Lee told ABC7 Eyewitness News that an announcement is expected soon regarding her "sanitation-first" policy, which is designed to address cleanliness and safety concerns throughout the city.
"We have to move in a new way to make sure every neighborhood clean and safe and my goal is to make Oakland the cleanest safest city in the country," Lee said.
The proposal draws inspiration from a similar program in Portland, Oregon. Under Lee's plan, unhoused residents would be paid to clean areas around encampments.
"I established the Office of Homeless Solutions so we're looking at out-of-the-box kind of solutions that are working in other areas to try to put pilots here in our own city to see if it works," Lee said.
Lee first announced the sanitation-first strategy earlier this year. The proposal drew immediate pushback from some City Council members. An ordinance later passed allowing city workers to immediately sweep encampments without requiring alternate shelter.
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Councilmember Noel Gallo said encampments continue to create challenges for neighborhoods and businesses.
"The law here in Oakland is very clear you cannot do an encampment around a school, or business or major neighborhood area and there is no excuse to allow that to happen," Gallo said.
Gallo pointed to the area around Economy Lumber as an example of the impact encampments can have on businesses.
"I'm here with Economy Lumber; it's a growing business they are trying to rebuild it due to the fact they had a major fire that was created- we had homeless on the railroad side; I have homeless on the other side of High Street, I have homeless on this side right in front of Public Works," Gallo said.
John Bacon, president of Economy Lumber Company of Oakland, said while they are not sure exactly the cause of the fire, the company is rebuilding and has faced added costs related to nearby encampments.
"We are in the process of rebuilding. We love Oakland we want to stay in Oakland," Bacon said.
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Bacon said dealing with encampments has been difficult for the business, citing the need to hire armed security.
"Homeless are a problem, and I don't know what the solution is and I don't know if I agree with what the mayor's talking about doing, but I am really interested in solving that problem," Bacon said.
Some residents living in encampments expressed support for the mayor's proposal.
"I think it's a good idea. I don't think they should bend on it, and if they plan to do it they should do it as soon as possible," said Lee, who lives in an encampment.
Asked why the proposal is a good idea, Lee said: "It's good for the community. It makes it look better, and they might bring in more money if it's cleaner, and I would imagine the cleaner it is, the less homeless will come in and make it more filthy."
Mayor Lee said she is confident the city will move forward with a pilot project but did not provide a specific timeline. She said additional details will be announced soon.