OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — The transformation of Jack London Square Inn into a homeless shelter is causing concern for some business owners in the historic Oakland district.
“I’ve been in business in Jackson Square for 50 years and I’m very concerned about this homeless shelter they’re going to put at the entrance of Jack London Square,” said Raymond Gallagher, founder of Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar.
Business owners gathered Thursday to speak out against the city’s plans to convert the more than 100-room inn into a shelter. “We’re in the center of a dining and entertainment district, and this is not what we need. There’s plenty of other opportunities in Oakland to house the unhoused,” said Gallagher.
“Oakland is obviously having challenges around crime. We’re having challenges with so many businesses closing their doors and leaving the city,” said Leronne Armstrong, former Oakland Police Chief turned City Council candidate. “I don’t think we need to do anything in this city that forces businesses to have to think about whether they want to make that drastic decision of closing their doors.”
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“I think the city, the government have a duty to house people. I don’t think they should be housed in a commercial corridor,” said Derreck Johnson, owner of Home of Chicken and Waffles.
A longtime tenant in the same building as the inn, Johnson recently decided to move his business. “My lease was up and I wanted something new and fresh, but I did know way before I think everyone else what was coming and I was like, “okay, it’s time to go.”
But as cities across the bay area intensify efforts to clear encampments, homeless advocates say the need for shelter is also intensifying.
“It’s not okay to stigmatize people because they’re poor and to assume that they’re going to have a negative impact on your neighborhood simply because they’re poor,” said Jennifer Friedenback, executive director of Coalition on Homelessness. “We’ve got to come together and create solutions. And that means supporting important interventions that work.”
Meanwhile, these business owners say they will continue pressuring the city to find a new spot to put the shelter.
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