HAYWARD | MAYOR | In Hayward’s even mayoral campaign, the potential front runner, Councilmember Barbara Halliday, may have given her two main challengers a significant sound bite to use against her this June when she said Hayward will never be a wealthy city.
During a League of Women’s Voters forum Wednesday in Hayward, Halliday concluded her closing statement by describing her public service to the community and a pledge to return stability to the city’s fiscal bottom line. “We need to stick to our plan,” said Halliday. “But, you know, let’s face it, we probably never will in our lifetimes be a very wealthy city like, I don’t know, Piedmont, Palo Alto. We’re Hayward. I’m proud that we’re Hayward. We have a heart and we’ve shown it.”
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| Candidates Francisco Zermeno, Mark Salinas, Barbara Halliday. |
Councilmember Mark Salinas, another candidate for mayor, quickly seized upon the comment. “I’m the only candidate up here that was born and raised in Hayward and my optimism is, quite frankly, much greater,” Salinas said in his closing statement. “I think we can be better than Piedmont. I think we can be better than Danville, San Ramon. I think we can be better than a lot of these cities that people compare us to.”
Since the exchange occurred at the end of the 45-minute forum, mayoral candidate and Councilmember Francisco Zermeno did not have an opportunity while at the dais to weigh in. Afterwards, in an interview, Zermeno said Halliday’s comments are just another instance where city leaders are disparaging Hayward, instead of focusing on its positives. “It’s disrespectful of what we can be,” Zermeno said. “But, I’m not one to be attacking.”
When Halliday was asked about her comment, which some may find minimizing to Hayward’s potential, she said. “I don’t know what I said was so horrible?” Halliday added, she was only trying to emphasize Hayward’s unique qualities and the short time frame allowed during the forum for answering questions presents a challenge for fully expressing a candidate’s thoughts. “Sometimes in a minute you can’t say everything you mean out there.”
Halliday, though, was somewhat circumspect. “Yeah, you know, maybe I shouldn’t have said it. I don’t think that what I said was anything that was sort of not something everybody realizes. So, that’s not us. We have to be Hayward.”
ebcitizen.com 
There is alot to say about this piece. When a person doesnt have faith in ones city that they are elected in it just shows lack of ideas and lack of leadership. Hayward has the Potential to be any of the great cities surrounding us or even better. It all starts with the council, then the planning department and then the City Manager. Maybe all of the above should be fired and then we start all over. We need to have district council people not a general council. Who do you blame when one sector is almost abandoned and another sector is vibrant? We dont have a council who is accountable. Nor Responsible. You have to have passion for your city, you can not keep taxing those who dont have expendable income. We needed to have that mervyns lots turned into homes. We need fresh blood in our city. Hayward can be the best , but we must stop it with all of this recteric about we cant do anything. We also need to have our general elections in November not in June. Voter turn out in June is terrible and you have the same retired voters. They vote in droves but they do not have the money to grow the city. We need to target those who are working and who have expendable income.
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Agree. What is the aircraft exemption? Why is the Hayward airport being exempted from the sales tax?
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I would like to see the ebcitizen do some research on Measure C. Compare the Oakland Tribune's editorial, Rebecca Parr's reports and Larry Johman's http://www.HeyHayward.com website on this issue. There are a lot of questions that need answers.
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Well stated…
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Please Salinas stop the big ugly sign campaign that's littering yards and streets all over Hayward. They look like graffiti.
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Funny that Salinas & Halliday both blamed the Permits Department in the City of Hayward for the vacant buildings downtown. So what has the City done about it? Back up it's employees and cite that there is a 97% satisfaction rate from their customer surveys? Of course not—they decided to close the Permit Department all day, every Friday until the end of December 2014.Essentially forcing customers to transact business 4 days a week instead of 5 (or 4.5). What do we expect from a City that imposes on its own workers. If Zermeno had voted to lift the imposition, instead of maintaining it, he would prove that he wants to bring the “heart” back to the “heart of the bay.” Maybe Salinas and Halliday should volunteer to process permits so we can get businesses downtown. No wait, they'd rather blame everyone else but themselves. Salinas & Hallliday both have bad tempers—and varying platforms that don't seem to fit Hayward's needs. Hayward has been “economically stable” enough to give Fran David and Fran Robustelli a 13% raise, while everyone else was giving up 17%+. If the City goes bankrupt, it'll be because of their crazy spending sprees. If Hayward really does listen, hear this “don't elect Barbara Halliday or Mark Salinas as mayor.”
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Zermeno is the one with outstanding ideas, the creativity and intellect needed to get things done and has a long term connection with the Hispanic community but no one else. He is the perfect candidate for Hayward.
