Here's another shot that shows the vehicle up on the sidewalk.

From my experience you're going to get a quicker response reporting this to OPD's non-emergency line 777-3333, Parking Enforcement 238-3099, and Abandoned Autos 777-8622.

Parking enforcement doesn't answer its phone, and doesn't call back if you leave a message.

Since it has expired out of state plates, I reported it here: http://www.chp.ca.gov/prog/cheaters10.cgi
at the suggestion of another seeclickfixer.

City of Oakland Public Works Department referred this issue to PARKING CITATION ASSIST CENTER, service request # 518876.Please contact that department to follow-up, see “Other Helpful Links” at:
http://www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/Connect/ReportaProblem/index.htm#Links.

Here are some important City of Oakland contact points:

Abandoned Autos: (510) 777-8622 (abandoned vehicles on the public street after 3 days)

Animal Control (510) 535-5602 (live animals); (510) 535-4888 (dead animals)

Code Enforcement: (510) 238-3381 (blighted private properties, deteriorated buildings, inoperable vehicles on private property)

Drug Hotline: (510) 238-3784 (tips); (510) 777-3211 (in progress)

Parking Citations (800) 500-6484 (parking citation assistance center, pay or appeal a citation); (510) 238-3099 (enforcement)

Prostitution Hotline: (510) 238-2373 (tips); (510) 777-3211 (in progress)

Thank you.

Just a few minutes ago, I spoke to a parking enforcement officer in the neighborhood, and she told me she would ticket the vehicle and mark it for towing if it isn't moved in three days.

Thanks! I hope she follows through.

OK, it's been more than two weeks, and this junker is sill blocking the sidewalk. What does it take to get rid of it?

It's moved farther onto the sidewalk. What's taking so long? Tow it away already!

Has it even been ticketed?

Not that I can tell, it hasn't.

Sad… you and I will get a ticket if the meter is expired, yet we have RVs parked illegally all over Oakland, many with expired or stolen plates, many with people living in them and dumping garbage and human waste on out streets, and these RVs don't even get ticketed. We tell Parking Enforcement where they are, so it's not as though they don't know about them.

For nearly a month now, this unregistered vehicle has been illegally parked on the sidewalk. Is it that complicated to tag and tow it?

It's been more than a month now that this unlicensed junker has been parked on the sidewalk? Ticket and tow, anybody?

Your daily update on the scofflaws parked at 3974 Manila.

Guess what? The illegally parked RV with expired Georgia plates hasn't moved an inch.

Whose turn is it to call parking enforcement?

I just filed a report with Ca CHP/Cheaters. It would help if every one did the same.Time for the motor home to go.

I did that with the CHP weeks or months ago, with no response whatsoever.

I have reported it to the CHP twice now. It has been reported to parking enforcement and abandonedauto@oaklandnet.com multiple times.

We'll see if it gets ticketed tomorrow morning.

It appears to have been ticketed this morning for violating street sweeping. We'll have to see if anything else happens.

Well, at least that's a new development :-). Thanks for the update.

Because it has no current registration, it is ionperable as defined by the vehicle code and should just be towed.

Of course, it should be towed, but how do we get "Parking Enforcement" to actually enforce parking?

I'll ask the abandoned auto folks. They are very nice. Inoperable vehicles left on the street are considered abandoned, so...

Back in 2007-2008, Desley Brooks tried to get a "no camping/living in RVs on public streets" ordinance passed, but I don't think it was.

I've sent Abandoned Autos several emails, with photos, and they've not even responded.

They emailed me last week. I'll check back in with them. I also sent photos to Dan Kalb's office.

I sent stuff to Kalb's office too but no reply except that he followed me on Twitter (may just be coincidental).

His community outreach director Olga Bolotina emailed me because I cc'd her. She forwarded this RV issue along with another chronic RV camper in District 1 to OPD. I got an email from abandoned auto division after that, but that was last week. Haven't heard anything since.

Why should a street-sweeping ticket bother me when I can park my monster RV, with expired Georgia plates, on the sidewalk? Just TRY to tow me, PWD or Abandoned Autos!

