Strengthening Code Enforcement for Safer Housing

As rents increase in Oakland, more residents are living in buildings that are noncompliant with municipal codes and safety standards. The city has enacted policies to increase staffing and improve technology for building inspections and code enforcement. The mayor also issued an executive order that calls for working with building owners to bring buildings to code — rather than shutting down buildings occupied by residents — unless there is an immediate threat to safety. To balance the priorities of safety and affordable housing, the city’s Planning & Building Department is working to apply modern technology to its growing number of open cases and code violations.

To support this work, FUSE executive fellow Sean Hickey will identify how best to modify the city’s existing case management software to support code enforcement and make pertinent information available to the public.

ALICIA D. POLAK has 15 years of experience driving operations and building and scaling organizations, with a focus on meeting business objectives while addressing such issues as societal change, employability, and sustainable development. She specializes in change and project management, marketing, organizational development, supply chain, and logistics, and has worked for Merrill Lynch and BlackRock. She also teaches social entrepreneurship at The Wharton School, founded Kreate Advisors to advance social entrepreneurship, and founded The Khayelitsha Cookie Co., one of South Africa’s longest, continuously running social enterprises. A Fulbright Scholar, Alicia received a B.A. in journalism from New York University, an MBA from the University of Cape Town, and an MPA and MBA from the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Alicia D. Polak

2019-2021 | City of Oakland - Planning and Building Department

Join our mailing list