What we are tracking across California's 12th District

Berkeley

Few things have brought more residents to the City Council than Flock Safety license plate readers, cameras that record the plates of passing cars, and in May 2026, after 156 speakers, the council rejected a larger contract 8 to 1 while keeping the existing readers for a year. A letter from the Ward Street Paving Committee describes a block without repaving for over two decades, and neighbors write about crossings where people were killed. In West Berkeley, 34 people wrote about tents on a sidewalk across from two preschools. The adopted budget eliminates up to 138 positions against a structural deficit, and illegal dumping returns to the same corners.

Potholes are filled in a median of four days, and the council voted to rebuild Hopkins Street. There is more on storm drains and the Aquatic Park lagoon, housing and renters, wildfire readiness and federal research money at UC Berkeley, with 72 open issues tracked in all.

Oakland

Senior tenants at the Oakland Station apartments protested on 7 August 2026 about broken elevators and a rental inspection program that was never funded. The council approved a $2.25 million, two-year contract for Flock license plate reader cameras in December 2025 by a vote of 7 to 1. In East Oakland, neighbors describe illegal dumping that keeps returning to the same blocks and camps that block sidewalks. Residents also raise potholes, and 2,461 pothole requests filed since October 2024 are still open. Others campaign against military cargo through Oakland International Airport.

The city answers street light outages and missing signs quickly, and a July 2025 settlement commits it to repair about 78,000 damaged sidewalk locations over 25 years. More is tracked on sideshows and signals, school closures and immigrant families, flooding and the estuary and the city budget, with 74 open issues in all.

Alameda

Residents write about Slow Streets barricades that they say keep the street sweeper away and about a crosswalk at Park Street and Clinton Avenue that has drawn 88 reports through SeeClickFix, the app residents use to report problems to the city. The Planning Board saw that Alameda built 65 homes in 2025 against a state target of 5,353, and the police department has vacancies and a 224-day hiring process. At the former Navy base, contamination from the Navy and Chevron still blocks the transfer of Building 5 to the city.

The city has approved red-light cameras and scheduled speed humps and roundabouts for the Gibbons Drive area in 2026 and 2027. Further reading covers king tides and shoreline work, parks and the Mastick Senior Center, Measure L and Alameda Hospital and dumping and graffiti, with 57 open issues in all.

San Leandro

A senior at the Mission Bay mobile-home park told the council he expected to be homeless by the end of 2025, and a space-rent ordinance has not come to a vote. Residents of Hesperian Gardens describe a rail-corridor encampment present since December 2020. The city has had no permanent police chief since 13 May 2026. On the ground, neighbors point to streets that flood or crumble, sidewalk inspection requests that sit for months, with 189 still waiting, and Lake Chabot Road, closed since December 2022.

The Lewelling drop-in center has served nearly 300 people since 31 March 2025, and potholes are filled in a median of 11 days. More is tracked on downtown, data centers and bus service, the budget and council ethics, street trees and speeding corners, with 38 open issues in all.

Albany

Melissa Getz, who uses a power wheelchair, told the council that her closest bus stop is half a mile away. Residents asked about data sharing before the council declined a license plate reader contract on 8 September 2026. The proposed park at Golden Gate Fields would cost Albany tax revenue, and homeless outreach is run by 1.5 staff as federal pandemic money runs out. Residents report raised curbs and trip hazards at San Pablo Avenue corners and streetlights that are out or shaded by trees.

Volunteers clean the Albany shoreline regularly, and the city reports 2,333 trip hazards repaired in the 2024 cycle alone. More can be read on the marsh and the Albany Bulb, school drop-off safety and the district budget and housing and neighbor notice, with 32 open issues in all.

Emeryville

Connie Zheng told the council about more than 20 cluster mailbox break-ins over 14 months. Tenants described demolition dust and lead in occupied apartments, and residents wrote about people sleeping on the greenway benches. On Adeline Street, street lights have been out for two years, according to one resident, Hollis and Horton Street construction ran past its end date, and reckless driving in a school drop-off zone drew concern.