Welcome to Oakland's KOA. Conveniently located on city streets :-(.
Maybe they are looking for a tow truck big enough to tow this house on wheels.

Why should a street-sweeping ticket bother me when I can park my monster RV, with expired Georgia plates, on the sidewalk? Just TRY to tow me, PWD or Abandoned Autos!

Parking on the sidewalk - It's not just for massive RVs. Outside 3974 Manila, everybody can do it!

Well, now we know where we can leave cars and not get ticketed.

This unregistered and illegally parked vehicle is now up on blocks.

I reported it to abandonedauto@oaklandnet.com again last week and sent another note to Dan Kalb's office saying it's still there.

Kalb's office never answered me.

I just called parking enforcement and they said they would send someone out now. Let me know if it gets ticketed.

I went by yesterday morning and early afternoon, and there's still no evidence of a ticket. Of course, it's probable the guy just rips them up with impunity.

Try Ivonne Cropp parking enforcement manager 238-6210.

It's my sidewalk, and I'll park on it if I wanna!

Ms. Cross does not return her calls.

Obviously the city is not going to go after people who can't and won't pay their tickets. I had one really quickly for overstaying a yellow zone (with no time limit marking) while working.

Ms Cropp does respond emails. Give that a try.

Yvonne Cropp
Parking Enforcement Manager
(510) 238-6210
ycropp@oaklandnet.com

Here's the latest from parking enforcement:

Thank you for reporting problem vehicles in your community. Please understand, I share your frustration about this vehicle.

Based on our 905 abandoned Auto Guidelines, at this point, this is the status, on the Motorhome. When this unit receive a complaint, we respond to investigate the vehicle....

If the vehicle has expired registration exceeding six (6) months, and has not applied for a special permit from DMV, the vehicle can be towed.
If the vehicle has current registration,(this vehicle has current registration) we will "mark and tag" I mark the pavement with yellow chalk and place an orange sticker on the windshield. After 72 hours…,

IF THE VEHICLE HAS BROKEN THE CHALK LINES, IT HAS COMPLIED. AND THE CASE IS CLOSED. Please note: we have issued citations for parking on the sidewalk.


After speaking to my supervisor, Greg Bellusa yesterday you have another option. Ms. ______, if you are willing to sign the tow authorization, I will tow the Motorhome at your request.

I hope this information is useful.

If anyone wants to talk to me about it, you can email me at eileeninoakland@gmail.com.

The vehicle's tags expired in 2012.

I know. That doesn't make any sense.

As an ex county, state and federal employee. This makes perfect sense. They really do not want to deal with the problem. Anyone willing to drop a 7 on your side bomb on them. Nothing like the press to get someones attention in a election year.

I'll email 7 on your side or orther press and ask if they want to investigate why I need to sign a tow order to get this RV moved. I also asked about two others that have been parked on other public streets since March. I think what is going on is that they don't want to address the question of homeless campers and encampments in Oakland. Some may have come from the Albany Bulb eveiction and used their 3K to buy trailers. Some came from other states during Occupy and stayed. All I know is we have an all-time high number of encampments that the city doesn't know how to handle. Thing is, If this trailer is towed, the owner/occupant will likely end up camping on the street under an overpass.

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2014/04/23/albany-bulb-eviction-lawsuit-settled-homeless-residents-to-receive-cash-payments

Wasn't it just a few years ago that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sent representatives to Oakland to look at how we handled homelessness because we had so few people living on the streets?

When I took a photograph, the vehicle's owner threatened me with profanities that this site would delete if wrote them.

Still no change, up on the sidewalk and no legal tags.

I sent an email to Parking Enforcement and cc'd Dan Kalb's office a few days ago, asking why if it does not have current registration, it is allowed to park on city streets (and sidewalk). No reply, so far.

This morning, parking enforcement called me and told me that cannot issue a ticket for a vehicle that's parked on the sidewalk if the street has no center line (which Manila does not at this point). They also cannot ticket and tow for lack of tags unless there is another violation or the vehicle has five unpaid parking tickets. They told me they would mark it for 72-hour violations and the police could then authorize a tow, but the guy could move it in the period after being marked. So it sounds as if, unless the guy makes a big mistake, he's got permanent free parking in Oakland.

