Progressive candidates could shake up Hayward
Thirteen candidates vying for four City Council spots
HAYWARD >> Hayward voters could change the city’s political makeup this November as candidates who are unabashedly progressive seek a spot on the City Council, which for years has leaned moderate.
The possible political shake-up comes as renters fear being evicted amid the COVID-19 pandemic and against a backdrop of national civil unrest over how police interact with people of color.
Voters will have plenty of choices: Thirteen candidates, including three incumbents, are vying for four seats on the seven-member council.
Newcomers Lacei Amodei and Elisha Crader, running as a slate, say they were spurred into activism by the Bay Area’s housing crisis.
“Our campaign is a direct outgrowth of our advocacy,” Amodei told a League of Women Voters forum. “In fact, our conversation to do this campaign took place in the council chambers after we took stock of how long it took to put in place basic renter protections.”
Amodei, a law clerk, and Crader, who has worked as a housing rights advocate at Oakland’s Centro Legal de la Raza, have spoken at council
meetings about high rents in Hayward for more than a year.
Amodei and Crader want any rent increases capped at the Consumer Price Index, or 2% to 3%, according to their website. In Hayward, the ma x imum allowed annual rent is 5%
lso aiming to secure a seat is democratic socialist Néstor Castillo, who teaches courses at San Francisco State University and Cal State East Bay that focus on the Latino community.
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has endorsed Amodei, Crader and Castillo, as well as 16 other candidates running for local offices statewide — an unusual step for a national political figure.
Castillo calls for lowering the ma x imum allowed annual rent to 2.5%.
If A modei, Crader or Castillo are elected, they likely would align with Councilwoman Aisha Wahab, the most progressive council member. If all three were elected, it could potentially create a power bloc on the seven-member council.
Castillo wants to reduce the police budget by 10% and “reappropriate funds allocated to police to go towards economic development, job security, housing, public health and other areas that create a safer and more resilient city,” according to his website.
Amodei and Crader say they want unarmed people, independent of police, to handle noncriminal emergency calls, such as mental health crises, as well as carry out traffic enforcement and respond to domestic disputes.
Their proposal follows the council requiring an independent investigation into all Hayward police fatal shootings. The council approved the policy after the November 2018 police killing of Agustin Gonsalez, a slaying that led to raucous protests at council meetings.
Councilman Francisco
Zermeno, first elected in 2008, is seeking another term.
“I will continue to advocate for solutions for affordable housing, homelessness, safe communities and our environment,” Zermeno said in his candidate statement. The Chabot College instructor says he is an advocate for shopping local.
Also running for reelection are Mark Salinas and Elisa Marquez.
“My desire to serve is to do what’s in the best interest for as many people as possible,” Marquez told the league forum. “This is my home, and I feel we can all do our best to make it a safer, happier and a more livable community.”
Salinas favors using data, such as from the U.S. census or information that already is being collected by the city, to better identify where the quality of life can be improved.
“What do we need to do to reach those neighborhoods?” Salinas said in an interview. “It’s about using data to set priorities. It’s about using data to measure success.”
Salinas said that he supports efforts to protect renters, plus programs that provide housing for people at all income levels.
Marquez is willing to look at police reform amid the national conversation about how law enforcement interacts with the public.
“I am sure there is room for improvement,” she said during an interview. “I am definitely open to proposals for change. But we need more data on what, if anything, should be changed.”
The city is conducting a community survey on public safety.
She also supports updating Hayward’s tree protection ordinance to include a goal of planting 1,000 trees annually to boost air quality.
Salinas teaches at Chabot, Las Positas and Laney community colleges. Marquez is a Santa Clara County Superior Court investigator.
Another candidate making a bid is Angela Andrews, a Hayward planning commissioner and a capital program manager at Contra Costa’s West County Wastewater District.
She’s the former chair of the city’s Keep Hayward Clean and Green Task Force.
“I have fought for good jobs, affordable housing projects so that residents can afford to live in Hayward,” Andrews told the league. “I want my daughter to live in the city she grew up in.”
Other candidates in the race are Son Nguyen, a Republican who made an unsuccessful try at capturing Assemblyman Bill Quirk’s seat in the March primary; Tom Fe r - reira, a hospital emergency room technician who was a council candidate in November 2018; and Joe Ramos, an account manager who ran unsuccessfully for the Ha y - ward Unified school board in 2016.
Nguyen said fighting COV ID -1 9 must be a priority, and Ferreira said any new housing projects in Hayward should include at lea st 20% units that are affordable.
The others are Chris Lozano, an attorney and accountant, and Olympia Pereira, a restaurant server, as well as Darrelle Demps, whose background is in human resources and who was formerly on the National Black MBA Association’s board of directors.
Lozano said that he would push to have more companies open in Hayward as a way to create jobs, and Demps noted that she has lived in Hayward more than 30 years and that she would work with local businesses to provide job growth.
Ramos and Pereira did not provide candidate statements.