The council lowered speed limits on 20 street segments in April 2026 and adopted 15 mph school-zone limits the week after a driver was arrested for doing donuts, a stunt of spinning a car in tight circles, at school drop-off. Further topics include graffiti, parks and rodents, the budget and local business and how reports reach the city, with 38 open issues in all.

Piedmont

Neighbors on Bonita Avenue ask about driveway access and emergency routes now that the block is one-way with diagonal parking. Others ask where a fenced dog park will go. The police chief reported burglaries along the Oakland border, and residents wonder whether Moraga Avenue can evacuate the canyon before new homes are built. More than 60 families asked for less screen time in classrooms. A pediatrician told the council on 17 August 2026 about severe e-bike head injuries among children, which he sees every week.

The city built every phase of its Civic Center parking plan on its announced schedule and opened its community pool on 11 April 2026. More is tracked on aging buildings and how Piedmont pays for them, school-area parking and Moraga Avenue crossings and the pool and the Play School building, with 19 open issues in all.

Sidewalks and curb ramps waiting for repair

Curb ramps are the sloped cuts that let wheelchairs, walkers and strollers move between the sidewalk and the street. Six cities have entries on this. In Oakland, requests to repair damaged sidewalks and curb ramps are 72% open (1,178 of 1,641). In San Leandro, 189 of 405 sidewalk inspection requests are still open, a median of 174 days after filing. In Emeryville, sidewalks narrowed by bushes, trip hazards and standing water draw reports. Alameda residents describe uneven sidewalks where children have tripped, Berkeley residents raise broken sidewalks and hill paths, and Albany residents raised a raised curb at San Pablo Avenue and Castro Street.

Albany reports 2,333 trip hazards repaired in its 2024 cycle, Alameda reports nearly 12,000 removed since a pilot began in January 2025, and an Oakland settlement of July 2025 commits the city to repair about 78,000 damaged sidewalk locations over 25 years.

Crossings and corners where residents say drivers do not stop

Alameda has 88 reports about the crosswalk on Park Street at Clinton Avenue, and residents ask for stop signs at Broadway and Lincoln Avenue, 6th Street and Haight Avenue and others. A San Leandro resident wrote that Tudor Road and Cascade Road has been reported for 13 years. Berkeley residents point to crossings where people were killed, on Rose Street and California Street. In Oakland, about a third of resident traffic safety requests (650 of 2,009) ended as evaluated, no further action, a status that by its wording means staff planned nothing more. In a SeeClickFix report of 6 November 2025 about 67th and Hollis Streets in Emeryville, a resident wrote "I have almost got hit by a car every day." Albany residents raised crashes at Marin Avenue and Nielsen Street.

Alameda has approved red-light cameras, and Berkeley has built crosswalks, curb extensions and all-way stops on Marin Avenue.

License plate readers and where the data goes

License plate readers, cameras that record the plates of passing cars, have drawn residents to council meetings across the district, and the argument is usually about where the data can go rather than whether the cameras should exist. In Berkeley, 156 speakers came before the council rejected a larger Flock Safety contract 8 to 1 in May 2026, and the police department asked for bids on up to $2.4 million of drones, plate readers and cameras in July. Oakland approved a $2.25 million, two-year Flock contract 7 to 1 in December 2025, with merchants for it and privacy advocates against it. Albany rejected a five-year contract of up to $318,745 on 8 September 2026 after residents asked whether the data could reach outside agencies. San Leandro sent an audit of its plate readers to its civilian police review board in March 2026, Emeryville declined to take up a surveillance oversight committee, and Piedmont runs a 48-camera Flock network.

No federal standard sets how long plate data may be kept or who may search it, which is why each city writes its limits into a contract or a policy that a later council can change. Jamie Joyce personally and vehemently opposes Flock and surveillance technology in general, would rather equip police officers with other tools, and believes it is incredibly important to dismantle and delete the surveillance state. She also believes each community has the right to decide what technology is appropriate for it: if Piedmont wants to keep its cameras, that is Piedmont's choice, and in Berkeley, where residents have turned out in large numbers against Flock, she fully supports those who do not want it.

