California Governor's Involvement in Homeless Encampment Issue
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been reported to have given preferential treatment to his sports superstar friend, former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, after the athlete complained about a homeless encampment near his family's home in Oakland. This revelation came from a detailed report that highlights the governor's intervention in the matter.
The encampment appeared on Dover Street in North Oakland in early 2024 when a camper, an RV, and an SUV were parked there. The area is close to Lynch's grandmother's home. Neighbors had repeatedly reported the illegal parking to the city's antisocial behavior hotline 311 for several months. On May 22, the vehicles' owners were notified they had been in violation of city parking laws for more than 72 hours and needed to leave.
Six days later, Leigh Hanson, who was then the chief of staff for former Oakland mayor Sheng Thao, sent text messages to two city officials regarding the encampment and mentioned Newsom's name. She wrote that the Governor's office was requesting support to resolve the issue promptly.
Hanson also informed Oakland lawmakers that "several campers" were doing "questionable things" after taking over the area. Newsom and Lynch have a long-standing friendship, and they co-hosted a weekly podcast called Politickin with their friend and agent Doug Hendrickson since July 2024.
Lynch, an Oakland native, graduated from high school in the Bay Area city and attended Cal Berkeley for college. In 2017, he hosted a party at the home in question to celebrate signing with the Oakland Raiders.
The text message exchanges from Newsom's office were released as part of a public records request for the FBI's investigation into Thao, who is accused of bribery and corruption. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to stand trial in October this year.
Messages disclosed as part of the record request show that Hanson followed up by reiterating that Newsom's office had contacted them again. She also mentioned visiting the encampment and seeing pit bulls roaming the area.
It was unclear how the issue concerning Lynch's home reached Newsom's office. Johnson, the city administrator, offered to clear the area with encampment clearance teams and animal control. He also suggested working with the city's fire department on an emergency closure to allow fire access to permanent structures.
Meanwhile, Duffey quipped that he would head over to the encampment in his "Bat mobile" to take a look. There was no further discussion about the encampment after that.
Johnson resigned on Sunday after inappropriate texts to Duffey about female colleagues were revealed as part of the public records request.
Duffey left his role in Oakland last September and became Brentwood's city manager two months later. A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor's office had to "repeatedly step in, across the city, because the former mayor wasn't moving with any urgency."
Oakland spokesperson Jean Walsh stated that the city did not take any steps to remove the encampment in June 2024. Instead, the homeless individuals relocated to nearby lots controlled by California's Department of Transportation in August that year.
The Oakland Fire Department said they had not been asked by city leaders to begin any encampment closures, as implied in one of Johnson's text messages. Real estate developers had also been pushing officials to clear the encampment.
This is not the first time that Newsom has intervened on behalf of Lynch, though under different circumstances. In 2012, Lynch faced disciplinary actions from the NFL after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. At the time, Newsom, then the lieutenant governor of California, called league commissioner Roger Goodell to vouch for Lynch.
"For him to take the time out to talk to the commissioner about me is something I will never forget," Lynch said at the time. "For Gavin to be the second-most powerful person in California and [still] talk to a kid from Oakland and help me learn about business, it tells you what kind of character he has."
Lynch ultimately pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and received two years of probation as part of the plea deal. The Daily Mail has reached out to Newsom's office and Lynch's agent Hendrickson for further comment.
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