It has already been more than 1400 hours since you reported.They have no problem towing local residents that been in one spot more than 72 hour in front of there own homes. Tax payer have money. There is not money in towing this out of state RV the excuses are incredible.

David, the guy is now playing whac-a-mole and moving the RV every so often. How he managed to have it parked in that same spot since May without accumulating at least 5 tickets, is shameful parking enforcement. He should have gotten that many tickets just for being parked there on street cleaning days. Sure, he began moving it a bit after the first ticket, but not before. We know he has gotten at least one ticket. Why do we get tickets if our vehicle is unregistered? Is it just that parking enforcement cannot issues tickets for expired registration? I know people whose cars have been booted for unpaid tickets for not having current registration. Permanent free camping, is more like it.

Can you please ask parking enforcement why they cannot ticket this vehicle for being unregistered. The CA Vehicle Code is clear. Is it just that THEY, Parking Enforcement, cannot issue a ticket? Must it be an actual OPD officer?

Registration Required

4000.. (a) (1)A person shall not drive, move, or leave standing upon a highway, or in an offstreet public parking facility, any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole or pipe dolly, or logging dolly, unless it is registered and the appropriate fees have been paid under this code or registered under the permanent trailer identification program, except that an off-highway motor vehicle which displays an identification plate or device issued by the department pursuant to Section 38010 may be driven, moved, or left standing in an offstreet public parking facility without being registered or paying registration fees.

V C Section 42001.8 Unregistered Vehicle

Unregistered Vehicle

42001.8. Every person convicted of an infraction for a violation of Section 4000 shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

If there is no center line on the street, meaning it's substandard width, then why is it legal to park an over-sized vehicle on that street?

It's not narrow enough to qualify, according to what I'm reading here, but read through the parking regs and see what you think:

https://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=16308&stateId=5&stateName=California

Let's look at the law: A vehicle must be currently registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles to legally be driven upon any public street or highway. Therefore, an unregistered vehicle is considered inoperable.

10.64.010 Findings and declarations.permanent link to this piece of content

In addition to and in accordance with the determination made and the authority granted by the state of California under Section 22660 of the Vehicle Code to remove abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof as public nuisances, the Council makes the following findings and declarations:

The accumulation and storage of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof on private or public property is found to create a condition tending to reduce the value of private property, to promote blight and deterioration, to invite plundering, to create fire hazards, to constitute an attractive nuisance creating a hazard to the health and safety of minors, to create a harborage for rodents and insects and to be injurious to the health, safety and general welfare. Therefore the presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or INOPERATIVE vehicle or part thereof, on private or public property, except as expressly hereinafter permitted, is declared to constitute a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

I just emailed all the usual suspects asking for clarification of the issues mentioned above.

There are actually center lines running southbound from 40th Street, but they do not reach the address and vehicle in question.

1/ Does the fact that is is an out of state plate plays here?
2/ Can the vehicle be towed if people leave in it?
I am sure they know all the loopholes, like if you leave a pet inside the vehicle so it won't be towed away...

my take is the city does not want to get into a headache with some one who can't and won't pay the tickets anyway. If they tow the rv, then you have some homeless on the street looking for another place to stay...

How about making it unlawful to park RVs on the streets of city limits? There done.

It apparently belongs to the guy who lives at 3974 Manila, so it's not a homeless issue. He's a scofflaw who threatened me for taking a photograph of it.

hum, it looks like some use RVs as extension for their house in the neighborhood too...

A ban on parking RVs on city streets was proposed and shot down in 2007, as I recall. This is what SF has done:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/overnight-parking-ban-for-rvs-expanded-in-sf/Content?oid=2721295

This is what San Diego has done:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Jul/08/sd-bans-overnight-rv-street-parking/

On further inspection, the street does have lines, so there would seem to be no reason they can't tag the RV for being on the sidewalk.

The person is charge of this issue is Yolanda, tel. 238-6535. If you're unconvinced by the explanations, ask her for more detail. She did return my call.

