In April 2019, on a bright Sunday afternoon in Dublin, Rep. Eric Swalwell kicked off his campaign for president. Swalwell trotted out his mouthful of a campaign slogan to great cheers from his supporters. Yet no matter how hard he… Read More ›
Aisha Wahab
Hayward approves second downtown dispensary: ‘We’re basically making the downtown a drug hub’
A second cannabis dispensary is coming to downtown Hayward. A conditional-use permit was granted Tuesday night to Jiva Life for a retail establishment at the former Hayward Fishery restaurant on the corner of Foothill Boulevard and C Street. Hayward officials… Read More ›
Hayward City Council election preview: A new hope
Let’s begin by mentioning Hayward, with a diverse population of roughly 140,000, needs district-based elections. Although this council is clearly diverse– three Latinos, one Afghan American, for example- there is little diversity of opinion. The Hayward City Council, despite being… Read More ›
East Bay’s Top 10 November races to watch
Alameda County Supervisor District 1 This race has already been the East Bay’s most punishing for months. The Alameda County race for District 1 supervisor pits candidates from both halves of the roughly equal east county and Fremont district. Amazingly,… Read More ›
Hayward: Plan to lower annual rent increases moves ahead
Hayward renters could see their annual rent increases lowered from a current five percent cap to as low as two percent, according to a proposed revision to the city’s Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance. The three-member Hayward Housing-Homelessness Task Force moved… Read More ›
Large, energized field of candidates in Hayward
The field of 13 candidates this November, includes three incumbents, and a field of newcomers baptized by Hayward’s dramatic push to the left stoked over the past two years by progressive Councilmember Aisha Wahab and an energized coalition of young… Read More ›
Hayward police chief apologizes for saying city council is ignorant
Hayward Police Chief Toney Chaplin apologized last week for saying Hayward City Council members were ignorant of the department’s day-to-day activities. Chaplin, a former San Francisco interim police chief, who was tapped to lead the Hayward Police Department in July… Read More ›
Hayward: Task force to study lowering annual rent increase cap, but not before odd exchange involving mayor
During a somewhat routine update to Hayward’s rent stabilization ordinance last week in which certain tweaks and language intended to align the ordinance with changes in state law were offered by city staff, Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab sought a significant… Read More ›
Hayward to ask voters to increase hotel tax, allow non-citizens to serve on boards
Hayward voters will be asked this November to increase its current hotel tax up to 14 percent. A charter amendment to allow non-citizens to serve on city boards and commissions will also appear on the fall ballot, the Hayward City… Read More ›
Hayward approves budget that includes police officer hiring freeze
Hayward councilmembers approved a $169 million budget for the next fiscal year that includes a $4.1 million cut to the Hayward Police Department. The move comes following several weeks of advocacy by Hayward residents for the City Council to incorporate… Read More ›
Hayward may ask voters to allow non-citizens to serve on boards
Hayward voters may be asked this November to amend its City Charter and allow non-citizens to serve on city boards and commissions. The Hayward City Council unanimously voted to move forward the proposal on Tuesday night by directing staff to… Read More ›
Hayward: Wahab tried to lower council pay by 5%, colleagues were cool to the idea
As Hayward councilmembers thanked its executive team and firefighters on Tuesday night for foregoing two percent cost-of-living increases to help lower the city’s ballooning covid-related deficit, in addition, to their own two percent cut in council pay, Hayward Councilmember Aisha… Read More ›
Hayward officials ‘regrettably’ delay minimum wage increase for six months
Workers earning a minimum wage in Hayward will not receive a previously promised $2 an hour raise for, at least, another six months, the Hayward City Council decided on Tuesday. A majority of the council, some voicing regret for delaying… Read More ›
Profiles in leadership: Hayward mayor tells council to allow staff to lead during covid-19 crisis
Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday told fellow councilmembers that they should “stand aside” and allow the city’s administrative staff to lead its response to the covid-19 outbreak. Halliday further suggested city staff, not the city’s elected leaders, have the experience and… Read More ›
COVID-19: Hayward moves to protect renters. ‘I’m a little disappointed this doesn’t cover all people’
