Council Weighs Change Of HEART
In Which: City Staff speak out against ending remote work, Council prioritizes a new Police HQ over a new Weekes Branch Library, and Changes are coming to the HEART program.
City Of Hayward May End Work From Home
An unusual number of City Staff were present at the beginning of Tuesday’s City Council meeting, mostly from the Management level. Individual City employees spoke during public comment against a proposal to end the Work From Home policy and force all Staff back to the building 5 days a week. Workers from Planning, Community Services, and other departments spoke against the change and what it could mean for the City and their own lives.
Elizabeth Blanton, in the Planning Division, pointed out that a blanket end to remote work is an unusual move. “Hayward’s decision to entirely eliminate remote work also goes beyond what many other Alameda County jurisdictions are doing and even beyond what the State is requiring.” She stressed that the decision was made without Staff input and that it deserves discussion. “We need to be invited to the table,” Ms. Blanton said.
Analyst Rick Rivera from the Community Services Department cited an extensive study on the benefits of remote work. The study interviewed thousands of workers and CEOs. He noted that the only benefit to a fully in-person shift, according to the study, was that 25% of the CEOs used it to save costs by “nurturing attrition” among their workers.
Another person from the Planning Division stressed that City workers have one metric of success. “It’s our job to provide our customers with the information they’re looking for, and answer their questions to get them on their way,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. Not making sure there’s a butt in every chair in every cubicle at City Hall five days per week.”
Sachiko Riddle, also from the Planning Division, stressed that as a mother of a young child, the flexibility offered by remote work was one of the only reasons she took a job in Hayward. “The option to work from home a couple days a week is what made it possible for me to accept this position,” she said. “I took a pay cut to join the City of Hayward because I believe in the mission and because I knew I could make it work for my family.”
Leigha Schmidt, also from the Planning Division, said that if there was a problem with the services being delivered, then the change might make sense. But she said there had been no mention of service issues. She said the elimination of remote work, “appears to be an ideological solution in search of a problem.”
Mayor Mark Salinas said that, while he could not comment directly on anything not on the Agenda in accordance with State law, was open to forging a solution together. “We want to make sure that whatever we come up with, it’s done together,” he said. “We’re listening, and I appreciate it.”
City Manager Ana Alvarez said she understood how the change affected staff. “I recognize that this transition is very challenging and it affects people very deeply and in different ways.” But she stressed that the change had nothing to do with performance issues. “It’s also true that this operational shift is not about undoing what’s worked or correcting what may be wrong. It’s about strengthening collaboration and our ability to serve the public with excellence.”
City Manager Alvarez seemed open to discussion, but still appeared to be pushing a more on-site plan. “My door remains open to listen and engage.”
City Council Talks Future Budget
This City Council Meeting was focused on the Strategic Roadmap, but in order to plan for future programs, it’s important to have a good look at what the money situation is.
A Peek At The Future Budget
While this City Council Meeting was focused on the Strategic Roadmap, Staff gave a sneak peek at the City’s fiscal outlook for the coming year. During a short presentation, the Financial Director revealed that the City’s projected budget will be around $218,500,000. However, this is lower than expected by around $8,000,000 because of slower property sales, lower property tax revenue, and a loss of ARPA funding.
At the same time, the projected expenses will be around $230,700,000. This is mostly due to an increase in salary and benefits to City Staff to the tune of around $11,000,000. This means the City has a projected deficit of around $12,500,000. The Financial Director said that the budget is “precarious” because of the uncertainty around Federal funding and the Trump Administration.
Speaking to the continual urge from some on Council to balance the budget, the Financial Director said, “It’s not a balanced budget. It does not appear it will balance unless we make some changes.” His proposal was to focus on core services. “We need to have [decisions] based on programs,” he said. “Not everything can be a priority and not everything can be a core service… We can’t be everything to all people.”
However, he said that it was not a dire situation yet. “This is certainly solvable,” he said. “It will just take time.” The Financial Director suggested having a Fall revise to the budget to make any adjustments early, especially due to the uncertainty at the Federal level.
What About That Measure K1 Money?
If you voted in last year’s election, there’s a good chance you approved Measure K1, which was a 20 year extension of the Measure C half-cent sales tax that paid for the new Downtown Library, among other things. When Council went door knocking for Measure K1, there were a lot of ideas for what the money should be spent on.
The projects in the image above are ordered by price, not necessarily importance, though some on Council seemed to take it that way. Of the $480,000,000 in projects, over half of that is expected to go to the new Police HQ—currently being called the Public Safety Center. Then comes the Corporation Yard, a new Weekes Branch Library, finishing the Stack Center, a new Fire Station 9—the last one that needs an update—and funding to keep the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) at the current high of 76%.
What A Great List! Let’s Do Them All!
Okay, so how Measure K1 really works is a bit of a financial hustle, so let’s just start by saying that your increased sales tax isn’t directly paying for the projects. It’s being used to prove the City can pay back a big loan.
