By Sarah Ravani

During her final state of the city address, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf decried how rising violent crime is devastating the city. As if to underscore her point, during her speech, two women were shot half a mile away while a police helicopter buzzed overhead.

“The news this year is tragic,” Schaaf said. “It’s disturbing.”

Schaaf’s speech Wednesday, in which she also hit on homelessness and the rising cost of living, comes as the city sees another violent year with a spike in homicides and as voters are increasingly concerned about gun violence. Oakland recorded more homicides in 2021 than in any year since 2012 and is on track for a similarly high number this year.

Schaaf’s comments came the same day as a poll from the Oakland Chamber of Commerce also found that respondents were overwhelmingly concerned with gun violence — 97% said it’s an extremely or very serious problem, and 88% said the same about crime.

In less than a month, voters will select a new mayor to lead the city as Schaaf terms out of office and as the poll shows that the percentage of voters who feel less safe in the city is at an all-time high. Ten candidates are vying for the position, with one poll showing Council Members Loren Taylor and Sheng Thao in the lead. Both candidates have said public safety is a major issue they’re focused on while touting slightly different plans to connect with voters. Their difference rests on the size of the police force, with Taylor committing to hiring more officers than Thao.

Their plans come as voters become increasingly critical of the police department, with the latest poll showing 42% of respondents say police are doing a poor job compared to 20% who say they’re doing a good job. But the majority — at 59% — agree that the department’s staff should increase.

In addition to gun violence, Oakland is grappling with skyrocketing homelessness. The city’s homeless population has increased by 24% over the past three years — from 4,071 in 2019 to 5,055 in 2022.

Schaaf said the toll of the pandemic is clear — on mental health, a “sense of lawlessness” and the “proliferation of guns.” But she said she believes the city can turn a corner when it comes to violence and that the city has already made strides in addressing homelessness.

“We all know that the greatest challenges in this year ... in Oakland and indeed in the entire country are crime, homelessness and the rising cost of living,” Schaaf said.

Schaaf made her remarks at Casa Arabella, an affordable housing development in the city’s Fruitvale district. No members of the City Council attended the event.

Her comments came just hours after the Oakland Chamber of Commerce released a poll showing voters are largely dissatisfied with the city — 64% of the poll’s respondents said they felt the city was headed in the wrong direction. That dissatisfaction also extended to the city’s leadership — 42% of the poll’s respondents rated Schaaf’s performance poorly.

Schaaf said she believes one of the main solutions in addressing public safety concerns is Ceasefire, the city’s flagship anti-violence program, which partners with law enforcement, local clergy and nonprofits. During the pandemic, the program largely went silent as much of its work became remote and the program lost staffing.

But earlier this year, officials said it was boosting its staffing and increasing efforts to combat violence.

On Wednesday, Schaaf said Oakland needs a comprehensive public safety approach that focuses on prevention, intervention and enforcement. She said the pastors, healers, social workers, police, prosecutors, investigators, life coaches and violence interrupters have “made a profound difference in Oakland.”

In addition to gun violence and crime, the chamber’s poll also found that 97% of respondents said homelessness is either an extremely or very serious problem.

Schaaf said when she entered office, there were no comprehensive strategies to combat homelessness. In the past eight years, Schaaf said she’s quadrupled the number of shelter beds in the city — Oakland has nearly 600 city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabins and 147 RV safe parking spaces and 353 city-funded transitional shelter beds.

In addition, Schaaf said the city built more than 19,000 homes over the past eight years.

“This is the biggest housing building boom that Oakland has ever had since the 1906 earthquake,” Schaaf said. “That is impressive.”

She said the city is on track to build 4,700 more affordable homes by 2024.

Despite the building boom, Schaaf’s critics have lamented that the city has lagged on its affordable housing goals. In the city’s housing element from 2015 to 2023, which lays out how a city will plan for new homes, Oakland reached 174% of its goal for above-moderate-rate housing. But the city reached 43% of its very-low-income housing goals, 26% of its low-income housing and 3% of its moderate-income housing goals.

Schaaf acknowledged that the city must build more affordable housing.

“The only real solution to homelessness is housing,” she said as the audience clapped.

Schaaf declined to give details on what she will do next, but said she plans to remain in public service.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as your mayor, thank you,” Schaaf said to a standing ovation.

Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani

“This is the biggest housing building boom that Oakland has ever had since the 1906 earthquake. That is impressive.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf