Comprised of neighborhood residents, city and county officials, and local businesses, the West Oakland Community Action Plan (WOCAP) Steering Committee oversees and advises on implementation of the Owning Our Air community action plan.
March Recap
At our March meeting, we covered a new tree planting initiative bringing hundreds of trees to the neighborhood. Check out the meeting slides to learn more. We had a rich discussion about what to plant, and how to maintain trees: could fruit trees help combat food insecurity? What about toxins in the soil, or trip hazards from dropped fruit on the sidewalk? Could we use recycled water from EBMUD to water trees? We’ll continue to explore these questions, so keep an eye on our website for more information.
- Want a free tree where you live or work? We’re working with Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, Hyphae Design Lab, and Oakland Department of Transportation to plant trees across West Oakland. Here’s how it works:
- Fill out our interest form.
- Our tree experts will do a free planting assessment at your requested location.
- With your permission, we’ll plant your new tree if the location is eligible.
- In some cases, we may be able to cut a new tree well in your sidewalk.
- We’re putting together a coalition to help steward and maintain our trees. Volunteers, local tree experts, and organizations will develop a collective plan to help our urban forest thrive, because trees are a collective resource that we’re all responsible for caring for. We brainstormed ideas to build community investment, like putting funky, West Oakland-style signs on new trees. A couple participants emphasized that community outreach needs to be active, not passive: we should meet people where they are, at churches, schools, and community events.
- Tree planting is part of the West Oakland Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP), investing $10.5 million in our streets. STEP is funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as part of California Climate Investments, which puts Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment. We zoomed in on a couple other elements of the grant that WOEIP is helping to implement. The truck management task will use signage, enforcement, and education to keep polluting trucks out of residential areas. STEP is also paying for sidewalk repairs throughout the neighborhood.
About the committee
The WOCAP Steering Committee is comprised of neighborhood residents, independent technical advisors, city and county officials, and local business representatives. The committee has quarterly meetings open to the public.
Community
Rev. Ambrose Carroll
Resident/Green the Church
Alvirdia Owens
Resident
Robert Phillips
West Oakland Health Center
Leila Yasmin Saddat
West Oakland Health Center
Nonprofit and
technical Advisors
Richard Grow
Resident (US EPA, retired)
Brent Bucknam
Hyphae Labs/Urban Biofilter
David Wooley
UC Berkeley
Local business
Bill Aboudi
AB Trucking
Government
Laura Arreola
Alt: Amy Tharpe
Port of Oakland
Khalilha Haynes
City of Oakland
Matt Hoeft
EBMUD
Soni Johnson
Alameda County
Kevin Krewson
Caltrans
Tram Nguyen
Alt: Adriana Alvarado
Alameda County Public Health
Cathy DeLuca
Alt: Colin Piethe and Celina Chan
Oakland Dept. of Transportation
Lily Wu
CalEPA
Get involved!
Anyone can attend the monthly Steering Committee meeting! If you’d like to get more involved, joining the Steering Committee as a voting member is a wonderful opportunity for West Oakland residents and advocates to learn more and influence the fight for environmental justice in West Oakland. Email us to learn more.
Meetings & documents
Outreach Documents
Steering Committee members are encouraged to use the following documents when engaging with the public about WOCAP.
2025
March 12, 2025
At this meeting, we covered a new tree planting initiative bringing hundreds of trees to the neighborhood. We had a rich discussion about what to plant, and how to maintain trees. We went over the process to request a free tree, and our plan to create a coalition to maintain and steward our urban forest for years to come.
Meeting documents:
2024
October 2, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we heard from partners at Hyphae Design Lab about our Prescott Greening project. We have a plan to add trees and greenery to the “immediately plantable” areas of Frontage Road (where we wouldn’t have to make major changes to add plants). We also got updates on the Civil Protection of the People of Oakland Ordinance (OMC Ch. 1.10) from the City Attorney’s Office.
