Trains, Navigation Center, and Investments
In Which: We speculate why the City is suing Union Pacific, A year on and no sign of ethical investment policy, And Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo's parting comments from the CSC
Speculation Station: Railway Litigation
The Hayward City Council is meeting in Closed Session today to discuss pending litigation against Union Pacific Railroad. There’s an upcoming “Status Conference” with Judge Maxine M. Chesney scheduled for February 28th in San Francisco, but the contents of the lawsuit are unclear. In order to get details, someone would need to have a PACER account and each search costs $0.10, let alone getting copies of any of the documents.
There are a number of gripes that the City has had with Union Pacific, including issues with accessing unhoused people on the Union Pacific right-of-way—which is technically private property—and being a roadblock for the preferred East Bay Greenway alignment on unused tracks paralleling Mission Blvd. If I had to choose between the two, I’d imagine the former—other cities would be joining in if it was over the East Bay Greenway alignment.
Although it’s possible that gaining access could get the unhoused folks on the tracks access to additional care, given the lack of shelter beds, it’s far more likely that HPD would then have full license to roust them in the name of public health or safety.
Spending Money And Off-Loading Land
The Consent Calendar is a portion of the agenda containing items deemed “non-controversial” by City Staff and therefore not requiring discussion. But a lot of important things can be approved with a wave of the hand, so let’s take a peek at what Council won’t be talking about.
Getting Rid Of The Navigation Center
The City is starting the process of winding down the Navigation Center on Depot Road. For those who don’t know, the Hayward Navigation Center is a set of shelters operated by Bay Area Community Services (BACS) that has largely been successful at getting people off the street. It’s been in operation since 2019 and, although nowhere near big enough, has been widely viewed positively by housing advocates since it’s construction.
However, the location on Depot Road has never been ideal. It is a long way from anything resembling amenities and, as was demonstrated in 2022, is dangerously close to Calpine energy plant. Although the buildings are temporary and nearing the end of their useful lifetime, the future of the Navigation Center remains uncertain. The Staff report says that the services will be relocated to “another location in Hayward,” though no location appears to have been identified for certain. The Staff Report says that BACS is in discussion with the City around moving Navigation Center operations to the St. Regis facility, but while multiple informal sources within the City feel certain about it, no deal has been finalized.
Declaring the Navigation Center parcel as Surplus Land begins a process. The next steps are to send notices to multiple agencies interested in surplus land. Any that submit notices of interest within 60 days are guaranteed to get negotiations in good faith with the City for at least 90 days—at least 5 months. After that, the City can do almost whatever it likes with it—unless someone wants to build housing. Given the location of the parcels, that seems unlikely.
Hayward Investment Policy Updates
This time in 2024, the City of Hayward—at the behest of the general public—divested from multiple companies doing business with the genocidal Israeli state. This annual update to the investment policy confirms that the City’s investments in Caterpillar, Chevron, Hyundai, and Intel have been liquidated and reinvested in other companies.
While the City Council had a rare split vote—4 to 3—in favor of divestment, something all of the Councilmembers seemed in favor of was a considered ethical investment policy. Councilmember Syrop, at the time, said that he would introduce an ethical investment policy at a subsequent Council Budget and Finance Committee meeting. Unfortunately, one year later, it appears that an ethical investment policy is nowhere in sight.
This year’s update to the City Investment Policy only includes “clarifying language stating that mortgage-backed securities issued by federal agencies are exempt from the Code’s requirements described in Section 53601(o) for privately issued asset- and mortgage- backed securities.” Basically, it’s aligning with other laws saying that it’s okay to invest in mortgage-backed securities if the federal government issued them.
There is no mention of an ethical investment policy, despite almost unanimous support for the idea from the City Council.
Bruckner-Carrillo’s Parting Shot
HUSD School Board Trustee Austin Bruckner-Carrillo resigned from the Community Services Commission (CSC) on December 16th, shortly before being sworn in as a Trustee. Elected officials are not allowed to serve on City commissions as it could be a conflict of interest between agencies.
In his resignation letter, Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo outlined a number of the CSC’s achievements, including supporting the development and implementation of the Hayward Navigation Center, affirming the significance of Black Lives Matter through actionable recommendations, and engaging in the City’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo stressed the CSC’s “contributions to advancing equity, transparency, and accountability in our city.”
He then pivoted to defending the CSC’s actions around the Community Advisory Panel to the Chief of Police (CAP). “The CSC’s recent work on transparency issues surrounding the Police Chief’s Advisory Panel (CAP) exemplifies its commitment to accountability and justice,” he said. “Punishing the CSC for addressing valid concerns risks eroding trust in both the Commission and the broader community.” Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo then said he looked forward to fostering collaboration between HUSD and the CSC, though it is unclear what form that partnership would take.
Trustee Bruckner-Carrillo then closed with a plea to the City Council. “I hope the Council will rearm its commitment to the CSC,” he said, “and provide it with the respect, resources, and autonomy it needs to continue making meaningful contributions to Hayward’s future.” Given the City Council’s past remarks, and the recent appointment of Councilmember Ray Bonilla Jr. as liaison to the CSC, that seems unlikely to happen.
More Money, More Planning
The City of Hayward is going to spend $2,550,000 of a US Department of Transportation grant on consultants to develop a High Injury Network Safety Plan. If you feel like you’ve heard this before, you’re not wrong. Hayward already approved a Local Road Safety Plan back in 2023, which cost $90,000 of a Caltrans grant. Part of the Local Road Safety Plan was to develop a High Injury Network Safety Plan—a plan to plan a plan.
The entire purpose of these plans is to make the City safer for everyone who isn’t in a car. This is objectively a good thing to be doing, but given the fact that we already have a document listing 33 different road treatments to improve pedestrian, vehicle, and bike safety, one wonders how many more plans are necessary. I understand infrastructure is expensive and you only really get to do it once—unless you don’t, I guess, said the Patrick Bike Lane Project—but there is such a thing as over-planned.
It’s possible that the grants available for this only fund plans, leaving the actual cost of construction to the local jurisdictions. That would be peak federal government. But I think it’s important to remember that we can throw millions of dollars at plans, but if we never implement them, it’s money wasted.
It would be more effective to spend $3,000,000 on improving a few intersections or stretches of road we’ve already identified as being problems—we have a High Injury Network map already—than spending the same amount on consultants developing an elaborate 200 page plan telling us to spend $300,000,000 on the whole system and also we should start with these spots on the High Injury Network.
But if you’re interested in keeping pedestrians and cyclists alive, keep an eye out for the very expensive plan care of Kimley-Horn and Fehr and Peers. It’s your tax dollars paying for it.