As you can see on the right column, there’s a list of Annual Debt Service. That’s how much the City would need to pay every year on a 29 year loan for the cost of the project—except for the Pavement Improvement, that’s just an increased annual cost. So if the City decided to start all of these projects at once, they’d need to come up with $30,500,000 a year just to cover the loan payments. As Public Works Director Ameri said, “We don’t have that money, obviously.”
Deciding What’s Important
The City Manager suggested that the top two projects be prioritized—the Police HQ and Corp Yard. She said that possibly the Weekes Branch could be included, but that all of the projects should be funded at once to maximize efficiencies on the loan. And while she set the tone of the conversation by speaking first, the final decision belongs to the City Council.
Councilmember Roche asked about the ongoing expenses from Measure C/K1. The City Manager said that 23 Full Time Staff are paid for using Measure C money: 9 in Maintenance Services and 14 in the Police Department. City Manager Alvarez said she wants to move those positions out of Measure C, but can’t afford to at the moment. Councilmember Syrop agreed. “We have a number of vacancies in the Police Department and we’re funding a lot of positions with Measure C currently,” he said. “I think there needs to be some adjustment or rebalancing.”
Councilmember Andrews asked, not for the first time, if the City had explored other partnerships to help pay for the Stack Center. Assistant to the City Manager Mary Thomas said that there are three grant applications out right now and that she’s working on other partnerships. “How realistic some of those partnerships are, I don’t know,” she said. Councilmember Andrews also suggested using the same partners to help fund the Weekes Branch construction, but Ms. Thomas said that funds are limited at the moment everywhere.
Councilmember Andrews then encouraged City Staff to draw more businesses to the City in an effort to increase sales tax revenue. “I do think we need to empower our Economic Development Department to make sure we are getting these businesses open,” she said. City Manager Alvarez said she was working to find ways to increase revenues, especially taking advantage of the upcoming World Cup in the Bay Area, and developing destination places to grow the economy.
Councilmember Bonilla asked about the City’s reserve funding. The Financial Director said that it’s currently $32,000,000 in spendable reserves with a total of $42,000,000—meaning the City has a 14% reserve right now.
Dim Prospects For New Library
Councilmember Zermeño commented that the Weekes Branch project seemed expensive. Public Works Director Ameri said that the estimate assumes a new building of around 20,000 square feet—five times the size of the current building. He gave context that the Downtown Library is 58,000 square feet.
Councilmember Zermeño said he prioritized the Police building over the library. “In my mind, I would rather spend the money in our public safety and our employees over at the maintenance yard,” he said, “and just do some work on Weekes Park [sic] so that it’s more accessible. But $50,000,000 in my mind is not necessary.”
Councilmember Goldstein also seemed shocked at the price tag of the new library. “It’s hard to imagine the justification for a $50,000,000 library,” he said. “I’m in favor of doing something, but I’m feeling like we weren’t really prepared for a $50,000,000 price tag, so I would like to see justification for that.”
Promises Made
Councilmember Syrop reminded the Council why the project list for Measure K1 was so long. “We made a lot of promises with K1,” he said. “We made a lot of promises with Measure C.” Mayor Mark Salinas agreed and said he wanted to keep the promises they made for all of the projects pitched for Measure K1. “We had 83% of Hayward voters,” he said, “give us—after 10 years—gave us another 30 year commitment of support for this.”
The Mayor also stressed the importance of the budget. “I’ll also be focusing on bringing back our 20% reserve,” he said. He said that the 20% reserve goal was in response to the 2008 financial crash and that it is just as important now with the uncertainty of the economy and the Federal government.
HEART Program Pivots To Save Money
The Hayward Evaluation and Response Teams (HEART) has been a pilot project in Hayward for over 4 years now—though not all of it came online at once—and it’s time for an evaluation. Some changes are coming to the program now that the Council is looking to make it a permanent part of the City, but it’s not as rosy as you might hope.
What Is The HEART Program?
The HEART program grew out of the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshops—which themselves were a response to community pressure around policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the larger Movement for Black Lives in 2020. One of the primary goals was to reduce reliance on police for emergencies regarding homelessness, substance use, and mental health.
It has not been a smooth road since the funding was authorized in April of 2021, but by February of 2023, the current configuration of HEART has been going pretty smoothly. The HMET—a specially trained police officer and an Alameda County Behavioral Health Clinician—responds to mental health crises and wellness checks, the MIHU—Fire Department paramedics—respond to non-active crises with some medical need, and the LINK team—case managers and clinicians—provide case management and referrals to people who aren’t in a crisis or immediate danger.
It feels complicated, but it seems to be working pretty well. From September 2023 to September of 2024:
Over 469 individuals were helped—this doesn’t include any HMET calls because the County keeps its own data
Responded to 1,846 calls—half of which were handled by HMET
734 instances of case management to 74 people
Diverted 105 calls from the Police to other services
Making It 24/7
By just about any measure, that’s a pretty huge success. And it’s because of that success that the City Council—specifically Councilmember Andrews—have been pushing to make HEART a 24/7 service. Staff has said multiple times that the hold-up has been with the availability of services, but staff has found some creative work-arounds.
