Vanessa Rancaño: [00:01:28] So it was at the northern edge of the city, sort of near the border with American Canyon. In what appears to have been basically a field or along the edge of this empty land right off of Broadway.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:01:54] What exactly were they cleaning? I guess what did the city of Vallejo say they were doing?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:02:01] They described it as an illegal dumping site and they said that a public works crew was out there doing a cleanup. So really all the city acknowledged at the time was that on the morning of December 24th this public works crew was out there doing this cleanup and they came across a body. Officials said that the city was investigating this incident and that the employees involved we’re getting some supportive services. and then the Solano County Coroner’s Office at the time also told reporters that they were investigating. But that’s basically all we knew.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:02:42] Yeah, it seemed like a sort of incomplete picture at the time. And that was sort of the official story that the city had given on this cleanup. But how much time passes until we actually learn anything new? And what did we learn?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:03:01] Right, so about two months later at the end of February, the city announced that a man had in fact been killed during that trash cleanup. The coroner’s office identified him as a 58-year-old black man named James Oakley II, and determined that he died of blunt force trauma, likely caused by heavy machinery. It also became clear at that point that Oakley was unhoused. Local homeless advocates said that they knew him as someone who had been homeless in the city for many years and had lived in the area where that public works crew was doing the trash cleanup. We also learned at that point that the police department’s investigation didn’t find any indication that there was an intent to cause harm. and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office found that there wasn’t enough evidence to file criminal charges. The city manager at that point referred to this as a, quote, tragic accident and said that the city sent its deepest condolences to the family of the deceased.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:04:21] And I mean, obviously, this was just shocking information to hear. It sort of really changes and changed, I think, what a lot of people understood and knew about this cleanup and what had actually happened. And you, from there as a reporter, made a couple of records requests, right? What records did you get and what exactly did they show?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:04:49] Yeah, we started submitting public records requests at that point for records from the coroner’s office, the police department, other city departments, really in hopes of piecing together what had happened. We’re still waiting on the city to get back to us on multiple fronts, but what we were able to get was the death investigation report and autopsy report from the coroner’s office. I think one of the most significant revelations is the fact that Oakley was seen alive the same morning that he was killed. According to the death investigation report, waste collection workers with this private company, Recology, told police that they had been at the site earlier that morning to pick up trash, but they decided not to pick up the trash when they saw a man there with the stuff. When the Vallejo Public Works crew got there to clear the trash later that morning, They reported seeing a mattress covered with a tarp. along with some tote bags, a shopping cart, and bags of trash. And the workers reported that they kicked this mattress and called out to ask if anybody was there. And when they didn’t get a response, they started clearing the items without lifting this tarp that was covering the mattress. The backhoe operator then went ahead and used the front bucket on this machine to crush the mattress and sort of scoop it up. Between this investigation and the autopsy, the coroner’s office determined that Oakley was killed when the backhoe crushed him and this mattress that he was lying on.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:06:52] I mean, Vanessa, the details of this story and of this death investigation are just like horrifying to hear. But what do we know about the man who was killed, James Oakley?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:07:08] He was 58 at the time of his death. He’d grown up in American Canyon and it sounds like he had been living in this area sort of on the border between Vallejo and American Canyon for some time. We know from old newspaper articles and court records and friends that he was a star athlete In high school, in the 80s, we played football, basketball, baseball. wrestled. But later on, he struggled with drug addiction and served time in prison for manslaughter at one point and then for drug charges as well.
Sean O’Malley: [00:07:51] I met him. I knew his girlfriend at the time. This is probably a year and a half ago.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:07:58] I talked to a man named Sean O’Malley, and O’Malley himself is unhoused and has been for many years in Vallejo. He’s also one of the leaders of the Vallejo Homeless Union.
Sean O’Malley: [00:08:11] He’s a big guy, like a gentle giant guy, man. You know, they try to paint this narrative of him. I mean, he did go to prison years ago. I didn’t know him as that. I knew him later, you know what I mean?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:08:19] He first met Oakley a couple of years ago, he said, when his car broke down in the middle of the road and Oakley offered him a jump.
Sean O’Malley: [00:08:30] And he come with his truck, he used to have a jeep, like a red jeep, and he gave me a jump. And I thought it was really cool. Like, you know, I didn’t even know him.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:08:37] The two of them went on to play dice together. He said they played these weekly dice games.
Sean O’Malley: [00:08:42] He always accused me of cheating. He said my dice were loaded because he’s always lost. I was just better, that’s all. You know what I mean? Sore loser, but I am too, so I can’t fault him for that.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:08:51] He said that Oakley was living in this shed in a parking lot adjacent to the field where he was killed. That’s not something that we were able to confirm, but I was out there and I saw that shed.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:09:05] What else did Sean tell you about his reaction to what happened to his friend? I mean, I’m sure he was shocked and horrified to hear the details of this cleanup.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:09:18] Yeah, he was immensely critical of the city.
Sean O’Malley: [00:09:22] You know, it’s definitely incompetence. Most definitely on the city’s part. Is it criminal incompetence? I don’t know, but it’s definitely incompetence. That’s for sure.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:09:30] He described it as careless, reckless, and negligent.
Sean O’Malley: [00:09:35] You know, somebody should be held accountable, you know, most definitely. I mean, okay, an accident, but an accident due to negligence, completely. That kind of accident does not happen. That scooper should never touch the person, ever, period. Shouldn’t even get near a person. Shouldn’t be within 20 feet of somebody.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:09:56] What other reactions have you seen from unhoused folks in Vallejo?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:10:02] Last week, advocates held a protest and vigil for Oakley in front of Vallejo City Hall.
