HUSD To Decide Districts Tomorrow
In Which: Mayor cancels a Homelessness meeting at the last minute. Police Officers see big pay bump as other staff still fight. And City renews contracts for emergency shelters.
HUSD To Decide Districts Tomorrow
The Hayward Unified School District Board of Trustees will vote on the final district maps on Wednesday June 26th. This will be the last time the public has a chance to weigh in on the maps. Members of the public can get access at the Board Website.
The board will vote on one of three maps. You can learn more about the maps under the Maps tab on that page. Each has its own pros and cons and have taken different community input into account. The Board will make the final decision, so weigh in now!
One thing that is still unclear is the sequence the districts will be voted upon. While they won’t go into effect until 2026, nobody knows yet which districts will be voted on first. It’s possible that this will be decided after the map has been settled, but it will have to be decided on eventually.
Mayor Cancels Homelessness Meeting At Last Minute
Mayor Mark Salinas cancelled the Homelessness and Housing Task Force (HHTF) meeting mere hours before it was supposed to take place. Scheduled for 6pm on Thursday, June 20th, City Staff posted the cancellation notice at 4:40pm, with no date given for the rescheduled meeting.
The agenda contained two items: an opportunity for the community to provide feedback on Hayward seeking a Prohousing designation by the State (which will also go to the Planning Commission on Thursday), and deciding whether or not to convert the Homelessness and Housing Task Force to a standing committee. Both of these items could have provided big boosts to addressing the City’s Housing Emergency, declared at the end of January.
The City Council expressed an interest in making the HHTF a standing committee in April, citing the Housing Emergency declaration and that housing and homelessness have consistently been top of mind for Haywardistes. Mayor Salinas and Councilmember Dan Goldstein—two members of the HHTF—sought to suspend or cancel it entirely, citing Staff capacity, lack of public engagement, and multiple cancelled meetings.
The HHTF has had meetings cancelled twice this year—it has yet to meet in 2024—and three times last year, with the September meeting being pushed into December. The HHTF is scheduled to meet quarterly and has been the birthplace of housing policy, like the Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which caps rent increases to 5% per year.
The next HHTF meeting has yet to be officially rescheduled.
Council To Take Summer Recess
City Council will be taking a break from meeting until August 20th. This is a regular occurrence and, although the City will still be doing business, it also means that this next meeting is going to have a LOT going on. So be prepared for a big update on Thursday, fam.
Sidewalk Vendor Law Goes Into Effect In 30 Days
The new enforcement to the Sidewalk Vendor Ordinance will go into effect 30 days after it’s approved tonight. Council voted in favor of adding the ability for Code Enforcement to impound the equipment of street vendors who don’t comply with the rules. This will be on top of the existing fine structure that has been in place since November.
Despite the primary holdup for vendors being getting County permits, some on the City Council have been vocally opposed to street vendors at all. Staff still promised it would rely on education first and foremost, but, of the 70+ vendors they have had contact with, precisely 0 have gone through the full licensing process.
Street Vendors should beware of having their equipment impounded and their perishables (food, flowers, etc.) destroyed if they violate the ordinance starting July 26.
Salary Updates For Most
Although the Closed Session agenda still has contract negotiations for all units listed, the new Salary Schedules will be approved tonight by the City Council. Below are some highlights:
Police Continue To Get Big Bucks
Base salaries for sworn Police Officers are set to increase from $113,700 to $131,700—on top of the $10,000 signing bonus. The City also negotiated with the Hayward Police Officer’s Association—the Cop union—to set scheduled pay increases for the next 5 years. In 2025, they’ll receive a 5.5% across-the-board increase and at least 5% more every year until 2028.
In 2029, a Full Survey will go into effect—looking at salaries across the Bay Area to adjust the salaries to be more competitive. The Full Survey is intended to prevent salaries from lagging and causing cops to leave for wealthier jurisdictions. “It was important to address external equity throughout the course of these negotiations to secure retention at the management level during a time when agencies nationwide are struggling to retain sworn staff at all levels,” the Investigations Division Captain wrote in the Staff Report.
But this also serves to consolidate regional Cop unions into one mega-bargaining unit. If one city gives their cops a pay bump, the rest will eventually have to follow suit. The most recent survey concluded that HPD was 10% behind the top 4 agencies in the region, including far wealthier cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, and used it to justify the pay increases.
The “Educational Incentive Program”, which increases salary for educational attainment, also went up. The cap for educational attainment increased from 12.5% to 13.5%, and can be combined with a Continuous Service Pay for an increase of up to 26% of base pay—or $171,210 for the bottom step.
These increases will cost the city $5,800,000 for FY 25 alone and almost $26,000,000 over the 5.5 years of the contract.
Fire Department Sees Relatively Modest Increase
The Fire Department also saw their Continuous Service Pay increase up to 12% for 25 years of service, whereas the HPOA gets a 15% increase at 24 years. The Fire Department’s union also has a Full Survey, though that language wasn’t changed for the most recent contract.
This increase will cost the City $240,000 over the contract term.
Other Employees Still Negotiating
Although the Firefighter and Police unions have settled their contract, a spokesperson for SEIU 1021 described the recent Cost Of Living Allocation (COLA) which the City offered its members as “insulting.” Negotiations between the Staff unions (SEIU 1021, HAME, and IFPTE 21) and the, City have been ongoing for months.
Since the employees represented by these unions include clerical staff, maintenance staff, and department management staff—without whom the City would cease to function immediately—we hope for a satisfying resolution to negotiations.
City Renews Contracts for Unhoused Shelters
Bay Area Community Services (BACS) and First Presbyterian Church of Hayward (FPCH) will receive a total of almost $3,000,000 to provide beds and services for our unhoused neighbors in Hayward. BACS will receive $2,500,000 to operate the Hayward Navigation Shelter and FPCH will receive around $448,000 to operate the South Hayward Parish emergency shelter. The money will come from a combination of Measure C funds, State funds, Federal funds, HEART funding, and some general funds from the Community Services Department.
The BACS-run Hayward Navigation Shelter has been a huge part of the City’s homelessness reduction plan and provides wrap-around services for people who are fortunate enough to get a spot. Even being located deep in the industrial area—formerly Russell City—far away from amenities and even transit routes, they have a very high home-placement rate. They also recently opened up 65 shelter beds.
The South Hayward Parish shelter is one of the very few drop-in emergency shelters in Alameda County—the rest require placement through a lengthy process. They previously had a contract as a warming shelter, only providing beds when it’s below 45 or with a high chance of rain. However, Hayward stepped up and funded them for a year-round drop-in shelter. They currently have 21 beds and are an integral partner with the HEART program—which is why HEART is offering some funding for them.
$500,000 For Cop HQ Site Design
The new Public Safety Center will be coming to the Hayward Airport—near Tuskegee Airmen Drive—but what form it ultimately takes is still up for consideration and dependent on funding. $500,000 from Measure C will be used to develop the plans for the proposed facility and will presumably come with a range of options.
Staff reports and comment during Council Meetings have indicated that, depending on funding, the facility could be a “cop shop”—a pure Police HQ—or could also bring in Youth and Family Services (currently housed, at least in part, on the corner of B and Main) and Animal Services (off of Jackson Blvd). With up to eight acres of land to play with, there’s plenty of room for planning big. If the Measure C extension passes in November, which is very likely, City Council will probably push for the more expansive option.