If you want to support the Oakland Pothole Vigilantes, here’s their official GoFundMe & Instagram.
Two Oakland residents who’ve been filling potholes on their own for the better part of a month are finally getting the financial support they deserve. Preferring to remain anonymous, the two contacted local news to get the word out that they need money to continue their good work.
Here’s, as promised, are the links to their fundraising and official social media pages.
Since the GoFundMe went up, the duo raised close to $2,000 as of this writing of their $50,000 goal. The pace of donations since their recent media coverage uptick is surely helping. Just check out a couple posts from their most recent work below.
It goes without saying but potholes are a big problem in Oakland. Just recently the Chronicle reported that Oakland is finalizing plans to roll out their $100 Million pothole program aimed at fixing potholes first targeting low-income neighborhoods as a priority.
The way Oakland used to fix potholes was doling out whatever money they had for public works fixing the “main arteries” of the city before tackling local neighborhoods and often missing the poorer neighborhoods.
These Pothole vigilantes actions clearly say that the slow wheels of government need to move faster and so they’ve taken the job into their own hands.
In response to these pothole vigilantes, Oakland Public Works reiterated to SF Gate that, of course, they can’t officially endorse their work. Safety is priority number one and, without the experience of seasoned pothole fillers, these vigilantes are literally risking life and limb.
Then again, looking at their posts, these two are working under the cloak of darkness with traffic at a minimum.
Oakland’s official way to report potholes is through their 311 program. According to a press release when the program was launched,
“Even in cases where residents have reported issues before and not seen the changes they requested, the City is encouraging them to keep reporting. With finite resources the City cannot always respond immediately to every request – but every complaint is tracked, and the more data City leaders have about where residents’ issues are located, the better they can organize City resources to tackle long-term issues.”
If these two men want to continue doing the good work they’re doing, I applaud their efforts and support them, no doubt.
Watching exactly one video on the proper way to fill potholes, these guys are pretty much spot on in their technique. You’ll have to view their Instagram stories but they go through how they fill them. Pretty much you clean the hole, tamp the loose area, fill it, retamp and maybe drive over your new asphalt.
What do you think of these late-night pothole banditos? Do you think they’ll realize just how big a task they have before them? Let me know your .02 in the comments below.
Source: SF Gate