Encampments, vehicles people live in and belongings on sidewalks

Five cities have entries about tents, vehicles people live in and belongings left on sidewalks. In Berkeley, a federal judge now oversees how the city clears a site where disabled residents live. Berkeley residents filed 516 encampment complaints in twelve months, and 95% are open, along with reports of people living in RVs and belongings on sidewalks. In Oakland, encampment complaints reached 711 in August 2026 and 735 in September 2026, the two highest months in two years. Alameda neighbors on the 2500 block of Eagle Avenue have reported an encampment since September 2025. Residents of Hesperian Gardens in San Leandro describe an encampment present since December 2020. Emeryville residents reported tents under the Powell Street bridge.

San Leandro closes homeless outreach requests in a median of 3 days, and Emeryville's January 2026 count found 34 unhoused people, down from 178 in 2019.

Dumping that is cleared fast and returns to the same corners

Berkeley residents reported illegal dumping on city property 6,096 times in twelve months, and the city cleared it in a median of one day, yet it returns to the same corners. In Oakland, Fontaine Street alone has had more than 740 reports in 24 months, with 210 at 9110 Fontaine Street, and only 322 of 46,444 debris reports are open. Alameda closes dumping reports in a median of 14 days, and the same addresses come back, such as 520 Buena Vista Avenue with 25 reports. In San Leandro, three Pacific Avenue addresses have 23, 21 and 14 removal requests, though dumping reports close in about a day. Albany volunteers pulled trash out of the Albany Marsh, and Emeryville closes dumping reports in a median of 4 days.

In each of these cities the report is answered quickly, and what residents describe is the same spot filling up again.

Street trees planted slowly or marked unfunded

Berkeley's tree planting requests take a median of 168 days to close, and a $1 million federal grant that paid for planting in South and West Berkeley was terminated. In Oakland, 907 of 1,437 pruning requests carry the city's status of unfunded, which by its wording means no money is attached. In Alameda, 264 of 1,077 tree requests are open, and on 23 May 2025 a resident of Everett Street, writing in a SeeClickFix report about two large trees removed that year, asked "When will they be replaced?" San Leandro's tree trim requests have 22 open, with a median wait of 136 days. Albany has put Measure T on the 3 November 2026 ballot to raise about $775,000 a year for trees and streetlights.

Cities handle trees that have already come down quickly: Oakland has 7 of 1,105 limb-down requests open, and San Leandro closed all 180 reports of damaged trees and limbs.

Storm drains that flood the same blocks every winter

A storm drain is the grate and pipe that carries rainwater off a street. Alameda has blocks that flood each winter, including the 1500 block of Morton Street, and 46 of 151 flooding reports are open. Berkeley's storm drain at 933 Oxford Street was reported nine times in twelve months. Oakland requests about water pooling in a street are 97% open (89 of 92). In San Leandro, a December 2025 request says Tiffany Road floods in front of three houses up to the height of the curb. Albany residents raised ponding water at San Pablo Avenue, and an Emeryville resident reported standing water on Powell Street all winter. Piedmont lists storm drains among its unfunded repairs.

Berkeley clears storm drain reports in a median of 3 days, and Oakland has 46 of 1,156 sewer blockage requests open.

Requests that stay open or close without a fix

An Elmwood resident over 80 told Berkeley that her repair request was closed two days later with nothing fixed. In Oakland, 9,538 requests sit in the status of referred, meaning they were passed to another agency, and requests filed as complex rarely show as closed. San Leandro residents on Washington Avenue wrote that graffiti reports were closed without action. In Emeryville, 210 reports were never marked as received. In Alameda, 872 of 1,014 street safety reports are open, including red curb requests that wait a year. A status does not say whether anyone visited, so some of these may have been looked at, and the counts alone cannot show it.

Oakland publishes each request's status openly, which is how these counts can be checked.

Structural deficits and the November 2026 ballot

A structural deficit is a gap between ongoing spending and ongoing income that returns every year. Berkeley has a $30 million structural deficit, Oakland projects a yearly deficit of $115 million to $130 million through fiscal year 2029-30, and San Leandro projects an $11.6 million deficit over three years. On the 3 November 2026 ballot, Alameda's Measure L asks for a $300 million bond, which is borrowed money repaid from property taxes, and passes only with two-thirds of voters. Emeryville's Measure BB is a business tax, Piedmont's Measure GG is a tax paid when property changes hands, and Albany has six measures. Berkeley's ballot measures and council races are tracked too.