Meeting documents:
- Meeting slides (PDF)
September 4, 2024
August 7, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we revisited WOCAP’s original description of the West Oakland community. We looked at new health data and considered what changes this description needs 5 years later.
Meeting documents:
- Meeting slides (PDF)
July 25, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we continued to refine WOCAP strategies that have yet to make significant progress, so they’re more actionable.
June 5, 2024
Meeting documents:
- Proposed WOCAP strategy revisions (PDF)
- Meeting agenda (PDF)
- Meeting slides (PDF)
May 1, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we did a deep dive on the West Oakland Air Quality (WOAQ) monitoring network. We explored the types of monitors the network uses, went over preliminary data results, and explored potential new sites we could include in the network.
Meeting documents:
- Meeting slides (PDF)
April 3, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we brainstormed how we can encourage people to report potential violations so more West Oakland residents can take action against illegal polluting. We also discussed our plan for our five-year progress report.
Meeting documents:
- Meeting slides (PDF)
March 6, 2024
At this steering committee members-only working session, we went over how to use the WOCAP tracker to see how our strategies are making progress. We also got updates from some of our partners, including BAAQMD (Bay Area Air Quality Management District), the Port of Oakland, and the City of Oakland.
Meeting documents:
- Meeting slides (PDF)
February 7, 2024
Meeting documents:
- Meeting agenda (PDF)
- Meeting slides (PDF)
- Breakout discussion notes (Miro board)
Resources shared during the meeting:
- Frontage Road Study conducted by the City and Port of Oakland
2023
There was no meeting in Jan, Feb, July, and Nov of 2023.
December 7, 2023
Driving rain and early sunsets couldn’t keep people away from our first in-person WOCAP gathering since the pandemic. Nearly 150 people showed up to participate in our end-of-year celebration of the West Oakland Community Action Plan. We were deeply inspired by keynote speaker Christina Garcia, co-author of the AB617 legislation that sparked the West Oakland Community Action Plan, and her fight to set a new bar for community self-determination in air policy development.
We heard over and over again from attendees how much people enjoyed interacting with the many partner organizations and agency staff who we’ve collaborated with over the past several years of WOCAP work. It was a joy to share the work—and each others’ company.
October 4, 2023
September 6, 2023
Documents and resources
- Agenda (PDF) and meeting slides (PDF)
- Environmental Enforcement Cheat Sheet (PDF)
- WOEIP’s Schnitzer backgrounder and community impact survey
- Outline of CARB’s enforcement process ↗️ and it’s latest Truck Inspection Summary (PDF)
August 2, 2023
Documents and resources
- Agenda and meeting slides
- WOCAP Glossary
- List of WOCAP strategies on woeip.org (view on desktop to filter by topic)
- Strategy Updates Cheat Sheet
- Strategies Update Q2 2023 spreadsheet
June 7, 2023
Documents and resources
- Agenda and meeting slides
- Oakland General Plan: Environmental Justice Element documents
May 3, 2023
Documents and resources
- Agenda and meeting slides
- Oakland General Plan: Environmental Justice Element documents
- Environmental enforcement cheat sheet
Action items for Steering Committee members
- Steering Committee members have until Sunday, May 7 to provide final feedback on the Draft Planning Code Amendments Related to WOCAP Strategies comments that will be submitted to the City on the Steering Committee’s behalf. Please submit your feedback to Alicia Parker (aparker@baaqmd.gov).
- We will continue to discuss the WOCAP/air quality related policies at the June meeting. If you want to help us design June’s discussion/activity, please reach out to Beth Altshuler Munoz (BethAltMunoz@gmail.com).
April 5, 2023
March 1, 2023
2022
There was no meeting in August 2022
Dec. 7, 2022
Nov 2, 2022
Due to technical difficulties, this meeting’s recording is not available.
Documents
- Slides
- Meeting minutes
- Residential Electrification 101 presentation slides