City Council - Regular Meeting

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Okay, I'm going to tell Are we ready? Our next item is uh public or our close session announcement. Mr. City Attorney,

Mayor and Council, the close session convened at 5:30 with council members Roach and Bonia Jr. absent. There were two items, one labor, the other property. The council took over portable action on either item and the close session adjourned at 6:48.

Thank you. Um, next item is public comment. This is reserved for anybody in the public that would like to make a public comment on something that is not on the agenda. I know I have uh comment cards on items that is on the agenda, but I do have one card that is um uh on an item that is uh not on the agenda. And I'd like to call upon Danny McGallis. Good evening, Mayor and Council and executive team and everyone in the public. I'll try and be as brief as possible because I know we have a very important session to work on tonight. Um, just want to say concession bargaining is here again. Phase two, as we've come to know it, structural change is the goal. Uh, structural change, transparency, these are buzzwords that are important to everyone involved this time. For the record, we worked diligently to reach agreement during phase one, meeting with the city up to and on December 23rd. Uh we actually even presented an offer to our membership the week of January 5th trying to come up with some sort of a agreement. Um as everyone knows we weren't able to at that time. Uh city workers know their city. They love their city. They provided many ideas independently and through bargaining groups to uh to Genty Adelman to Mary Thomas to uh council and uh they were given consideration and to her credit our new city manager Jen Au has taken the baton and started running with a lot of these things and you guys are taking action too and we appreciate that. Um Jen acknowledged these ideas and credited bargaining groups for some of these ideas during the February 28th work session. also again during the March 5th uh address uh to all staff and as well as to uh the labor meeting uh bargaining session. So we all know what's going on yet. It feels like we're

heading down the same road that failed to bring agreements just a few months ago. We're just starting so I have a lot of hope and we still have time. Um we're we're looking at some savings opportunities uh on the payroll obligation and uh we're being asked to look more at structural change. Um we have prevented structural change. The structural change is being implemented. More will be implemented going forward. We're offering to work with the city while we give these things an opportunity to work. Um we know the situation is dire. That's not lost on any of us. We know, we understand the budget problems, but what we also know is that these problems didn't occur overnight. They're going to take some time to be fixed and we want to help, but we also want to be sure that we're taking care of our work staff because this work staff is important to what goes on on this city every day. I appreciate your time and again don't want to take up too much time because I know we got a very important topic tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Um I don't have any more cards. Oh. Um.

Oh, yeah. Uh, Council Member Andrews,

I wanted to make this public comment at the beginning, but I wanted to give a congratulations to the Cal State East Bay men's basketball team on their journey as they are the only undefeated team in the country, but they they have a current record of 33 and 0 and they are heading to nationals. So, congratulations Pioneers. I also want to congratulate a Hayward resident by the name of Abayomi who is currently in the top 20 on American Idol right now. So, keep going, baby girl. We see you. Congratulations. And you're you're already a star. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Um uh uh moving on to city manager comments. Madam city manager.

Great. Thank you, Mayor Selenus. I have a couple of announcements, but before I get to them, I want to speak briefly about a matter of which the council, city employees, and members of the Hayward community are aware. Earlier this month, Hayward Police Officer Ben Yarbor was arrested and charged in connection with a criminal investigation into illegal brothel led by the San Jose Police Department. Normally, I would not comment on a criminal case pending in the courts, but in this case, I do want to say this. As soon as the Hayward Police Department learned Officer Yarborough was a subject of the investigation, he was placed on administrative leave and the department cooperated fully with investigators and the Alama County District Attorney's Office. The conduct alleged in this case is in no way a reflection of the professional men and women of the Hayward Police Department who are dedicated to the safety and well-being of every member of the Hayward community. Chief Brian Matthews and the entire department have demonstrated extraordinary professionalism throughout what has been a very trying situation and Chief Matthews and the HBO HBD have my full confidence and support. So now turning to my planned announcements. Um first the city of Hayward wants to invite the Hayward community to help us celebrate Earth Day at the annual citywide cleanup and community fair which will be held at Weeks Park on Saturday, April 25th. Together, we will pick up litter and debris across several neighborhoods before returning to the park for a free lunch catered by El Takito. And voluntary check-in will begin at 8 a.m. near the Weeks Park community center at the litter and the litter pickup will begin at 8:30 a.m. Closed towed shoes, sun protection, and reusable water bottles are highly recommended. Um advanced registration is available through the city of Hayward website. Um, next, as recently announced um in the stack e newsletter, the city of Hayward has opened its annual recruitment period for applicants to serve on five city commissions. Service on these h city council appointed bodies is a great way to serve Hayward and is open to all residents. Currently, there

are vacancies on the clean and green community ser and green community services library personnel and planning commissions. The application period for consideration for appointment to one of these bodies closes on July 31st. For for more information on commissioner duties, how to apply, and the selection process, contact the office of the city clerk at city clerk@hayward-ca.gov or 51-5834400. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh okay. Uh moving on to our consent calendar. um 1 through 7. Items 1 through 7. Uh Council Member Andrews has asked to comment on items 1 through three.

Yes, thank you. Um for the first item, I wanted to know if there can be an update on the downtown action plan as it relates to the working group for this area. Uh I don't know when is the last time we had an update, but I think it was a 90-day uh working group uh project. So I just wanted to know for this specific item how we looking at safety in the area for that for that area on the navigation center in particular or Regis Village Regis Village and how I just want to see how the safety is going at both locations if that's okay.

