Activists protesting Urban Shield last year in Pleasanton. PHOTO/stopurbanshield.org HAYWARD CITY COUNCILFew local issues rankle East Bay progressive more than Urban Shield, the annual emergency training event and law enforcement trade show in Pleasanton founded and hosted by Alameda County… Read More ›
Francisco Zermeno
Hayward Councilman Mark Salinas announces challenge to mayor’s re-election
Hayward Councilmember Mark Salinas also ranfor mayor in 2014, finishing second. HAYWARDHayward Councilmember Mark Salinas made the ultimate political campaign gamble in 2014 when he eschewed likely re-election to the City Council for a run for mayor. His wager, though, came… Read More ›
Hayward officials voice strong support for affordable housing; state concern over rising rents
HAYWARD CITY COUNCILA week after Hayward elected officials roundly turned away a developer’s bid to build a slew of market-rate housing units on Mission Boulevard, councilmembers continued to voice a newfound pledge for more affordable housing in a city currently… Read More ›
Hayward finally becomes a sanctuary city
HAYWARD CITY COUNCILIt took awhile, but the Hayward City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to join eight other East Bay cities by becoming a sanctuary city. “We started talking about this just after the election,” said Hayward Councilmember Al Mendall. “It’s taken us… Read More ›
Hayward City Council ‘bummed’ by ballooning budget deficit
Hayward’s proposed budget includes adding 6.6 full-time employees for staffing the new downtown library. HAYWARD CITY COUNCILHayward City Manager Kelly McAdoo didn’t want the City Council to ask many questions Tuesday night after they learned about the fiscal health of… Read More ›
Few Hayward elected officials support starting public discussion of sanctuary cities
Hayward Councilmember Elisa Marquez says she supports becoming a sanctuary city. HAYWARD CITY COUNCILWhile many East Bay city councils have offered almost unanimous support for defying President Trump and his immigration policies, Hayward is a notable outlier. Even the politically… Read More ›
Hayward mayor offends Latina advocating for sanctuary city
Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday, leader of one of the largest Latino communities, in the Bay Area voiced skepticism Feb. 24 about sanctuary cities. HAYWARDHayward’s lack of urgency when it comes to alleviating the fears among its minority and immigrant communities… Read More ›
Hayward City Council approves 240-unit downtown housing development
A partial rendering of the 240-unit Maple & Main housing development approved by the Hayward City Council Tuesday night. HAYWARDMaple & Main, a 240-unit housing development in North Hayward, which city leaders hope will help kickstart improvement in the downtown… Read More ›
Hayward to form 22-person task force to combat discrimination
Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno raised the subject of sanctuary cities during Tusday night’s council meeting. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL |On the same night Alameda and Emeryville, with some urgency, declared themselves sanctuary cities, the Hayward City Council set the stage for… Read More ›
Latinos de Hayward el ayuntamiento no ofrece traductores en Español
Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno serving as an impromptu translator at Tuesday night’s council meeting. Translation: Hayward does not offer Spanish translation at its city council meetingsHAYWARD CITY COUNCIL |Hayward’s diversity is boosted in part by the largest Latino population in… Read More ›
Luis Reynoso to Hayward City Council: ‘Clean your house first’
There is no love lost between Hayward school board member Luis Reynoso and the city’s elected officials. HAYWARD | A local advocacy group that includes several Hayward city councilmembers, has designs on one day replacing the entire five-person Hayward school… Read More ›
A new day for the Hayward City Council includes a quartet of recognizable faces
Councilmember Francisco Zermeno takes the oath of office Tuesday night in Hayward. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL |Hayward was in a self-congratulatory mood Tuesday as it celebrated the inauguration of four city council members and said goodbye to another. Councilmembers Francisco Zermeno,… Read More ›
HAYWARD COUNCIL PREVIEW: Three incumbents, one former member poised for a return to office
Hayward City Council candidates (pictured clockwise): Councilmember Al Mendall, Matt McGrath, Councilmember Elisa Marquez, Mark Salinas, and Councilmember Francisco Zermeno. MEET THE CANDIDATES Every four years in Hayward, voters have the unique opportunity to alter a majority of their city… Read More ›
With Hayward election a month away, Mendall, Marquez are flush with cash
Hayward Councilmember Al Mendall reported more than $35,000 in cash available for the June election. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL |If cash is king in Hayward, and that’s a big if, then Councilmembers Al Mendall and Elisa Marquez could be on their… Read More ›
First-time Hayward council candidate Matt McGrath is attracting attention
Hayward council candidate Matt McGrath retired as a Hayward department head in 2014. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Hayward has a dearth of prospective candidates at all segments of its city government, but one may have been hiding all these years… Read More ›
EBCAMPAIGN: Is Glazer trying to help Baker beat her Democratic opponent?; HONDA’S BABY MAMA DRAMA; Hayward CM is an emoji; IDLF’s SLATE
70 DAYS UNTIL PRIMARY DAY |Earlier this year, I visited one of the six joint legislative town halls organized by Democratic State Sen. Steve Glazer and Republican Assemblymemer Catharine Baker. This particular town hall in Orinda, a city within the… Read More ›
Who has money in the Hayward City Council race and who doesn’t?
