New Chief Seeks to Build Bridges
Chief Bryan Matthews sets the tone of his leadership, Litigation Speculation, and Safe Streets Plan costs big money.
Chief Matthews Officially Sworn In
Police Chief Matthews was officially sworn in during a ceremony in the City Hall Rotunda on February 1st at 3:00pm. Some of us had work, but it still managed to be a veritable who’s who of local electeds and administrators: Assembly member Liz Ortega, Supervisor Elisa Márquez, Trustee and Russell City Descendent Aisha Knowles, HARD General Manager James Wheeler, a representative of the NAACP, and the presidents of Chabot and CSUEB. Councilmembers current and former were there, as well, with the whole current Council, the past two mayors Sweeny and Halliday, at least three former City Councilmembers.
Chief Matthews has been working in the Hayward Police Department for about 25 years and has deep connections to the local political establishment. Not only has he made connections while an officer, but also from his membership in the Rotary Club, the Board of the Hayward Education Foundation, and the Police Department’s Junior Giants Summer Baseball Program. Having come up through the ranks of the same department can engender a lot of respect from the rank-and-file, which is an asset to a leader that his predecessor didn’t necessarily have.
Mayor Mark Salinas led the speeches and couldn’t help but roll in his Education City pitch to the occasion. Citing Matthews’ birth in Hayward and education at Chabot College and CSUEB, Mayor Salinas said “Chief Matthews represents the cradle to career pathway in an education city.” He called Matthews and himself “Hayward Native Sons,” for having both been born in Hayward—despite Matthews having spent his youth at CVUSD schools like Canyon Middle School and Castro Valley High School.
Mayor Salinas said Matthews was “willing to pursue good reforms” in the Police Department, holding the view that “police reform and holding people accountable can exist at the same time.” That this so-called “accountability” can include murder without trial was left unsaid. Mayor Salinas then announced that he had minted a Challenge Coin—a practice which ties the armed forces and police together—and closed with a call for St. Michael—the patron saint of police due to being a leader of the heavenly armies that defeat Satan in Revelations—to protect him.
When it was his turn to speak, Matthews framed himself as being a problem solver, bridge builder, and community member. “We are fortunate to have a Mayor and Council who are engaged on public safety issues and truly want what’s best for this community.” He spoke, vaguely, of the need for more work on the part of police, “As a profession, we have to do better and have to commit to learning.” Historically, this has taken the form of further investment in educating police officers at the detriment of community services.
Matthews also obliquely recognized the historic development of police departments in the United States—though he fell short of openly stating that many started as slave catchers. “When we engage with the community wearing this uniform, we bring that [history] and these experiences [with law enforcement] with us,” he said. “I didn’t understand that when I started this profession.” This is more of a recognition of systemic harm than I would have expected from a police chief and solidifies his pitch as a bridge builder.
This event, though definitely staged, is an attempt to set the tone of Matthews’ time as Hayward Police Chief. His deep ties to the political community and long history in the City make him a known quantity for leadership. And while the community should welcome a Police Chief who is open to change, the true test will come when budgets are being allocated or unhappy community members descend on City Hall in the future.
Speculation Station
During the Closed Session, the first business is to handle the annual performance evaluations of the City Manager and the City Clerk. I’m not sure that we’ll ever catch what the results of this performance evaluation are, but I have no doubt that it’s mostly a formality at this point. Neither seem in danger of losing their jobs. Though, interestingly, the City Clerk’s evaluation is also listed in a Closed Session of the Appointed Officers Committee.
Lopez v. City of Hayward has been going on since 2019. I know the law takes time, but five years feels like a really long time. It’s difficult to know what, exactly, this is about. It looks like Maria Elena Lopez is probably a Hayward Resident, so I’m guessing it has to do with property damage of some kind that the City caused. Either way, it’s been forced into settlement of some kind. It’s technically “publicly available”, if you’re willing to pay. But I’m not, so speculate away!
There’s also one more meeting about “potential litigation” but nothing solidified quite yet. Who knows what it could be?
Big Money For Safe Streets
The City is pulling in $3.25 million from the Federal Highway Administration to come up with a plan to make our streets safer. The grant is to help address the streets that make up the “High Injury Network” in Hayward, which is the few streets where over 75% of the injuries and deaths occur. You can see the network on the map below.
Unsurprisingly, it’s just about every street that has 3 lanes in each direction, the Loop, and B Street. But before we get too excited about a serious road diet, it’s important to point out that the whole grant is only going to developing a plan. $3,830,000 will go to drafting the High Injury Network Safety Plan and $235,000 will go to a Speed Management Plan—the City is putting in some money of its own as a condition of the grant.
This seems like a lot of money to spend to develop a plan to narrow the streets, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll even do that. Unfortunately, narrowing streets has proven unpopular in the past. Hopefully some local advocacy and organizing group will be able to push things in the right direction.