Little if anything has changed. Still atop the sidewalk.

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Wow, definitely the type of person you'd want living on your street in an RV!
I hope that you are alright and don't understand why he wasn't arrested if the police know where to find him.

Whatever happens with this situation, the path to the solution is taking way too long and needs to be more streamlined to better serve the residents that live in this city. For it to come down to someone getting hurt just shows that the system is flawed. This should be a no brainer solution that should take no more than a week to solve.

Wow! I am so sorry he injured you! I hope your ribs aren't broken. I gather from previous posts that the owner of the RV lives at 3974 Manila. Not someone you'd want as a neighbor, period.

The police inform me they have ID'd and cited the suspect, and there will be a court date in early September.

The x-rays were negative, but they're not always accurate with rib fractures. The cops cited him for misdemeanor battery, with a court date in early September. He has moved the RV into the Red Cross/Masonic parking lot again.

It didn't take him long to move the RV back onto the sidewalk. Maybe it'll take jail time to get through to this guy.

Still no valid tags or plates.

Keep sending it to CHP cheaters they towed two from my neighborhood last month. I cannot believe this is going on this long starting to look like a reality tv show.

I have filled out another CHP Cheaters report. For anyone else who wants to do so, the vehicle is a Coachmen Encounter motorhome, Georgia plates BYQ 9174, tags expired 2012. Apparent owner is Zachary Rukstela, 3974 Manila.

I did, too.

the rv is gone! what on god's green earth are you public spirited folks going to complain about now?! well, hang in there, i'm sure there's someone out there to persecute.

He gets a pass and doesn't have to register his vehicle? He can store a large, unregistered recreational vehicle on the street for months on end? Really? Do I get to park an an old unregistered car I have on the street? Am I exempt from the law, too?

It appears to be gone, and the supposed owner had to appear in court yesterday on battery charges related to the issue. On the other hand, he's hidden it a couple times before and brought it back, so this still bears watching. Perhaps the fines and attorney's fees will be a deterrent, but I remain skeptical.

There's further info on Mr. Rukstela at http://srweb.sar.dc.publicus.com/article/20131219/COMMUNITY/131219501/0/APA?p=2&tc=pg

The Alameda Country district attorney's office informs me that Mr. Rukstela failed to appear for his arraignment on Wednesday, so there is now a bench warrant out for his arrest.

WOW I can't believe all you CRAZY humans. This poor man lives in an RV legally, and you all harass him for months. I'm sorry he got so agitated that he swung at someone. Do you think he wants to live in an RV on the crack head streets of Oakland?
Yall need to get a LIFE.
Like go volunteer cuddling battered children and gain some empathy and compassion back for the world.
Or like, move out of Oakland in to the BURBS where you're neurosis is protected by your housing associations.

Thanks for fixing this issue!

Actually, David, PWD did nothing whatsoever to fix this issue. It looks as if the culprit is now on the run to avoid arrest.

Goddess, The Temescal is hardly the "crack head streets of Oakland". I don't know where that area is. Perhaps in Rush Limbaugh's mind. The owner of the RV lives in an actual dwelling on Manila, not in the RV. The RV doesn't have CA plates or current registration. That is not legal. We all have to register our vehicles and we all have to move them every 72hrs.

Sorry, Tara, but he was not living legally in the RV, which had no valid license tags. If there's a "crazy human" here, it's the guy who takes swings at innocent passersby, fails to show for a court date, and now has at least one outstanding bench warrant. In fact, he may well be that crackhead you're talking about: http://tinyurl.com/qhyn8js

I doubt he'll be missed in the neighborhood.

Well, Tara, you seem to be living in Bizarro world. The link above suggests that the individual in question may himself be the "crackhead," he failed to appear in the court, and there is now a bench warrant out for his arrest. As Eileen notes, he was NOT living LEGALLY in an RV, whose out-of-state plates had expired more than two years ago. In effect, you argue that someone who punches out passersby in the street is the victim rather than the perpetrator.

Mr. Rukstela's arraignment has been rescheduled for October 6th. Whether he'll show up or not is another question entirely.