Yes. with this operator. Yeah, I think we've there is um there have been some back and forth with um HPD and and to pull together some crime stats and different things so we can provide that to council that information. Yeah.

Okay. Thank you. And then for the third one, I just wanted to thank the Edward Michael Nes Trust for um um donating for the cat and um spay and neuter program at the Hayward Animal Shelter. Really appreciate the trust for donating. Um and then the third item is regarding the uh treatment plant. Just wanted to know if this is an item that we can have as a standing item at the infrastructure committee just for updates just because it's such a large project. Absolutely. Yes, we can bring that to you from time to time. Okay. Thanks. Uh thank you. And I uh council member or mayor pro Tim Cyro.

Thank you. Just a quick comment number two as well. Just for folks that are unaware, we are accepting a grant for trapneuter vaccination and return. Uh, and this has been a program that's very very popular in our community, especially where there's a lot of wild or feral cats in the neighborhoods. And I'm just pleased that we're continuing to find funding for this important program so that we have animal control in our in our city. So, I just appreciate staff for helping piece together this this grant and making sure that this program remains in our city.

Thank you. Um, so I uh what I'd like to do next is I'd like to close questions from council, go to public comment on the consent calendar. I don't have any cards and I don't see anybody online, so I will close public comment and return and uh entertain a motion. Oh, maybe I should let me do this. Uh moved by council member Goldstein, seconded by Mayor Prom Cyrup, and uh madam city clerk, if you can take role and the item passes with five yays and two absent. Um, moving on to our work session. Uh, item eight, which is uh item eight, which is our work session, traffic safety initiatives and uh response. And we're going to um we're going to have a report from our public uh our public works director uh and and he there is a team assembled. We I know I see Lieutenant uh Sill coming up and I believe um uh PL uh engineer traffic engineer

Byron

Yes. Uh um up on deck. So before I um um before I turn it over to staff, um I do want to make a couple of comments about uh about this. Um, you know, February, as we know, uh, was, uh, a tough month, uh, in this city. Um, uh, we had, uh, three, uh, fatal incidences. Um, and, uh, and they were all, um, involving a a pedestrian, uh, and a vehicle. Um, you know, I, uh, a couple weeks ago at my, uh, state of the city, uh, I addressed this. Um, I want to express our sincere sympathies and our condolences to the families who are grieving today. Um, uh, nobody likes to see this happen. And, um, and when when incidences like this happen, uh, particularly uh, in this close in time, uh, it hurts. It it hurts a it hurts a city. And, um, and it impacts the the whole community and and the whole community um uh read about it and and and and you know I received emails about it and and I'm sure mo many of us up here did and so I wanted to express uh condolences and sympathies uh to the families but one of the things that I also mentioned at the state of the city is I said that when cases when incidences like this happen um it's a call for more than just words, right? Uh it it's a call for improvement and it's a call for uh for action and um and that's where uh and that's

where we are at today. Uh the conversation today is um looking at our um our safety plan, our our local safety plan when it comes to roads. Um, and we do have uh, you know, we do have strategies. What we're going to see today is immediate strategies, short-term strategies, and we're going to see long-term strategies. Um, conversely, I also want to uh mention something that, you know, that I had raised uh at the state of the city and and it was the the observation that uh that I'm making and I know many of us up here are are making it. Uh it's emails that we get um regularly. Uh and it's frustration we see uh online. uh you know I mean we we look at social media like everyone else and there is a growing um a growing pattern today. Um we're seeing a lot more speeding all over the city. Um we're seeing uh reckless speeding all over the city. Um, we're seeing more people, more cars, more uh vehicles and pedestrians interfacing each other, you know, interfacing with each other. We're seeing more bicycles and cars. Um, we have um ebikes that are fast. We have bicyclists that are uh increasingly riding faster. Um, and a new a new trend I guess over the last couple of summers, spring summers that I've observed and we see them uh is now we have uh sort of uh critical mass.

We have all these teenagers now that are shutting down roads and you know uh taking over entire you know sometimes taking over a freeway in some cases. It's dangerous what's happening out there. And when incidences like this, I mean, I'm surprised one of these middle schoolers or high schoolers, I I'm I'm surprised nothing has happened yet,

at least in our city. I don't know about other cities, but um you know, uh council member Andrews uh and mayor pro Tim Cyrup and I we sit on the infrastructure committee and we have been grappling uh with these uh issues. We have been working through these issues. Um and you know and I would say you know after based on some of the meetings um the solutions that we are that that staff has proposed and the solutions that we talk through and the solutions that we want to sort of that we are sort of uh sort of looking to implement. They're not without controversy. we get push back on some of this stuff and um and so you know today and and you know um this topic today it's not only timely but I think it's come to a this point where uh we need to have a very serious serious conversation as a as a city and talk about what we're seeing out there. Um because as clearly uh the three incidences that we uh had in January, they happened at three different times of the day in you know in three generally different areas of the city. So there's it's it's happening all over. And so, um, as we enter, as we go into this, uh, staff report and the presentation, um, you know, I just want us to really sort of think this through. We need to be honest about what we're seeing out in the city right now. We need to be honest of what we're seeing in the neighborhood. Weather's getting better. Uh, spring is here, summer is coming, and um, you know, and we have, you know, not to go off on a tangent, but you know, we are launching Hayward Rides where we're going to see, you

know, approximately 2,000 new bicyclists out into the city. I mean, we're really trying to um uh you know, uh create a culture here, uh and and an al and and and create a culture of alternative modes of transportation that are better for the environment, uh better for for health, healthy kids, and and so forth. So, um we really I think the conversation today uh is is not only appropriate, but it's it's absolutely timely. And um with that said um I turn this over to our public works director and I'm looking forward to as I know the council is looking forward to a really good robust uh honest conversation about um road safety today. So thank you.