Hayward Councilmember Elisa Marquez has the most unencumbered available cash in the 10-person June council election. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | In a place like Hayward where daily reporting on City Hall is non-existent and community apathy is high, candidate for… Read More ›
5 BEST EAST BAY PRIMARY RACES IN 2016: #4 HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL
ELECTION16 | Starting in 2013, the Hayward City Council waged a war over wages and ultimately imposed a five percent wage cut on more than 300 city employees represented by SEIU Local 1021. Following the council’s decision in February 2014,… Read More ›
No consensus from Hayward leaders for combatting homelessness
Hayward Councilmember Greg Jones said the city needs an emergency homeless shelter. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Homelessness in Hayward continues to be a vexing problem for its city council. While the problem exists in the city and primarily in its… Read More ›
LISTEN! East Bay Citizen Show with special guest Hayward Councilman Francisco Zermeno
//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3784581/height/225/width/450/theme/legacy/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/ Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno EPISODE 6 | Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno is a collector of things, not to mention two terms on the Hayward City Council. But he also boasts more than 8,000 pieces of Spiderman memorabilia and the… Read More ›
Mark Salinas plots return to Hayward City Council next year
Mark Salinas during a Hayward City Council meeting in 2014. HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Former Hayward Councilmember Mark Salinas may have made the biggest gamble of the 2014 election cycle when instead of running for likely re-election to his council… Read More ›
Hayward struggles to find funding for proposed youth center
The current Eden Youth and Family Center is located at Tennyson and Ruus Road in Hayward. County supe has $15m lined up; support from Kaiser HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Hayward is looking to provide a replacement to the aging Eden… Read More ›
Hayward mayor proposes ‘work-at-home, skip-a-shower day’
Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday said she has been known to forsake a shower, but only if she plans to spend the entire day at home. The idea is just another of many… Read More ›
Hayward councilmember: convert old shipping containers for the homeless
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno’s heart may be in the right place, but he has another wild idea to help the city’s homeless. This time, he’s floating the idea of converting old steel shipping containers into dwellings… Read More ›
Hayward irons out some kinks in its massage parlor regulations
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Over the past few years, the Hayward City Council has tried to legislate away some of its more seedy downtown elements. On Tuesday, the council unanimously approved new regulations on massage parlors enacted by the State… Read More ›
Vanquished Hayward Councilman Says Residents Need to Start Voting
Mark Salinas: looking ahead to 2016? HAYWARD | Former Hayward Councilmember Mark Salinas suffered two political defeats within the same month last July. He lost his bid for mayor, the race he chose to run instead of seeking re-election to… Read More ›
Five Will Interview for Hayward Council Seat, Including One Who Just Lost Seat
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | Hayward may have a new council member Tuesday night. On Friday, the City Council narrowed to 5 the list of 18 applicants hoping to fill out the remaining two years of Barbara Halliday’s council term. Halliday,… Read More ›
Hayward Could Fill City Council Opening by Mid-July
Who will be appointed to Barbara Halliday’s council seat now that she is mayor-elect? HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL | When the new Hayward City Council is sworn-in along with Mayor-elect Barbara Halliday next month, it will have an opportunity not afforded… Read More ›
Halliday Wins Hayward Mayor’s Race; Peixoto Re-Elected to Council, Lamnin Finally Breaks Through
Barbara Halliday: Hayward’s mayor-elect HAYWARD | Councilmember Barbara Halliday is the next mayor of Hayward after winning a clear victory Tuesday night over fellow council members Mark Salinas and Francisco Zermeno. Councilmember Marvin Peixoto also won re-election to the City… Read More ›
Primary Question: Hayward Mayor
Clockwise from the top: Councilmembers Barbara Halliday, Mark Salinas, Francisco Zermeno and Hayward businessman Rakesh Kumar Christian. THE CANDIDATES All three major candidates are also sitting members of the Hayward City Council hoping to replace three-time Mayor Michael Sweeney, who… Read More ›