-Coronavirus news briefs from Hayward
Hayward: Wahab will propose eviction relief for renters affected by COVID-19
UPDATE: Tonight in Hayward: City Council will not hear three agenda items tonight due to the #covid19 outbreak. Among them referrals for a moratorium on evictions due to the outbreak and possible direction of a plan to annex unincorporated Cherryland…. Read More ›
AD20: Quirk is 195 votes from facing a challenge from the left in the fall
In hindsight, the fact four-term Hayward Assemblymember Bill Quirk had attracted an early handful of potential primary challengers last fall may have been a subtle hint that a level of disenchantment exists among progressives in the 20th Assembly District. Just… Read More ›
Hayward considers policy asking state AG to probe police deadly use-of-force cases
Earlier this year, police accountability advocates and the family of Agustin Gonsalez, the 29-year-old who was fatally shot by Hayward police officers in November 2018, forcefully urged Hayward city officials to seek an independent investigation of his death. The on-going… Read More ›
Miley is not opposed to Hayward annexing Cherryland, but wants no ‘cherry-picking’ of land
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley told a neighborhood group in Cherryland earlier this month that they should consider a proposal, in its early stages, for Hayward city officials to study the feasibility of annexing their incorporated area. “I’m not opposed… Read More ›
Hayward moves toward $15 an hr minimum wage by 2022
Hayward is nearing an increase in the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, one year earlier than the state-mandated increase set for January 2023. The direction made by the Hayward City Council Tuesday night during a work… Read More ›
Why Hayward’s most fervent anti-smoking official was cut out of council’s vaping referral?
The three Hayward councilmembers who proposed regulations on flavored tobacco and vaping products last month are each up for re-election next year. Hayward Councilmembers Al Mendall, Francisco Zermeño, and Elisa Márquez will undoubtedly use any new restrictions on teenage vaping… Read More ›
Hayward is spending $75,000 for Robocop that yielded zero citations during one-year pilot program
Hayward officials extended a $75,000 pilot program for a surveillance robot that has roamed a parking garage across the street from City Hall for the past year. But while Hayward city staff argued the white, bullet-shaped robot had successfully decreased… Read More ›
Wahab suspends campaign for Congress against Swalwell
Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab is not ending her campaign for Rep. Eric Swalwell’s seat in the 15th District, but suspending it, she announced Monday morning. Wahab gave no indication why she chose the less definitive description for ceasing the campaign’s… Read More ›
Wahab to Swalwell: Give me a call
In the two weeks since Rep. Eric Swalwell ended his presidential aspirations, the challenger with eyes on thwarting his re-election to Congress next year has not said definitely whether she will indeed attempt to primary the incumbent East Bay congressman…. Read More ›
Someone is doing polling in CA15, and it appears to be Swalwell. Was he spooked by the results?
Within two weeks of Eric Swalwell announcing he was dropping out of the presidential primary race and seeking re-election to his congressional seat, polling was being conducted in the Tri-Valley that floated a number of challengers for his 15th District… Read More ›
As housing crisis rages, Hayward aims to build only 74 homes on 37 acres of prime land
A 37-acre parcel of hillside land near Cal State East Bay in Hayward, long ago envisioned by CalTrans as part of a freeway extension, moved closer to development on Tuesday, but not without concerns the future neighborhood will cater to… Read More ›
GO BIG. BE BOLD. GO HOME: SWALWELL ENDS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Eric Swalwell’s campaign began on a sound stage inside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City and ended 91 days later in a small union hall in Dublin. After canceling two-days of Fourth of July events in New Hampshire… Read More ›
End of the road to the White House? Swalwell to hold press conference on Monday
Eric Swalwell will hold a press conference on Monday afternoon in Dublin. The event was announced Sunday amid rumors his presidential campaign is nearing its end. The campaign gave no further description about the subject of the press conference, which… Read More ›
Hayward approves short-term moratorium on rent increases above 5%
A new rent stabilization ordinance in Hayward was formally approved Tuesday night. But the ordinance does not come into effect until July 25. In order to prevent potential rent gouging in the interim by Hayward landlords, the Hayward City Council… Read More ›
