverts right back to unhealthy the minute CalTrans leaves (all without fixing the hole in the chain-link).

Trash, litter, broken furniture, rugs, etc., from SE corner of 10th & Castro strewn approximately 40' east.