Ken Houston’s long history of encampment abatement in Oakland

A Street Spirit investigation into Houston's former nonprofit, the Beautification Council.

Oakland's Encampment Policy

Oakland adopts controversial Encampment Abatement Policy

The new policy says Oakland can tow RVs and close encampments without always offering shelter

Oakland Speaks on the EAP

Excerpts from public comment during Oakland City Council's EAP meeting on April 14

Oakland City Council: Sweeps are not solutions

By Armando Solorzano on May 5, 2026

Commentary Opinion

Community-based solutions are the answer.

Fighting sweeps by building community

By The Western Regional Advocacy Project on May 5, 2026

Commentary Opinion

The alarm has been sounding off, and we must answer the call.

Memory & Myth: Julia in People’s Park

By Lauren Lutge on May 5, 2026

Features

Julia Vinograd’s poetry turns the land’s erasure into a spiritual landscape of resistance and memory.

Arts & Culture

Street Spirit horoscopes – May 2026

By Boudia Crow Lafleur on May 5, 2026

Arts and Culture

'This month marks the beginning of taking hold of what you know is yours.'

Anger & Frustration

By Elias Gonzalez on April 7, 2026

Arts and Culture Poetry

'Something about this really affects / me to think about how this country / will kill you and call you a thief just / for the crime of being hungry.'

What It’s Like

By Tim Rudolph on April 7, 2026

Arts and Culture Poetry

'It’s like your move-along ass / had somewhere to go'

Street Spirit x Bay Area Current

By Street Spirit staff on April 7, 2026

A special 16-page issue published in collaboration with Bay Area Current