EDITORIAL – Students should have voice in Oakland cleanup

Since they began the “Redd up Pittsburgh” campaign a year ago, our city and University… Since they began the “Redd up Pittsburgh” campaign a year ago, our city and University officials have promised cleaner, safer Oakland housing – and to an extent, they have followed through on their promise.

Last week, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg participated in the latest installment of the campaign, taking a whirlwind tour of South Oakland, inspecting buildings and claiming that the “get tough” strategy appears to be working.

This is the second Oakland tour for the mayor-chancellor team since May, and according to the Post-Gazette, there is statistical evidence that there has been a tangible amount of progress.

As a PR move, last week’s Oakland blitz couldn’t have gone better. Media crews – and a sizeable posse of building inspectors and other city officials – followed the mayor and chancellor around Ophelia Street and Joe Hammer and Kennett squares, knocking on doors, talking with tenants, passing out leaflets and handing out citations for building violations.

But in reality, while city and University leaders have made a commendable effort at improving student housing conditions, the Oakland housing project still has a long way to go.

According to the Post-Gazette, the majority of the 85 citations issued last week were for debris and overgrown weeds. Clean sidewalks and porches are great – but we’re a little more concerned about violations inside the properties.

To make things worse, our city’s media outlets have continually overemphasized Pitt students’ accountability for the slum-like conditions in Oakland, perpetuating the idea that Oakland’s condition has deteriorated over the years because students inhabit the properties.

Of course students have to hold some of the accountability for littered streets and vandalized property – we’ve all seen South Oakland on a Sunday morning – but we can’t forget who the real victimizers in this situation are: the landlords.

Oakland property owners are notorious for taking advantage of students, the mindset being that because we are students we should accept property that is in many cases filthy, dangerous and in violation of city building codes.

And what incentive do we have to take care of properties that we don’t own if the landlords appear not to care?

In order to make real, tangible changes in Oakland, city officials and media outlets need to crack down on landlords. And more importantly, we as students need to get involved, to understand our rights and to report violations when we see them – because as long as we continue to accept these conditions, landlords will continue to market the status quo.

We hope that Ravenstahl and Nordenberg continue their campaign but make sure to emphasize student well-being as their No. 1 priority –