Thank you and good evening Mr. Mayor and council members. In response to call for action that you mentioned right now, the uh city staff has developed uh traffic safety initiative and response uh which is going to be presented to you uh tonight. Uh the uh initiatives include immediate action on on high injury network intersections, creating a vision zero uh crash response program, also raising awareness of street safety practices and uh deploying focused traffic and enforcement. Uh to present the report I have Brian uh Byron Tang who is our principal transportation engineer here who is going to tag team with Lieutenant Ryan Sil of Police Department and present the report. I'll turn it over to Byron to start us off. Byron.

Thank you Alex. Good evening Mayor City Council. My name is Byron and I will be um presenting today. Um, first I will go over the agenda and what we'll be talking about. Um, I will be talking about the purpose of this work session and I'll introduce our street safety team. After that, Lieutenant Sil will talk about uh give an update on the recent pedestrian fatalities and then I'll talk about vision zero and why making changes to the high injury network is important. And then we'll go over some of the short-term immediate actions that we'll be taking. In addition, we'll be talking about our short, medium, and long-term transportation projects to provide context to the whole safety initiative. And then we'll be talking about Lieutenant S will also talk about raising awareness for street safety practices and deploying focused traffic enforcement. So the purpose of this work session today is to first I know recently there were three pedestrian fatalities and um Lieutenant will be able to provide an update on those recent pedestrian fatalities and investigations on them. Staff has proposed short-term actions and quick build strategies to um address the safety issues that people are concerned about. I'm going to talk about what they are. I'll be providing information on city's long-term transportation goals and the projects and the context that they um how they fit within the whole safety strategy. And then most importantly, we're here to seek feedback from the council and the community on what we are going to present. So, I'm Byron Tang. I'm from the public works department and um to my left here is Ryan Sil who's a lieutenant from the traffic bureau. He will present on the actions the police department will be taking a lead on. And in the audience um

is from our maintenance services department, Armando Quantero, who's the streets manager. And he's also part of the street safety team because MSD or maintenance services department plays a very important role in supporting our projects. Now I'm going to hand it over to Lieutenant Sil to talk about the recent pedestrian fatalities.

Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here, mayor and council. Thank you for having me tonight to talk about this important issue. Uh in the month of February, we uh investigated unfortunately three fatal pedestrian traffic collisions. Uh they occurred at different times on different dates uh throughout the city in a period of 10 days. Uh so that was a significant period for my traffic bureau to investigate these three fatal collisions within that close time period. All three collisions are currently still being investigated by our traffic bureau. Uh information on all three is presented to you here. Um they all included the pedestrian. Uh the most significant um case was the Tennyson at Baldwin where unfortunately an elderly grandmother and her grandson were hit struck by a vehicle while in the crosswalk. Okay. So, I'm going to talk about vision zero and the high energy network and why it's so important to what we're talking about here. 2023 is a turning point for the city of Hayward on its approach to street safety. That's when we adopted the local road safety plan in vision zero. Vision Zero is a global strategy aimed at reducing traffic collisions um fatalities and severe injuries to zero. It started in Europe, had success and gained popularity over the over the whole world. Um there are cities in the US, many cities in the US now that have vision zero programs, including those in the San Francisco Bay area. The local road safety plan is important because it is the first of the city and it looked at a data driven approach to evaluating where we should be focusing our safety efforts.

To the right there is a map of the high injury network where it shows 14% of its of the city's roadway network but where 75% of these fatalities and severe injuries occur on There are two different colors on the map. The red is tier one roadway segments which makes up six centerline miles and 25% of the fatal and severe injury collisions. The yellow mark the yellow roadway segments are tier 2 and they are 41 center line miles and make up 50% of those fatal and severe injury collisions. This is important because having both vision zero and the local safety pol local safety plan um is when the city finally had the tools and the policy to approach safety in a different lens. The vision zero goal of the city is to have zero fatalities and severe injuries by 2050. But 2050 is far away. So what can we do now in the media to enhance safety? We will now talk about the things we are proposing tonight. And the first very important one is to take immediate action at the intersections with the most severe collisions. The 10 intersections you see here are those intersections. Tennyson Road, Baldwin, Foothill Mission and Jackson, Tennyson and Karoga, Huntwood Avenue and Montana, Hispan Sleepy Hollow, Hispan Turner, A Street and Foothill, Tennyson, Huntwood, Industrial and Roose. Eight of these 10 intersections are signalized and two of them don't have traffic signals.