Speaker at the vigil: [00:10:11] You know, we are here today to uphold brother James, who was brutally killed by state-sponsored violence.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:10:20] There were a couple dozen people out there. They were burning cobalt, there was drumming, there were a number of different speakers.
Speaker at the vigil: [00:10:31] We pray that Brother James is in the spirit world with those that love him, getting all the love and hugs that he deserves, that his family has peace right now because we know they’re suffering his loss. Our hearts go out to them.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:10:52] They called on the city to reconsider its approach to handling homeless encampments. And in some cases, advocates were calling for an all-out freeze on sweeps. What they were arguing is that while this death may not have been intentional, it is, in their eyes, the logical end result of policies and practices and rhetoric. that they say dehumanizes homeless people and encourages what they describe as a sort of violence in the form of encampment sweeps. And they were out there really warning that there will be more deaths if things don’t change.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:11:42] Coming up, how the city of Vallejo responded to James Oakley’s death. Stay with us.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:11:57] Well, it seems like there’s a lot of focus then on Vallejo’s policies around homelessness. Has the city or any city official said anything since all of this information has come out?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:12:13] I had been reaching out to the city council, to the mayor, to other officials, and heard nothing except for a very brief statement from the city manager. But last week, the mayor did call for a special council meeting to talk about homelessness broadly. And so that finally happened this Tuesday.
Mayor Andrea Sorce: [00:12:35] I want the community, we haven’t spent enough time on this issue, and so I want the community to say what needs to be said. We have a lot of speakers, so we’re going to be, you know, listening to speakers, and I think that’s an important part of this process.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:12:47] The mayor, Andrea Sorce, framed this as a forum for the council to hear from the community. And she opened by highlighting that the city has new leadership. So the city council has four new members who were elected in November, including Sorce herself.
Mayor Andrea Sorce: [00:13:05] I think we’re really ready to tackle this, and that was what I was hoping to do tonight is really start developing effective policy and having this council take the leadership on the issue and get going on this.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:13:16] So she encouraged folks to say whatever they wanted at this meeting, but really to bring any ideas that they have forward about how to handle this.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:13:28] And what did you hear from public comment at this meeting? What was sort of the range of, I guess, feelings and requests that folks brought to the council?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:13:39] There was some anger and some angst and a lot of frustration.
Public Comment: [00:13:45] These sweeps have got to stop, man. They’re ungodly. They kill not only humans, animals, but the planet.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:13:55] Unhoused people who had been through sweeps talked about the trauma that they experienced. They talked about losing all their belongings in some cases.
Public Comment: [00:14:06] The current policies of the city of Vallejo are inhumane and violate the basic human rights that should be granted to everyone with or without shelter.
Public Comment: [00:14:15] I don’t want to be unhoused. I’ve never wanted to be unhoused. The sweeps don’t work. You take my stuff, throw it away. I used to have an RV. You took it. Now I live in a pickup truck. There’s gotta be a better way.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:14:31] Residents talked about frustration with encampments. People talked about feeling threatened by unhoused residents with severe mental health issues.
Public Comment: [00:14:46] My wife was rudely harassed in my presence by a disturbed homeless man outside of the St. Vincent’s Hill Neighborhood Associations meeting downtown. I’m dedicated to Vallejo, but these experiences will scare many away.
Public Comment: [00:15:00] Legal camping, the trash, the filth, the toxic smoke, the drug use, and criminal behavior cannot be tolerated in this cash-strapped city. Finally, I must stand up for an innocent Public Works employee who was doing his job clearing an illegal dump site.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:15:18] Unhoused residents and their advocates and then housed residents and business owners. What they all had in common was a real sense that the status quo is totally unacceptable and that there’s been a real lack of leadership and the city needs to step up.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:15:46] What came out of this meeting beyond council members hearing from the public? I mean, does the city have anything to say about what it’s going to do to make sure this kind of thing, like what happened to James Oakley, doesn’t happen again?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:16:04] Yeah, it was interesting because this incident was the subtext, I think, of this whole conversation. And while several members of the public brought it up explicitly, the council members themselves did not address it at all. It was only at the very end of the meeting that Mayor Source adjourned in honor of James Oakley. It was quite a long meeting. It didn’t end until midnight. And the council members at that point said it was too late to make any productive decisions. What they did agree to do was pick up the conversation again on April 1st. And in the meantime, they directed staff barring some sort of imminent public health issue to pause encampment sweeps. One thing Sean O’Malley told me that he is working on with other advocates is a slate of guidelines to give the city around how to handle encampment removals and debris cleanups. So examples of recommendations that he gave me include providing dumpsters so that garbage doesn’t pile up.
Sean O’Malley: [00:17:24] It costs a lot to do debris removal. If they put a dumpster out there, it costs about $600 a month. And the bathrooms, they should be able to subsidize the bathrooms like porta-parties and stuff at every camp.
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:17:34] And he said that they are planning to meet with city officials in the coming weeks to go over this stuff.
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:17:45] And I guess it remains to be seen as well how what happened to James Oakley changes or doesn’t change the city’s policy around encampment sweeps?
Vanessa Rancaño: [00:17:59] Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think that’s one of the things that we’re all going to be watching for. And how do city leaders navigate the pressure coming from advocates in the wake of this incident alongside the continued pressure that they’re facing from housed residents who are deeply frustrated with the situation. So it will be interesting to see how the city navigates that.
