Candidate Interview: Francisco Zermeño

In Which: I summarize a candidate interview with Francisco Zermeño in an attempt to learn his vision for the City of Hayward.

This is the second interview I conducted with candidates for City Council. The Candidacy period opens on July 15, so if you’re planning on running, hit me up! haywardherald[at]protonmail.com

Meeting Francisco Zermeño

I met Francisco Zermeño at Eon Coffee on May 29th—he frequently frames it as his Second Office on social media. He arrived by bicycle at almost the exact same time I did. He offered to buy me a coffee, which I declined, before ordering himself an espresso. He then settled into a couch where we talked, I took a nearby chair.

Throughout the conversation, Zermeño seemed at ease—comfortable. He’s an old hand who lacks pretense, speaks what he believes, and is not easily swayed. It felt like he was holding court in the cafe and at least one person recognized him on sight.

It’s easy to believe he’s been doing this for 16 years.

Who Is Francisco Zermeño?

Francisco Zermeño has been serving on the City Council since 2008 and is the longest-serving member of City Council on the dais. He’s a full-time Spanish professor at Chabot College and bought his home in the Tennyson neighborhood before I was even born.

Zermeño is a Mexican immigrant—the first immigrant City Councilmember in Hayward’s history, if memory serves—who studied at UC Santa Barbara and in Spain. He’s active on Instagram and Facebook, always posting at least three times per day. He loves Spanish and has even said that if someone speaks Spanish and loves Hayward, he likes them.

On the dais Zermeño is the person who talks the least, but his interests are all but set in stone. As with all the candidates, I wanted to get an idea for what his vision for the City is—what the City should be doing—and frequent readers will not be surprised by what he had to say.

Controlled Growth: Homes Vs. Businesses

Although Francisco Zermeño said that one of his platforms is Affordable Housing, he said that the City is doing a good job on housing. “[We] approved a few senior housing projects,” he said, “[for] a large crowd of elders.” He didn’t express any urgency around Hayward’s unhoused residents.

Zermeño also said that the City has built many houses for the homeless, but perpetuated the myth that “we have some who don’t want to be housed.” He told an story about being at South Hayward Parish—a low-barrier shelter on Patrick Ave—and how someone was invited inside, but after being told the rules, elected not to go in.

Having spoken to multiple others who work with unhoused residents regularly, the reasons for not using a shelter vary, including feeling unsafe, not wanting to give up their possessions, and not wanting to abandon their pets. There’s been very little evidence I’ve ever seen of people preferring to be homeless over being housed.

Zermeño was also worried that Hayward is a “victim of [its] success” on homelessness. He’s worried about homeless people migrating to Hayward to take advantage of our services. “More and more are coming because of our success,” he said. Zermeño also said that he doesn’t want overgrowth, but wants “wow factor” projects for the Civic Center parcels.

But when it came to businesses, the current situation wasn’t good enough. “We need people downtown,” Zermeño said—he approved the Downtown Specific Plan that allows high density downtown. Downtown, he said, “needs to be used more,” and was concerned about “leak[ing] dollars” to other cities.

Zermeño wants to fill store fronts on B Street, and blamed “absentee owners” for the vacant storefronts. Despite that, he said, “[The City] can’t really legally do anything to force them” to rent their space. His support of progressive rental policy and development practices were mostly confined to commercial spaces instead of residential.

Public Safety: Cops Vs. Community

When asked about public safety, Francisco Zermeño went immediately to the police department. He said that the HPD police academy had graduated 8 new officers, “Thank goodness… [The] environment is now less anti-police officers… More folks are beginning to think about joining the police force.” The dedicated social media staff, signing bonuses, regional equity pay increases, and recruiting contractors were not mentioned.

“We want the police,” Zermeño said, and pushed for a Downtown beat due to complaints from business owners, “Especially about the homeless.” He was glad that we’re “slowly coming out of an anti-police environment,” he said, and compared our number of sworn officers to San Francisco. “We only have 209 whereas San Francisco has over 3,000!” San Francisco also has over 800,000 people and a GDP of $252,500,000,000.