To the right is an example of what we can do in the short term. We call these quick builds. This is Tennyson and Baldwin, the number one intersection. And it shows improvements including adding advanced yield lines which help um show where cars should stop in advance of the crosswalk so there's increased visibility and they are further away from the crosswalk. There's advanced warning signage improvements so when cars approaching the intersection can know that they are approaching an intersection that has a crosswalk. To the to the bottom and the top of the crosswalk are bulbouts using uh paint and flex posts. This shortens the crossing distance but also makes the whole crossing more visible. And then lastly, there is red curb paint which discourages cars from parking near the crosswalk and obstructing visibility. What is a quick build and why are we choosing this? Quick build projects are not new to the city. We have had three recently. Uh Campus Drive traffic calming, Mission Boulevard parking pilot and Orchard Avenue traffic calming pilot. These are pilot projects because we want the ability to tweak as necessary. The advantages of quick builds include faster delivery by reducing or eliminating traditional project phases and the use of lowcost materials. These improvements are often reversible, so we can make adjustments as necessary or reverse if there are um impacts that we weren't expecting. The drawback to quick build projects are they are made of materials that are less durable, require more maintenance and

for some feel that they are less aesthetically pleasing. I'll now hand it over to Lieutenant Sil to talk about the Vision Zero crash response program. The Vision Zero crash response is a multi-disciplinary response. It involves the police department, our partners at uh transportation engineering as well as our streets team. Uh the initial response is by our traffic bureau where we will respond to any fatal collision within the city of Hayward. Uh train investigators in vehicle reconstruction and fatal collisions are on scene to investigate these uh fatalities at the initial standpoint when they come out. Once the investigation is underway, we'll we'll move forward with meeting with our transportation engineering team to discuss factors involved in the collision and determine ways which areas can be improved. Uh whether it be traffic calming and in association with uh the associated factors that are a result of the collision itself. Finally, based on the information that we have and working in coordination with our other teams, we come up with a plan to improve that area. Um again, recommendations are uh completed. Those can be traffic calming measures, adjusting speed, um improving uh those those areas with other um implementations to reduce collisions in that area, whether it be lighting, uh crosswalks, um other signs that help to slow and calm traffic in that area to improve pedestrian safety. Okay, so these are the short-term transportation projects and some that we are proposing today. You saw in a recent slide that the top 10 hydrogen network in section quick builds we can start immediately.

Actually the first one Tennyson and Baldwin those improvements have already been implemented and we can um then look at the next nine within the next six months. This would be immediate and we would be able to enhance safety uh in very short term. In addition, other short-term measures we can take is evaluating no turn on red restrictions for high injury network intersections. Drivers are typically allowed to turn on red but sometimes um that involves making a decision and humans are prone to sometimes are prone to error. By restricting no turn on red at certain intersections that have higher collision rates, we can enhance safety by eliminating that movement. This requires careful evaluation, but is something our team is ready to do. Another short-term proposal that we are that we are we can do is devaluate leading pedestrian intervals for hydra network intersections. Uh the picture on the bottom right shows what this typically is. When uh when a pedestrian gets a walk signal, typically the green goes with the walk signal. But with an intersection with a leading pedestrian interval, the pedestrian gets to go first, typically with four to five seconds ahead of the cars. This allows the pedestrian to establish their presence and be more visible. It is proven and shown to enhance safety and something we're prepared to look at at all our high injury network intersections to implement. The city has implemented this at certain intersections um like walkins and B and mission and B but this would be more comprehensive in looking at the whole high network. Another short-term transportation um

effort, this is something that is existing is we do work with the engineering division and the payment improvement program to do quick build projects because pave pavement is annually repaved. That is an opportunity to restripe the road. Certain projects like the Santa Clara Street traffic calming project which is a CIP project in itself can take advantage of this and that's actually what's happening this year where Santa Clara Street traffic calming project will be implemented through the payment improvement program. Lastly, we will look into creating a vision zero web page where everyone and the public can access for resources on vision zero and a look at statistics as needed. Reports from the Vision Zero crash response team will also be posted on this web page. This is not a full list of the transportation projects. Um the attachment in the staff report will show the full a more full list of them, but it is a good example of the short-term projects that we um can do for increasing response to neighborhood traffic issues. I included this slide because not all of the work that public works does is project related. Access Hayward is a platform that residents can use to submit um submit requests for uh anything from safety related to maintenance requests. We have seen an increase in these requests every year since 2023. It's at a rate of 8.2% 2% per year and we receive between 700 to 800 of these requests every year.

In addition, work orders that are generated um transportation division generates work orders when we need support from maintenance services department. Just to show the difference of how much staff has um focused on this short on these short-term um requests. In 2024, we had 31 work orders generated. Last year, we generated 96, which is triple the amount that we usually do. I'm putting this here because it's um often unsung what how much um our staff is putting um into these. And I think it's worth mentioning um the hard work that they are going um going through. Now I'm going to talk a little bit about the medium-term transportation projects. Most of these projects are in the medium-term which is in one three years because their design is um likely not complete. So, the Hayward Boulevard pedestrian improvements will install crossing improvements and fill sidewalk gaps along Hayward Boulevard from CSU East Bay to Farm Hill Drive. Improvements include rectangular rapid flashing beacons, crosswalk enhancements, pedestrian refuge islands, and curb ramps. In 2025, the Orchard Avenue traffic calming pilot was completed. It installed quick build type improvements to reduce speeds and discourage cutth through on Orchard Avenue. Data collected in the evaluation showed reduced speeds and cut through traffic. Phase two of the improvements will seek to make those improvements permanent and planning efforts are anticipated to start later this year. The D Street traffic calming project will implement traffic calming and pedestrian improvements on D Street between Second Street and city limits. This includes curb extensions, realigning intersections, raised medians, and rapid flashing beacons. This project will start design soon.

