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Oakland residents ask for the arrest and prosecution of individuals over SunCal Oak Knoll hazards
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Updated, 5:50pm: Alameda County D.A. responds shortly after publication.
On Monday, the Oak Knoll Coalition, which says they represent over 2,500 homes and 6,000 Oakland residents concerned about fire and safety hazards at the SunCal Oak Knoll Naval Hospital redevelopment project, sent a letter to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, asking the D.A. to "investigate this case and take appropriate action to the full extent of the law."
The letter, signed by residents and representatives of seven different neighborhood associations (listed below) nearby to Oak Knoll are referring to a City of Oakland "order to abate" hazards at Oak Knoll which was sent earlier this year to SunCal Oak Knoll LLC in Irvine California, and SunCal's local office in Oakland. The destination street address on the letter is the same as that for SunCal Companies, the parent developer of the Oak Knoll project. SunCal has tacitly admitted that no action has been taken since the order was issued on June 12, 2009.
Last week, Donald Mitchell of the Sequoyah Hills/Oak Knoll Neighborhood association sent a similar letter to Ms. O'Malley asking for "the arrest and immediate prosecution of various specific persons...in connection with their illegal activity at the former Oak Knoll Naval Hospital property." That letter was signed by Mr. Mitchell alone and asserted that SunCal Oak Knoll LLC, attorney's for Lehman Brothers and the bankruptcy trustee for Lehman Brothers were guilty of illegal dumping and causing a public nuisance at Oak Knoll by continuing to ignore the order to abate.
Also on Monday, SunCal issued a statement announcing that it has obtained approval from the bankruptcy court judge to use $500,000 of Lehman's money for security guards, fence repairs and weed abatement at the site. That statement followed an announcement on October 8th by SunCal that they had reached "a stipulation" with the bankruptcy trustee to allocate the money. However, at press time, residents living near Oak Knoll confirmed that there are still no security guards at the site, and a SunCal spokesperson was unable to produce on request evidence of the judge's order, which SunCal said was made last Thursday. Further, a search of the bankruptcy court online record keeping system produced no evidence of the order either.
Repairing the fence ineffective
Court documents do show, however, that in an October 9, 2008 letter to Lehman Brothers, SunCal explained that repairing fences at the site is an ineffective exercise as "The fence [at Oak Knoll] is cut open 5 to 10 times per week. While the police have arrested a few people, they have not been prosecuted and often return to the site in hours.” It's unclear for how long the $500,000 would fund enough security guards to completely seal the perimeter of the 167 acre site. And previously, both the City of Oakland and Mr. Mitchell dismissed the $500,000 amount as not nearly coming close to the several millions of dollars required to demolish over ninety "tinderbox buildings," abate hazardous materials, clean up the "trash dump conditions" and clear "overgrown, fire-prone vegetation" at the site.
Nancy O'Malley, newly installed in the D.A.'s office, lives in Alameda, where SunCal recently certified a ballot initiative for a vote next year on their Alameda Point Revitalization Initiative. SunCal's Pat Keliher, who is in charge of the Alameda Project, was the addressee in SunCal's Oakland office for the June "Order to Abate" letter from the City of Oakland.
I've asked O'Malley to comment on the letters and whether or not she plans to pursue an investigation and await a response.
Update: Response from Ms. O'Malley: "Yes, I have received letters from individuals about the SunCal/Lehman property and we are looking into it."
Oakland Homeowner Association groups that signed the October 19th letter:
Parkridge Estates Homeowner Association
Hillcrest Estates Improvement Association
Sequoyah Hills Homeowners Association
Sequoyah Hills/Oak Knoll Neighborhood Association
Associated Residents of Sequoyah Highlands
Sequoyah Heights Homeowner Association
Oak Knoll Neighborhood Improvement Association
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