Zermeño talked a lot about the police—and to a lesser extent the Fire Department—but didn’t say that they made a neighborhood safe. “The neighbors,” he said, are what makes a neighborhood safe. “Cars have killed two of my dogs,” he said, “but it’s calmed down more,” because of conversations with his neighbors.

Although Zermeño spoke highly of the Neighborhood Watch program, which has faced justified criticism, he believes in relationship building. “I know that some of the other neighbors will watch out,” he said, and called it a “community family.” It’s possible that some of his feelings about the police come from having police officers in his family.

Environmentalism And Pet Projects

Environmentalism is something that Francisco Zermeño has always made one of his top priorities. This manifests itself most visibly in his support for tree planting. He wants to see 1,500 trees planted per year and was frustrated that “[we] don’t have a tree count.” Although it’s difficult to find, the California Urban Forest Inventory does have information on Hayward and says we have 43,172 trees—9% of which (3,909) are Sequoia sempervirens that are doubtlessly very unhappy in this climate.

Zermeño has also been a staunch supporter of La Vista Park and pushed for the full 50 acre size—despite it having to be reduced due to cost. He supports cycling—he is a cycling enthusiast—and supports more walkability and bikeability. “I would like to see [B Street] carless,” he said. He supported the initial Patrick Ave bike plan, as well. “You wanted slower traffic,” he said in response to criticisms from car drivers.

Unfortunately, Zermeño’s environmentalist streak can collide with his support of business growth and be pushed aside. The most prominent example is his vocal support for the Hayward Executive Airport which caters primarily to small jets and aircraft. The jet fuel still uses lead—though unleaded fuel is now available—and the exhaust from jets gets blown into residential areas and the fuel makes the ground toxic without intense remediation.

There are also other pet projects that Zermeño would like to see through, including La Vista Park and the Stack Center—especially his much-loved cafe. He also wants to see as many trees planted as he can while on Council. “I want to see if we can do 20,000 trees,” he said.

Despite being in office for 16 years already, he has no intention of stopping anytime soon. “I still have the time and energy,” he said, “I’m having a good time.” He wants to continue playing a part in shaping Hayward.

Budget: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

When it came to the City budget, Francisco Zermeño is likely the least worried person on Council. Despite a $1,700,000 structural deficit, “[It’s] the lowest it’s been in my time,” he said. He was on Council for the enforced contract that happened in 2008 after the Great Recession, so he’s seen some dark financial times.

In regards to the use of reserve funds, Zermeño said, “[it’s] money that will eventually come in… It’s always worked out.” He feels similarly about La Vista park, and has pushed for the full size despite the cost. “We’ll find the money,” is a phrase he’s used more than once on the dais.

Zermeño’s stance is at odds with those of Councilmembers Roche and Bonilla Jr. who have become the most vocal budget hawks on Council.

Conclusion: What Does It All Mean?

Francisco Zermeño gives big Immigrant Baby Boomer vibes—though I don’t know his exact age. He’s critical of street vendors despite his own mother having been one. He equates community with public safety despite wanting to grow the police force. He also talks about the importance of time management when he’s been at the same job for over 40 years and bought his first home for $105,000.

But Zermeño also loves his adopted community, “Hayward’s been very good to us and I want to be good to Hayward.” He picks up trash every weekend, hosts multiple community events, is active in the Hayward Democratic Club, and seems well-liked by his students. He’s an old-school Pillar of the Community and has been for decades.

Zermeño’s vision for the City is also old-school: walkable streets with thriving local businesses and smiling police officers patrolling the streets. It’s up to the voters to decide whether the way forward is, in many ways, to go backward.

CORRECTIONS: 1. A previous version of this article stated that Francisco Zermeño was a adjunct faculty, when he is a full-time faculty. This has been corrected and we apologize for the error. 2. More specific information was added as to the purchase price of Zermeño’s first home.