And through the funding from the carb grant, traffic calming and pedestrian improvements will be implemented at 12 different school sites in Hayward through the safe routes to school project. This project is nearing completion of design and will need additional grant funding to move into construction. The safe routes for senior projects will install pedestrian improvements, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, and safety lighting at locations adjacent to Weeks Park where the Eden Healthcare Nursery Home Res resides near. There will be additional improvements to the intersection of Tennyson and Oliver, where another large senior community is located. This will help seniors walk to nearby bus stops and parks. The pedestrian traffic signal upgrade project looks to upgrade pedestrian signal infrastructure citywide by installing countdown signal heads at locations that do not currently have them and implementing accessible pedestrian signal activation devices. The Tennyson Road crossing project will upgrade the railroad crossing at Tennyson Road near Caesar Chavez Middle School. It will construct improvements such as crosswalk with Q cutter signals, modern gate arms and flashers, wider sidewalks, and bike infrastructure. This project is currently in early design. The nighttime safety enhancement plan will evaluate opportunities to improve nighttime safety through the use of safety lighting to prevent collisions. It will assess needs and evaluate gaps, identifying critical locations for future projects. The plan will also recommend and bring the city's safety lighting standards to line with best practices. The transportation division and the police department are currently in the early stages of gathering information and evaluating the feasibility of red light automated enforcement pilot. Although the city started and stopped the program over a decade ago, modern advances and efficiencies in technology have made these programs more feasible, and we are seeing more of them throughout California. In addition, some cities have shown that

these cameras could potentially double as speed cameras for future speed program if that becomes legal to implement in California for the rest of the cities. Staff plan to present to the council infrastructure and airport committee or city council this year on a potential proposal. Now, I'll talk a little bit about some of our long-term transportation projects through the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant. City of Hayward was awarded a planning grant to study major high injury network arterials. From this grant, we have the Safe Streets Downtown and Safe Streets Hayward projects. Safe Streets Downtown looks to reimagine the loop and Safe Streets Hayward looks to looks to um improve six major arterial corridors. I'll be speaking about those in um in some of the next slides. The East Bay Greenway is a project led by the Alama CTC that will construct a regional trail from Oakland to South Herbert Bar Station. The trail will provide a high quality bikeway that will be suitable for all ages and abilities. The Hayward portion of this project recently finished the scoping phase and will begin the environmental phase. Interchange Interstate 880 is a major heavily commuted freeway that also provides critical freight access between the port of Oakland and many Eastbay cities. From a city's perspective, it creates a barrier that makes it difficult for vulnerable road users to traverse. More than a decade ago, these interchange projects were programmed into regional plans. And since then, significant regional investments were made to get these projects where they are today. So, Safe Street Downtown started in 2025 and in 2025 through the summer outreach was done to

to ask the community what would a safe street um a new loop look like a reimagined loop. From that feedback, two options emerged. On the top left is a grid-like option and on on the bottom left is an option that keeps the alignment but with major traffic calming improvements. Both options make them two-way. To the right is also how B Street can be reimagined. Right now it is one way but it could be two-way. Right now the the project is currently going through the second range the second round of outreach where we are determining getting feedback from the community on these two options. Once an option is chosen the rest of the year will be spent developing a more detailed concept. Safe streets Hayward has been split up into two phases. Phase one is looking at Tennyson and Road, A Street, and B Street. And phase two is looking at Hispan Boulevard, Mission, and Jackson. Phase one started in 2025 and has been following the similar schedule that um Safe Streets Downtown has been following. Currently, it is um it is gathering um feedback from outreach to determine um which concepts are um preferred by the community for Tennyson Road, A Street, and B Street. for Safe Streets Hayward phase 2 Hispanic Mission in Jackson. That project is starting and the kickoff meeting will be happening um next month. There is an opportunity and this is something we would like to get feedback on from council for Safe Streets Hayward

when it completes towards the end of the year. We can prioritize tennis and road There is a safe streets and roads for all federal grant funding the last round cycle and we would we could seek implementation funds to and try to expedite Tennyson Road. This could be done if the staff expedite environmental and design and seek construction funding through this grant. This grant is expected to have a $25 million max. So if we were to seek construction funding, we would expect to only be able to do a part of Tennyson, which we would call the first phase, Mission Boulevard dus. This would show that we can that we are serious about road safety and that we want to push forward and improve one of our most dangerous corridors. To the bottom right is the ideal timeline if everything works out and if we get the funding that we would request. Environmental would be worked on on 2026. The environmental phase design phase could potentially start at 2027 and go through 2028 with construction starting as early as 2028 and 2029. But I re reiterate that this is a very ideal timeline. I do want to talk about one of the interchange projects. Interstate one of the projects that could very well be the first to be completed is the I880 interstate interchange at a street. When completed, it will provide two highquality 12t multi-use paths under the freeway. The existing pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure at the interchange is minimal and these improvements will align very well with eventual improvements that are being considered as part of the A Street Safe Streets Hayward project. I want to remind everyone that a more comprehensive list of projects can be

found as an attachment to the staff report for tonight's work session. Now I'm going to hand over to Lieutenant Sil to talk about raising awareness for street safety practices.