The City has worked with South Hayward Parish to secure 4 beds for HEART referrals made before 6pm. That means if anyone is helped by HEART before then who needs shelter, they can get it that day—shelter beds are in very short supply. They are also working on hotel vouchers to have HEART personnel give out. And to cover off-hours calls, the City is partnering with 988 to both do referrals and also forward information to the LINK team so they can follow up with people in the morning.
It’s nowhere near perfect, but it’s a creative use of what’s already available that will help people who need it during late hours.
Pausing MIHU
The MIHU program has been funded entirely by the Fire Department, and the Fire Chief had lots of good things to say about it. “The amount of enthusiasm, commitment, and compassion that I have seen committed to this program,” he said, “It’s been really inspiring to me.” However, he then recommended pausing the program. “I think it is the most responsible thing to do,” he said.
The issue has to do with funding. The MIHU program is covered by 3 full-time Firefighters, and they just get pulled off their shifts and put in the ambulance. But their positions still need to be filled at the fire station, so other firefighters have been working overtime to plug the hole. It’s cost the City about $1,200,000 per year to staff the program in this way. Pausing the program will reduce the cost of the entire HEART program by half.
While the Fire Chief also cited things like dispatch efficiencies and the need for alternative places to drop off patients—right now they are limited by law to either John George or an emergency room—the primary driver is funding. He recommended that the City pause the MIHU program until they identify permanent funding to pay for Community Paramedics—who may not necessarily be Firefighters. That way, he said, “[We can] have a much more cost-effective, efficient program.”
Council Wonders What Happens Next
Councilmember Roche asked if the calls that would have gone to MIHU will still get a response. The Fire Chief said that a fire company will be dispatched and, after some training, they will be able to provide the LINK information when needed. According to the Chief, when MIHU is called a fire company attends the calls anyway, though the MIHU can send them away early if they’re not needed.
Councilmember Roche asked about the other parts of the HEART program and their funding. Staff said that the Police Department funds the officer with MIHU, Alameda County pays for the Behavioral Health Clinician, and the State is currently funding the LINK team through a grant. She also asked if it was possible to use different models that other cities are exploring, but Staff said, “Any other model would likely have costs associated with it.”
Councilmember Bonilla asked how long the pause might last. The Fire Chief was blunt about the reason. “It’s a matter of economics and what your decision is,” he said. The Council could fund Community Paramedics if they choose. “My only concern with the pause,” Councilmember Bonilla said, “is how those community members are going to get this kind of service. Even if it’s only 14% of people who are getting care, that’s still 14% more that may not be getting it otherwise.”
The Fire Chief suggested that the pause could begin at the end of the Fiscal Year in June. After that, the team would evaluate, plan, and work on building the new program. “It just depends on how long it takes for us to find that money,” he said. Councilmember Bonilla responded, “I certainly don’t see the calls for service decreasing anytime soon.”
Councilmember Syrop celebrated the HEART program and the ripple effects it’s had across the country. “I thought we came up with a really unique and interesting solution,” he said, “that has been a role model for cities all across the country.” He expressed interest in finding money for community paramedics, even going so far as to sort of hint at maybe using Measure K1 money to pay for it.
Councilmember Andrews expressed dissatisfaction with the County, specifically around St. Regis, and suggested that they should pay for it because of that. “I think the county should fund our community paramedic program,” she said. “If they’re going to put St. Regis downtown, they need to help us. I am very concerned about this facility not getting the support it needs and impacting our city and impacting our downtown.” Councilmember Roche agreed that the County could help.
The St. Regis building will be run by Bay Area Community Services (BACS) in conjunction with the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency Office of Homeless Care and Coordination and Behavioral Health departments. It will provide inpatient care and be one of the largest expansions of emergency mental health care that the region has seen in years. The project has, unfortunately, faced both some community criticism and construction delays over the years.
Councilmember Andrews then said she was concerned about the partnership with South Hayward Parish (SHP). “I want to see the results of the working group before we commit to additional beds,” she said. This is in reference to the Weekes Park working group that Councilmember Andrews advocated for, which sought to address the unhoused residents living in Weekes Park. It is unclear why Councilmember Andrews is critical of SHP, though she has made comments alluding to issues at multiple meetings.
Councilmember Goldstein celebrated the program’s metrics, specifically the 14% of people who had taken services from them. “I was actually going to say a pretty remarkably high percentage,” he said. He also asked about cost savings from the program. The Fire Chief said that the MIHU contacts drove a 25% decrease in 911 calls from the highest single user in the City, and an 85% decrease in the second-highest user.
While nothing was decided at this meeting, the Council seemed supportive of pausing MIHU for reevaluation.