Council Eyeing Changes To WFH
In Which: The Mayor is out of town so Councilmember Roche takes point, A drive-thru is now allowed on airport land, and Council takes aim at work from home even after employee outcry
Hey, Everyone. This is going to be the last news post for about two weeks as I’m going to be going on vacation. I don’t do this too often, but everyone needs to take some time once in a while. I’ve got at least two posts scheduled, but they won’t be Council meetings—hold back your tears. I hope you enjoy them and I look forward to being back and energized just in time for the last Council Meeting of the fiscal year.
Interim City Manager Getting Into It
After allowing Assistant City Manager Regina Youngblood to take care of the community announcements, Interim City Manager Michael Lawson continued to show a more energic side of himself than the City Attorney usually allows. He started by, once again, narrowing in on the budget development. “We’re coming in hot,” he said, and hopes to reduce the budget shortfall to somewhere between $9,000,000 and $10,000,000.
He then announced an all-hands-on-deck approach to firework enforcement. It is illegal to use fireworks of any kind within Hayward city limits, not that you could tell by looking at it. Mr. Lawson then continued to announce CHP’s new low-profile cruisers. He described them as having “very very cool colors designed to be less visible.”
Mr. Lawson then started to highlight alleged problem areas on local freeways, though he immediately pointed to an area outside of the City. “Key points on 580 are right around 150th Avenue,” he began before being interrupted by Mayor Pro Tem Roche. “I’m sorry... okay,” he said.
Mayor Salinas is out of town with the Alameda County Transportation Commission, attempting to get more federal dollars for local transportation projects.
Drive Thru On Airport Land
The City Council discussed proposed changes to the zones on Airport property to allow for drive thru restaurants. The Planning Commission recently weighed in and were split about whether or not to recommend approving it. Some felt that there were too many Starbucks in Hayward already and didn’t like the architecture style. Others felt it was filling a new niche—being the only drive thru in the area—and also synergized with the nearby hotel.
The only change that occurred after the Planning Commission saw it was some additional plaques and murals celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen. The Hayward Airport has a street named after them, hosts a chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc, and was home to two former Tuskegee Airmen pilots.
Pedestrian Safety Concerns
Councilmember Syrop expressed concern about pedestrian safety, given the development of a new amenity across from a large residential neighborhood. He asked if there were plans for a new crosswalk to make it easier for local residents to walk to the drive-thru—which also has outdoor cafe seating.
City Staff conducted a traffic study that didn’t find a need for a new crosswalk. Staff said that it was close to an intersection, though the pathing provided by Google Maps from a nearby home showcases the concern. “I would hope that if we move forward with this, we consider how to make it more pedestrian accessible,” Councilmember Syrop said.
He later encouraged Staff to keep an eye on pedestrian behavior in the area after the Starbucks opens. “I just really don’t want to open my inbox to find out someone got hit trying to get a cup of coffee,” he said. “This is what helps us make more walkable cities, is by making sure there’s direct paths to the amenities in our communities.”
They Adopting A Block Or Not?
Councilmember Andrews asked if there was interest from the tenant, Starbucks, to join the City’s Adopt-A-Block program. “This will generate trash,” she said. The developer said that the tenant will be liable for any trash within a certain radius of the property.
However, once Councilmember Zermeño moved the item, Councilmember Andrews pushed for what is called a Friendly Amendment—offering a change or addition that Zermeño could add or not as he liked. She asked to include adopting a block as a Condition of Approval—which means they would be forced to do it in order to get the building built.
“Is this something we want to do with all of our businesses?” Councilmember Zermeño asked. A member of Economic Development Staff said that there is already a Condition of Approval about trash collection. “I refuse the friendly amendment,” Zermeño said, seemingly on the grounds of equity.
Councilmember Bonilla felt that the standard Condition of Approval were strong enough already, though Councilmembers Goldstein and Andrews strongly suggested a preference for the Adopt-A-Block program. “I think it’s something good that shows their heart for the community,” Councilmember Goldstein said.
Councilmember Andrews was slightly more pointed. “This is a big industry that could help keep our community clean,” she said, “if they’re going to contribute to the litter in our community. We should not be relying on volunteers for corporate profits.” Councilmember Andrews has historically been quite friendly to business and economic development interests.