Okay. Okay. Thank you, Byron. Uh, in regards to the operation for the police department in coordination with the work that transportation is doing, uh, there's three points that we intend to do. That's education, engagement, and enforcement when it comes to improving traffic safety and pedestrian safety within our city. Uh, the primary goal of the police department is to improve the quality of life for the people that live and work in the city. Traffic safety is one of those primary goals to improve the quality of life for people in the city so they don't have to worry about traffic, about walking through these streets and being safe. Uh so the first part we're talking about here is education and engagement. Uh raising awareness of street safety practices for pedestrians and also for drivers to be aware of pedestrians. Uh we'll be doing that with uh our youth and family services bureau. Part of that being our link team which will collaborate with our local service providers uh specifically some of our v vulnerable populations such as the unhoused to reach out to them to talk about pedestrian safety around our streets. In addition, we'll be working with uh our local schools in terms of getting the words out to our youth. Um just today I had uh classes uh all second grade classes from Cherryland Elementary School uh come by the North Resource Center as part of their uh field trip today and I took that opportunity to discuss pedestrian safety with all of them today. So, we're already beginning uh this process uh in terms of educating and engaging our community in terms of traffic safety. Uh part of that will also be a Hayward PD social media campaign. It'll be a three-part process over the month, the three months of this operational um initiative that we're going to be undertaking here uh to again provide education to our community um and information in regards to being safer when it comes to traffic safety and pedestrian safety. U there'll be a focus on crosswalk safety and nighttime visibility. Um utilizing lights and cell phones for pedestrians when crossing

streets is always helpful. Um reflective clothing is important. Um other safety practices like making eye contact with the driver before crossing and avoiding sudden movements before crossing into streets. Um these are all simple things that we need to remind our community about things that they can protect themselves in terms of pedestrian safety when on our streets. um outreach will will also be in different languages. We obviously know that our our community is very diverse. We re reach all communities within the city and make sure they understand the importance of this initiative. Um finally, engagement. More engagement the better. Uh plan community meetings. Uh the city and the department has just recently worked in two different districts. Um each district has the opportunity to meet with their community and address these issues which we will continue to do and begin doing. Moving forward, the enforcement aspect of this initiative, um the operational period will be three months beginning this month at the end of um what are we in March now and and going through June. Um it'll be data driven enforcement based on the high injury networks as provided by the transportation and engineering group as well as more recent data compiled by internally by the Hayward Police Department from 2023 through 2025. Um based on that uh collaborative data from both departments, we've uh come up with the targeted uh enforcement corridors that uh the traffic bureau will be leading along with assistance from patrol officers, allied agencies and the community. Um these uh high injury specific corridors include A Street from Foothill to Hisparian Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard from A Street to Mission Boulevard, Mission Boulevard from Jackson to Orchard, and West Tennyson Road from

Huntwood to Patrick Avenue. In addition, based on reviewing the data, the data, an additional corridor from Hisparian Boulevard from Winton to depot will also be enforced. Um, so this will occur over a three-month period. Enforcement. The objective is to have a minimum of 20 20 hours of enforcement per week on the on the listed corridors equitable between the corridors themselves. Um officers will deploy during uh peak commute hours in the morning and in the evenings with enforcement focused on speeding, fail to to yield to pedestrians, distracted and impaired driving and red light violations. We know there these are primary causes of pedestrian collisions. In addition, based on recent data that we have from the Hayward Police Department, we know that pedestrian versus automobile collisions have increased uh from 2023 to 24 to 2025. They steadily increase with a significant increase from 2024 to 25 2025 resulting in an actual 33% increase in vehicles versus pedestrian collisions. Um so it is our intent to stop that. Finally, the uh the operation itself will be measured by data. Um we want to be accountable to our community and the actions that we're taking as a police department. So that includes um identifying what we're doing and keeping metrics as we go through this operation. um providing information on citation citations issued, warnings issued, uh traffic collisions that are in those corridors, uh vehicles towed as a result of enforcement and traffic related arrests.

The goal here is to ultimately come to that vision zero where we have zero fatalities and zero serious collisions within these corridors. So that will begin in March. Thank you, Lieutenant. So, that concludes the presentation. We have some discussion questions here that um are there other or additional priority areas or projects staff should focus on in the short term? Do you agree with staff's recommendation to expedite design and prioritize the first phase of Tensson Road in the upcoming funding opportunities over the other Safe Streets Hayward um streets? And what other feedback do you have on addressing street safety in the city? Thank you. Okay. Um and uh I'm gonna before I go to public comment, uh could you put up the um the three considerations just so that we can have them in front of us while we talk about it? But okay. Um this is a work session, so I'm going to go to public comments first. Um I do have some cards. Let me see if there's uh anybody. I do have uh one hand online. So, let me go online first. Um Ro Aguilar. Good evening. Uh this is actually Rose's husband, Glenn Kirby. We're both listening tonight. Uh we appreciate the work session. I'm glad to see that Hayward is uh joining with our neighboring cities who are also making uh substantial progress in uh in these

areas. Intersection focus, curb pulouts, these quick build projects and buffering bike lanes. Those are all great ways to make all of our streets safer. Unfortunately, traffic calming is not a calming concept for many of our car centric public who complain about these safety measures because it slows them down. What a concept. Um they say they don't see bikes using the bike lanes that are being built and that's my point. Slow down and you'll see us. So, uh some of these projects look really great. I would just say uh for the design element though I'm seeing a few projects that are uh being placed that uh unfortunately seem to be creating new conflicts between pedestrians and bicycles uh that don't currently exist. And so I would just caution uh the designers of these projects to watch out for that. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, our first speaker is uh Naomi Powell Ha.

