Some people ask why is it called the East Bay Citizen when all you cover is San Leandro? To which the answer is, “one step at a time, my friends.”

The purpose of The Citizen is to serve the areas of the East Bay that are severely under reported by the local media. The reasons your daily newspaper is sparse devoid of insight or context is either because of financial constraints leading to cutbacks in the newsroom or general dereliction of civic duty (that is the polite way of saying it). San Leandro, along with Castro Valley and Alameda are some of the areas lacking local coverage. Another is the city south of San Leandro.

Starting this week, The Citizen will add Hayward to its political bull’s eye. I promise the same type of aggressive, populist view of the city through the prism of city hall as we have accomplished in San Leandro. A quick reconnaissance mission on the Hayward power structure reveals an interesting mix of personalities, political aspirations and issues similar to its East Bay neighbors. I also sing karaoke at the bar across the street from Hayward City Hall! Born to Run, anyone?

As a familiarity of the issues and politicians of Hayward become clear, The Citizen hopes to explore Hayward’s burgeoning ethnic minorities as they gain power and the city’s desire to transform its downtown into a destination spot during times of economic anxiety. The latter ties directly to San Leandro as it strives to accomplish the same plan with its own downtown.

The mission statement of The Citizen is clear. The residents of San Leandro and now Hayward will know what their elected leaders think and feel on the issues confronting their community. More precisely, if they slip up, they will no longer be able to hide behind the void of local news coverage. I urge you tell the residents of Hayward to join the revolution in hyper local media and read the East Bay Citizen and tell Hayward Mayor Michael Sweeney to give San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos a call so he knows what’s in store.

Steven Tavares
The Citizen