Mandatory Vacancy Report
The City Council heard the first ever report complying with AB 2561, which requires a public hearing about City job vacancies before approving the budget. Presumably, this is to help keep residents in the know about how many jobs are being cut to balance the budget and whether or not that’s a good thing.
Any bargaining unit that has a vacancy rate of 20% or higher must provide additional information during the meeting to explain it. Thankfully, Hayward is doing pretty okay on this. The overall vacancy rate is 9.4% and there are only three bargaining units with vacancies above 10%: Hayward Police Officers’ Association, SEIU 1021 Maintenance, and SEIU 1021 Clerical. They’re at 13%, 12%, and 11% vacant respectively.
Yes, technically the Fire Chief’s Association is at 50%, but there are only two of them. Even City Staff blew past the slide on it, as it doesn’t seem to be a huge issue.
Recruitment Strategies were interesting, as what strategies are used depends a lot on what the position is. For example, Hiring Incentives—mostly bonus pay—were only mentioned as being used for HPD Officers and Emergency Dispatchers. Though other units mention a flexible work schedule in their job descriptions. The City is also trying to diversify recruitment, streamline hiring, improve City branding, and train and elevate internal candidates whenever possible.
No Unions or Associations were present to give comment on the item.
Make It Useable
Councilmember Syrop, who serves on the Personnel Commission, recognized that this was a new report and met State law, but also that previous reports had contained more detail. He asked Staff to try to include that detail in this report in the future, especially because that extra detail helps with budget decisions.
“Had we not moved our budget conversation to June 17th, we actually would have heard the budget before we actually talked about vacancies,” he said. According to the Staff slide, AB 2561 requires a public hearing on vacancies before adopting the final budget—though the majority of the conversation and changes happen before final approval.
Councilmember Syrop also asked for information on the length a position has been open and the last time it was requisitioned. He said the information would help the Council decide whether or not the position is necessary during budget discussions. “How can we make this data actionable for the Council?” he asked.
Because vacancies also mean cost savings during a budget crisis. The Interim City Manager said that a 9-10% vacancy rate could save a lot of money. “[It] might equate to around $10-$12,000,000 in a general fund budget,” he said. He said that it will be a part of the budget discussions on the 17th.
“We’re going to have to make some hard decisions about which positions are going to be filled and which positions are not going to be filled in order to save as much as possible,” Mr. Lawson said. The current budget is planning somewhere between $1.5 and $5,000,000 in savings from vacancies.
Work From Home Under Scrutiny Again
Despite former City Manager Ana Alvarez facing a surge in opposition due to revoking the work from home policy, some on City Council seemed eager to revisit the conversation about bringing everyone back to work.
Councilmember Bonilla asked if there was any criteria to decide what position is allowed to work remote. Staff said that they were working on developing standards to decide that equitably, it is currently up to individual Division Directors to decide. “[There’s] not necessarily a uniform set of guidance?” Councilmember Bonilla asked. “That’s correct,” Staff said.
Councilmember Bonilla pressed on and asked how remote work was defined. “Right now, for us, it means you don’t have to work in this building,” Staff said. Councilmember Bonilla then asked if it was allowable to work outside of the State or Country. Assistant City Manager Regina Youngblood stepped in and said that all Staff need to work within “a reasonable radius to return to work when asked,” within a few hours.
The Interim City Manager called it, “an equity question in addressing the return to work analysis.” He said that only 150-200 employees are able to make use of that option. Councilmember Zermeño agreed. “I can see that as a problem,” he said. “It’s a problem we’re going to solve,” Mr. Lawson responded.
Councilmember Goldstein passed along allegations that some employees live out of the State, though provided no evidence. “I have a bit of a problem with that,” he said. He framed the City’s pay as a “Silicon Valley salary,” despite Hayward not being in Silicon Valley. “We weren’t necessarily intending for people to… collect Silicon Valley rate of pay and be living somewhere else.”
Salary Increases Also Happened
The City Council approved across-the-board salary increases for every bargaining unit of 4%, though the Hayward Police Officers’ Association got 5.5%. Staff said that it had no impact on the budget since it was previously negotiated and only now being approved and going into effect next year.
Despite the unanimous approval by Council, members of the Personnel Commission advised them against the pay increases due to concerns about the upcoming budget. If the City is lucky it will only include a $9,000,000 deficit.