There you go. Yep. One more time. Red. Red means go.

All right. Um, I have some neighbors here with me. Um, good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Naomi Palh Hall, current president of the NMA present NMA Prospect Hill Neighborhood Association. Tonight, I'm asking that you prioritize immediate and targeted traffic safety measures for the NMA Prospect Hill Neighborhood. We support the short-term actions discussed tonight like f focused enforcement and intersection improvements, but we also need neighborhood level interventions, enhanced speed bumps, curb bulboutouts, street painting, and high visibility stop signage. We also welcome the closing of Hazel Avenue to through traffic. We believe this would significantly significantly reduce cut through traffic and improve safety without impeding emergency services. This is why this is important to our neighborhood. NMA Prospect Hill is bounded by Foothill Boulevard, A Street, Rose Street, and Mission Boulevard. All but Rose Street are designated tier one or tier two on Hayward's high injury network, effectively surrounding our neighborhood with the city's highest risk roadways. Drivers moving between these corridors increasingly use residential streets like Maine, Hotel, Simon, Sunset, and Hazel as alternative routes. Hotel Hazel, Maine, and Simon are also often, excuse me, used to bypass the downtown loop and access the 238 and uh 580, bringing high traffic volumes and dangerous driving directly into our neighborhood. As a resident at Hazel and Maine, I experienced this firsthand. Several times a week, backed up traffic

block me out of my driveway, and so I'm unable to leave or come home. This is unacceptable. Congestion is only a part of the problem. We see dangerous driving daily. Drivers are doing donuts on Maine and Hazel, Maine and McKver, and far too common collisions at Maine and Simon. Last year, I was crossing the um crosswalk at Hazel and Maine, just outside of my house, when a driver sped past me, ran the stop sign, and then reversed and hit me with his vehicle. I was not injured, thankfully, but the experience was frightening. It felt intentional and should not have happened in our neighborhood. Residents also report increased illegal dumping, break-ins, and vandalism. And earlier, an illegal brothel was recently uncovered on Main Street and reminds us that increased traffic and transient activity create unsafe conditions in our neighborhood. As president, I ask you to act decisively and restore our streets to serving our residents and local businesses downtown, not commuters. Our neighborhood is engaged. We're organized. And we're ready to partner. We're not just raising concerns. We're offering solutions and asking for action. We all share the goal of vision zero. Please prioritize immediate safety improvements for NMA Prospect Hill so our community can be safe, livable, and protected. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your commitment to listening.

Thank you. Um, our next speaker is Ahmed Sharab. Amed. Oh, there you are. Last minute edits. I think I mispronounced your last name last time, didn't I? Or did I get it? Sure is good. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Uh, good evening everybody. My name is Ahmed. I'm a father here in Hayward. So, uh, Bike Hayward has created a campaign called Safe Streets for Hayward. Uh, it has five core demands um that fight for the safety of all who use the street. whether you drive, whether you roll, whether you walk. Um, and I urge the city to review these demands and implement them as as soon as possible. So, to start, I want to thank the proactiveness of the of the city, especially our staff. Uh, a lot of what I've seen today already aligns with aspects of of these demands. So, I want you guys to see it as a reinforcement of of the great work that you're already doing. One suggestion for improvement on that uh tennis modification. Uh if it's one idea I had is if we added flex posts uh delineating the lanes leading up to a crosswalk, maybe it'll uh bring uh bring forth the driver's attention and make the lane feel physically narrower as they approach a crosswalk. So more likely to look up. Um, and as for additional project areas, I'd really like to see something on mission, of course, especially uh south of Harter, uh, I agree with the recommendation to expedite Tennyson Road, of course. Um, other than this, I just wanted to generally address a pattern that we're seeing of delaying or shelving projects like Herod Boulevard, like Roose Road, wherever it gets politically difficult. Um, and I wanted to say, you know, whenever we touch a street, the safety of all who use it should be a non-negotiable assumption, even if it's a repavement project and not bike lane specific. When we look at compromises, the compromises should be between traffic and parking, right?

So, if you don't have enough space for a bike lane, look at reducing a traffic lane if you want to retain the street parking. If it's already a onelane road, can we look at diverting the traffic so it's safe for people to ride and and actually share the road? One of the problems I've noticed is the perception that bike lanes are a quality of life project, similar to a park trail. And this overlooks that biking or scootering is a primary means of transportation for a lot of people in our city who are too young to have a license or can't afford to get around anywhere anywhere else. And especially with rising gas prices, worsening affordability, we can only expect that the number of these people are going to increase. So it's minimum, it's not about quality of life, it's minimum safety infrastructure that gets people where they need to go. So I'll conclude with this. I'm appreciative of the work that everybody does uh to improve quality of life in Hayward. You know, these are thankless jobs. They don't pay enough. Um I just wanted you all to reflect on what it means to protect quality of life if we don't protect life itself. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh our next speaker is Jesse Howlet.