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Barbara is just another cold-hearted white woman who may speak the truth but has no connection to the Hispanic population in Hayward. She has no optimism and hence, cannot offer us any positive outcomes if elected.
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Zermeno has my vote! He is honest, hardworking, and understands the importance of raising a family and supporting higher education! He has proven that he cares about the city over and over again. He is also a scholarship donor, a community activist, college professor, and a bilingual leader. By electing him into office, we can address the needs and concerns of the diverse population in Hayward and create change in the heart of the bay.
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The entire council is stupid and so are all the candidates for mayor and council of Hayward for supporting Measure C. No brains in Hayward. Vote for none of the above.
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Barbara Halliday's statement was stupid, stupid, stupid. You don't put down the city you want to be Mayor of…..you build up it's strong points otherwise businesses will never come here.
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Better to be honest. Hayward won't be Piedmont or Palo Alto, but it can be a unique city of good, hard working people that just want a viable downtown and a reduction in taxes, not more, which can only happen with new businesses. Wee don't need a rah rah Mayor, we one to change the culture here to business growth. Enough with the housing, get businesses.
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Better to be honest. Hayward won't be Piedmont or Palo Alto, but it can be a unique city of good, hard working people that just want a viable downtown and a reduction in taxes, not more, which can only happen with new businesses. Wee don't need a rah rah Mayor, we one to change the culture here to business growth. Enough with the housing, get businesses.
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I'll never vote for Barbara for Mayor! The problem is the other 2 viable candidates are almost as bad. Salinas seems to have a temper and appears arrogant at times, while Francisco isn't the brightest. I might vote for Zermeno though because he at least seems optimistic about Hayward and would be Hayward's best salesperson to bring business to our city.
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Very dumb thing for a candidate to say!
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By MW
In short what she said is about things that cannot be said about somethings not well said and for everything to be said of can be said will not matter to be said.
I hope that is clear. I say vote for none of the above.
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By MW:
While it is certainly possible that with a combination of hard work, intelligent policies, and good luck that things could get somewhat better in Hayward than they are now, however the probability that anytime in the foreseeable future Hayward will supersede such places as Danville and San Ramon is so extremely remote, that therefore any candidate who says he actually thinks that is likely to happen is obviously extremely stupid and/or a pathological liar.
While I myself do not live in Hayward, Danville, or San Ramon, however simply due to my financial situation, therefore if for some reason I was forced to sell my present house and also told that the only three places I was allowed to buy a replacement residence were Hayward, Danville, and San Ramon I would then buy in Hayward, however it would simply be due to the fact that housing is considerably less expensive in Hayward than in Danville and San Ramon.
However on the remote chance that someone offered me a house rent free in any of the above towns, obviously I would choose San Ramon or Danville rather than Hayward, and as Salinas and Zermeno also almost certainly would also, and regardless of any demagoguery that they might engage in to the contrary in an attempt to win the present election.
In fact, and just as drivers suspected of being drunk can be hooked up to a breathalyzer to determine their blood alcohol level, it's a shame that big windbag politicians cannot be hooked up to a machine that would determine if they are lying. In fact if the typical politician was hooked up to such a machine, the machine would not merely state that the politician was lying, but in fact being exposed to the politician's extreme lies, garbage, and nonsense would probably cause the machine to jump up and down, set new world records in the high jump, broad jump, and triple jump, and then blow up in an explosion so big that it would be heard hundreds of miles away.
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I'd bet if she wins, she'll raise the mayor's salary to match what the mayor of Piedmont makes. Hayward has an identity crisis already. The council can't decide if it is Stockton or Detroit. Vote for Halliday if you want Hayward to keep failing & continue being the laughing stock of the Bay.
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Barbara got it right. Always best to say what you seen in the mirror, not what you'd like to see.
She gets our vote.
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She said Hayward would never be rich, like Piedmont. She didn't say it was a diepressed, dirty, lowly place–but she probably thinks it is. Why would she want to run a city like that? Could it be because Munchkinland already has a mayor and Hayward is her second choice?
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No, Halliday got it right. Hayward is a depressed, dirty, and lowly community. Just saying. Will never be anything else other than a lowerclass stepsister, so the sooner that's accepted the better.
Like Bill Clinton said, 'It is what it is.'
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Show Hayward's heart by fining the homeless for “outdoor camping” and imake it more difficult for others to offer food to the homeless. Imposing on the lowest paid City Workers, that's not showing heart. She may be an editor's best choice for mayor, but she's disrespected the entire city of Haywaard. At least Mayor Mike restricts his insults to the poorer parts of town.
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Barbara is right. Hayward has many 60+ year single family homes and poorly built apts. If you want to and can afford to live in a very rich, almost white community, you should move to Danville or Piedmont. Mark and Francisco could be the first Latinos in Piedmont!
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