The vehicle of Hayward City Council candidate Aisha Wahab was broken into Saturday morning, but the suspect only pilfered more than a thousand dollars worth of campaign materials.
Roughly 1,500 pieces of professionally printed campaign flyers used for door-to-door canvassing, remittance envelopes, and business cards were stolen from Wahab’s vehicle as it was parked in a carport at her apartment complex, she said.
“It’s nothing new in Hayward. I’ve been broken into before,” said Wahab, who is one of seven candidates running for two at-large seats on the Hayward City Council this November. “But this isn’t a normal break-in. They didn’t take anything that a robber would ordinarily take.”
Items of value left in the car, such as a brand new designer bag, sunglasses, and loose change were left behind by the suspect, said Wahab, who filed a report with the Hayward Police Department.
A partially smoked cigarillo was left on one of the front seats. Wahab said she does not smoke and doesn’t know anyone who uses this type of cigar. The cigarillo was the first indication that something about the car’s interior seemed amiss, she said. Fingerprints on the vehicle were also taken by police, she added.
The suspect, however, was more curious about the several boxes of campaign materials in her trunk. Its contents left virtually empty, said Wahab. She estimates the value of the materials being worth more than $1,000.
“When I started this campaign, people told me, you have to be on extra alert. I genuinely feel violated,” she said. “Even though it’s just paper, it’s a setback that’s going to waste a week to get the materials reprinted.”
The robbery came the morning after Wahab won the support of the Hayward Area Democratic Club last Friday night. The endorsement generally represents the acceptance of her upstart progressive campaign by the city’s establishment Democrats.
But Wahab, who has made housing affordability and renters’ protections in Hayward pillars of her campaign, is also making landlord interests nervous, especially after the campaign proved its viability by reporting $42,000 in contributions through the first half of the year.
Wahab’s total cash on hand lapped the entire field of council candidates, including the two incumbents, Councilmembers Marvin Peixoto and Sara Lamnin. If elected, Wahab would become the first Afghan American elected official in the state.
“I feel very targeted,” said Wahab. “I’ve always felt targeted in this race.”
In addition, last spring, the Hayward Rotary pulled an invitation at the last-minute for Wahab to speak at a luncheon, citing a policy against candidates addressing the group during an election year. Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday, however, gave a speech to the Rotary a few weeks later.
Then, last month, as Wahab was interviewed for open seats on the Hayward Planning Commission, a Hayward councilmember asked her if she would end her council campaign if chosen for the position.
*had her car broken into and campaign materials stolen
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Yes, the comment about her bag is an unkind attempt to divert the attention away from the real issue: a person who excelled the night before in the face of her competitors broke into her car and stole campaign materials. There are people who have designer bags who are humble. Who is anyone to make an assumption about it? For example, it may have been a gift or something she worked hard to pay for. Not relevant.
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Please, she can buy what she wants. The real question is who stole her material and had the audacity to break into her car.
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‘Fingerprints on the vehicle were also taken by police’ that is a first for Hayward police, usually with car break-ins they blow you off and tell you to go their web site and enter the data yourself.
‘brand new designer bag in the car’ not exactly humble are you Wahab.
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The Hayward Police will do little to find the thief since they have supported so many city officials who then give them pay raises, etc. When the thief is found by some sleuth, you will find a spider web of connections throughout city government and local organizations. This is big, at least for this town. Hey Steve, this could be Pulitzer. Clean citizens, better get your name off some City Council endorsements or you will be tied to the thieves as supporters of crime. So Nixonesque.
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Aisha has worked hard and this is simply unfair to happen to anyone. There are 7 candidates for 2 seats. Aisha has been the most interesting of them all.
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Looks like the double standard for incumbents is in place. Let us hope that a judicious application of cash will help catch the bad guys and allow Aisha to address the Rotary.
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