HUSD Updates Faulty Charts

In Which: A reader points out a big mess-up, I speculate about an elevator lawsuit, And we discuss money--lots and lots of money.

Demographer Goofs HUSD District Maps

An eagle-eyed reader pointed out something to me that looked suspicious about the proposed HUSD district maps. We covered them last week, but one thing I hadn’t taken noticed was that although the maps have some very different boundaries, the demographics of each district somehow managed to remain exactly the same—at least according to the accompanying charts.

By comparing the charts to the maps, it looks like the chart for Draft Plan B was copied to the Draft Plan A document—the “Lowest District Dev %” is -3.14% which exists on Map B, but Map A has a District with -4.78%.

After being notified of the error, not only has the demographer updated the chart, but there’s now a new interactive map for the districts that make it a lot easier to see the boundaries. If you’re interested in the correct demographics, check out the chart below.

The districts are still very similar demographically, but it’s good to see that they’re being so responsive to residents pointing out issues. You can always reach out to districting@husd.us or call (510) 784-2617 if you notice anything else amiss.

Speculation Station: Legal Situation

Two different legal cases are being discussed tonight by the City Council in Closed Session. There’s not a whole lot I can discover on them—at least not without paying Alameda County Superior Court an arm and a leg for the privilege—but let’s get into what we do know.

Police Worker Compensation

Hayward Police Officer Donald Muniz is suing the City over worker’s compensation. This could stem from just about any injury sustained on the job, but it’ll almost certainly cost the City a pretty penny if they’re found liable—especially if the Hayward Officer’s Association is bankrolling the claim.

Wrongful Death Allegation

The second case is The Estate of Oscar Macias, et al. v. City of Hayward, et al. and appears to be a wrongful death suit. There’s some tentative information that seems to suggest that not only is Oscar Macias dead, but was killed in an unsafe elevator in a public parking garage that the City owns—the only ones I know about that have them are the two downtown.

If these allegations are true, not only is it pretty horrible that someone died in one of the City’s elevators—honestly the most important point here—but it’s also going to cost the someone big for a settlement. Almost certainly more than if the City had just maintained the elevator to the standards needed to keep it safe.

Consent Items

These items are considered “non-controversial” and usually don’t get much discussion during the meeting, if any—though individual Councilmembers can pull an item to discuss it. Usually it’s a lot of final approvals for earlier plans, but let’s dig into it and see what’s happening this week.

$2,000,000 For Down Payment Assistance

This is one of those neo-liberal financialized ways to help poorer people during the housing crisis. Using $2,000,000 in ARPA funds, the City is setting up a “revolving loan fund” to provide down payment assistance to qualifying households.

What this means is that the City will provide up to $300,000 to “ low-income, first-time homebuyers” with preference given to “applicants that either live or work in the City of Hayward.” The money is a loan, which means the buyer will have to pay it back to the City. The City will then re-use the money—with the interest—and re-loan it over and over again.

Unfortunately, the program isn’t quite ready yet. They’re working with a non-profit partner and although things aren’t ready to start, the Federal timeline for “obligating” the money is running out. So what this really does is just provide the Hayward Housing Authority—which is also City Council—with the money that the City received, charge the Hayward Housing Authority with using the money in a certain way, and then using it all by the end of 2026.

So this program is coming, but it may have to wait until 2026.

Construction Costs Keep Inflating

If you live in North Hayward along Mission Blvd, you’ve seen the construction happening with the “Mission Boulevard Corridor Improvements Phase 3 Project.” And the costs keep going up—just like with everything else.

The design and construction support services for this project have increased 5 times—from an initial cost of $700,000 to $1,780,180—and that’s just for one of the companies involved. On top of that, the surveying costs increased by over $72,000, as well.

Although this is a pretty small cost compared the entire project, it’s still worth noting that this is the kind of thing that can happen with the way that this country handles project bidding. Companies come in and compete to get the lowest bid, ostensibly to save the City money. But as anyone who has ever purchased anything knows, the cheapest is rarely the best.

On top of that, once the bid is locked in, incremental cost increases can be piled on without worry because the contract is already settled. This happens all the time—the number of adjustments that appear on Consent Calendar agendas is pretty wild. It’s possible that the City is required to take the lowest bid, but I haven’t had the chance to look into it yet.

City Can’t Offload The 238 Parcels

The City has been trying to offload the parcels they took back from CalTrans for about 8 years now. But that agreement had a timeline on it and it’s almost run out. Initially, the City was supposed to dispose of them by 2022—obviously ambitious—and it was then amended to 2027 but even that’s looking like it isn’t going to happen. Now it’s being extended another 5 years to 2032.

The City cites “current real estate market challenges” as the reason, including higher interest rates and construction costs. Of the 10 parcel groups, only half are sold and/or under construction. Most of those that are left are not expected to be sold off until 2029. When they’re done, they’re expecting well over 1,500 units with about 27% of them being affordable.

With so much of it at the mercy of the Market, it wouldn’t be surprising if the timeline had to be extended again—despite the City’s best efforts.

Money Money Money Muunay—Muunay!

The City Council meeting will primarily be about the budget, the Gann Appropriations Limit—a limit which has historically never been reached, mostly due to Prop 13—and the Strategic Roadmap. Although this stuff is deep Nerd Shit, if you want to know what your tax dollars are paying for, this is where it’s decided.

Not sure what the Budget is all about? I covered it in very very excruciating detail last month. I promise you, reading that is a lot easier than a 60+ page presentation and watching a 6 hour meeting. I’ve also covered the Capital Improvement Project Budget so you can get a feel for how your money is being spent on infrastructure.

I’ll be covering the Council discussion of this budget from the projected deficit to Library funding to spending reserves on new signs. See you Thursday, Haywardistes!