Federal money already in play

Some of what residents raise already involves federal dollars. Berkeley lost a $1 million federal tree planting grant, and UC Berkeley's language and area studies institutes lost about $3.5 million in federal support. Oakland applied for $13.8 million in federal Head Start funding, a federal early childhood program, to serve 449 children, which is 173 fewer places than before. Albany's homeless outreach has been supported by federal pandemic relief money that must be spent by December 2026. Alameda's hospital system faces a projected $100 million gap that the entry ties to Medicaid.

Five of the seven cities publish their service requests. The figures below cover requests filed from October 2024 through September 2026, using data from Berkeley's open data portal, Oakland's open data portal and SeeClickFix. Statuses are each city's own label, and none says whether anyone visited the spot. Oakland's data has no close dates, so no median time to close can be given for it. Berkeley's data holds only a few dozen requests a month before October 2025 and 1,300 to 1,850 a month after, so its volume covers about twelve months. Alameda, San Leandro and Emeryville use SeeClickFix, which has two meanings of open: a stricter one, reports the city never marked as received (472 in Alameda, 72 in San Leandro and 210 in Emeryville), and a broader one, reports still open or marked received but not closed. The table uses the broader one.

Albany and Piedmont do not publish their service requests. Piedmont takes them by phone and web form. For a resident of either city, that means a report goes in without a public count: there is no way to see how many neighbors reported the same corner, whether it is still open, or how long similar reports took. What we have tracked in Albany and Piedmont comes from council and commission meetings, city reports, letters and local news comments, so an item raised at a meeting or in writing is something others can read and cite.

What would show movement across the district is easiest to see in a few places. The first is whether the long-open street safety and sidewalk requests close with a change on the street, such as the 86 open reports at Park Street and Clinton Avenue in Alameda, the 189 open sidewalk inspection requests in San Leandro and the 1,178 open sidewalk requests in Oakland.

The second is whether the corners that dumping returns to see fewer reports, starting with Fontaine Street in Oakland and the California Street and King Street corners in Berkeley.

The third is the 3 November 2026 vote. Alameda's Measure L, Emeryville's Measure BB, Piedmont's Measure GG and Albany's six measures will show how residents weigh the cost of the repairs they ask for.

The fourth is roads that belong to the state. San Pablo Avenue is a Caltrans road in Albany and in Emeryville, East 14th Street is a state route in San Leandro, and the Jackson Street ramp in Oakland is Caltrans property, so fixes there depend on the state as well as the city.

The fifth is whether trees marked unfunded in Oakland and waiting in Berkeley get money for planting and pruning.

Several federal programs recur. Safe Streets and Roads for All is a federal grant program for projects that reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries, and it fits crossings and corners such as those in Alameda, Berkeley and San Leandro. Transportation Alternatives is federal money for walking, biking and crossing projects, usually passed through the regional transportation agency, and it fits sidewalks, curb ramps and paths such as the Ohlone Greenway. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund is a federal and state loan program for sewer and stormwater work, and it fits storm drains that flood the same blocks. Continuum of Care is federal money for housing and services for people experiencing homelessness, applied for through the county. A direct appropriation request is a line item a member of Congress can ask for in the federal budget for one local project, and it fits problems that are mostly about money, such as the roughly $11 million estimate to fully reopen Lake Chabot Road in San Leandro, the $800,000 a year Piedmont is short for street repair, or the $290 million of shoreline work Alameda has identified, of which $26.45 million is secured.

Money is usually on the table depending on the cost, and a direct request could cover all or part of a project. The priorities belong to each city and its residents. A congressional office would work with the cities rather than arrive with a list. If there is something in your city you would put first, tell us.

Each city's entries draw on letters to the council and public comment at meetings, local news and the comments readers leave, and the cities' own request data. Quotations are word for word. Only open issues are listed, and an item leaves when it is resolved. Entries are updated as things move.