Oh, good evening, council members. Um, I regularly bike to downtown Hayward and I've also got two kids who also bike. Uh, and the reason I came tonight is to also request that the city adopts a safe streets for Hayward demand. Uh, I'd also like to say that Mr. Tang's presentation was in line with the kind of thing I'd like to see. I' um I'd like that to be codified as the normal response to any kind of traffic incidents. And in particular, I'd like to request that um no, a commitment to vision zero really mean prioritizing human life over a traffic convenience even when that's a politically uphill battle. I also uh was really pleased to hear about all the emphasis on quick build responses. Uh I think those are a great idea. I've seen uh it's amazing what you can do with some plastic bolted to a road. I I heard about a case where um a four-way intersection was entirely transformed into a roundabout by bolting down some plastic and putting down some paint. And that way, you know, you can skip a lot of time with theoretical analysis and get right into experimenting in practice, see really does this work or not and should we put in a more permanent infrastructure. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Um, Tyler Draggoni.

Hi. Good evening, council members. Um, just a little just a few things on the presentation. Um, I think pedestrian lead time, one of the things that Byron said was having pedestrian lead time for um, signalized intersections uh, for pedestrians is data driven. So, why aren't we already doing it? It's just something that I think is is super important to um implement. Trucks are so tall that they can't see pedestrians in the crosswalk. So even if um drivers are be you know even you know trying to be safe sometimes um you know car infrastructure makes that almost impossible to do. And we know that Google Maps itself is changing the flow of city traffic in real time. So you do get cut through traffic like on Hazel. And so I do agree with what um the Prospect Hill neighborhood said is some of these streets need to be closed. Um and we see that you know Berkeley did it way back when. I think um Google Maps is making this inevitable inevitable change because we can try and slow down the traffic all we want, but if we get a Google Maps um sort of algorithmic um look at trying to go to the, you know, um you know, the farthest place the the quickest, it's going to cause problems for neighborhoods. Um I want to urge that this is what leadership from our city looks like. Sessions like this are the first steps in bringing Hayward into the regional norm of Bay Area multimodal traffic infrastructure uh and streets that work for all modes of transportation. Um, no doubt there are going to be those people that want the same car- centric designs because having that wide turning radius saves fractions of a second or they grumble because having a more narrow lane means that they must slow down or because they lost off- streetet parking in front of their home means that they need to clean out their garage

uh and park there instead of the street. But when those arguments are present, we must all remember we are inconvenienced in countless ways every day in the name of safety. TSA lines at the airport, seat belt laws, life jacket laws when kayaking at Lake Shabbo, live scan for employment, two-factor password authentification, driving test, health code verification if you uh if you serve food, waiting for the floor to dry after you mop. All of these things are safety measures that we must take every day. um and um we are inconvenienced constantly in the name of safety. So I'd hope to think that the people that are not in cars are worth our care, consideration, and our time. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh next speaker is Alex Harmon. Are ready to go? All right. Good evening, um, mayor, city council, and staff. My name is Alex Harmon. I'm a Hayward resident that takes pride in not being car dependent. I regularly get around our city as a pedestrian, bicyclist, public transit rider, and not as often as a driver. Being the heart of the bay, it comes with ter the territory of having many ways to get around our city. Hayward has made progress in recent times, and I have to give my props. as I would call my hometown where the bike lane ends at city limits or where I have to regularly stare down drivers just to get across the street safely. However, there is more work to be done as we have had some unfortunate events occur in our streets. As time goes on, please keep safety improvements in mind. We need to prioritize life over carcentric parking and traffic along with utilizing the opportunity for any kind of improvements when we pave our streets. We should want safe streets for all ways to get around Hayward and I'll be looking forward to seeing it. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, is it Let's see. Bruce, is it Doug? Dougghai or Douggee? Douggee Doogie. Doogie. My apologies.

Yeah, it's a little bit of a strange name. Hello. How are you doing? Uh, Bruce Doogie here. Um, I I love the idea of the diversions. Um, and I do write in Berkeley. I have u a couple children at Berkeley right now and uh my son went there prior. Always joke to my wife that I'm going to retire in Berkeley even though it's so expensive, right? Because it's so easy to get around um and on a bicycle because I cycle my kids all cycled um to the doctor, to the store, to the to the schools. Uh and that's what we do as well. I actually live in Castro Valley and I do a lot of shopping and that type of thing in Hayward. Uh I've always found it a bit challenging in Hayward. Um so uh I also noticed in the um education, sorry, in the uh yes, in the education with the uh officer, um it'd be nice to have a little more education to the um drivers, right? And you just mentioned uh earlier that the drivers are um a big part of the problem, you know? So it'd be great to get some education to them. Uh I I don't know exactly how to do that. Like um they just need to feel like what it really is like to hit somebody and to and to uh affect somebody in such a a deep and personal way. Um I I just don't know how to do that. But that that really needs to happen because there's such a lack of empathy um in our culture these days in our society. Um and uh I think that uh again with the the the the political issues I I think we do need to prioritize. I think we do need to um you know have a little backbone and and say you know we we need to make some concessions to the car right the almighty car. I also you know want you to know I actually am a engineer from uh Ford Motor Company in Michigan. So it's

not like I don't understand cars and the whole concept of cars. I did that for about 20 years. So came back out to California. So um so yeah, I I you know I get it, right? Uh but we we need to we know we need to get people out of cars, right? With the uh climate uh crisis that we're in. Uh super super critical. Uh electric cars actually are not going to uh be the the 100% answer. We know that. Um we came out here to work at Tesla. So, uh we know about uh electric cars and Lucid as well. So, anyway, um yes, please um help us. Just help us. Yeah, we don't we don't want to die. I don't want my children to die. Thank you.

Thank you. Um my last card and the and the closer, Alejandro Hasso. Hello. Hello everyone. Thank you city council and thank you uh city staff for all the hard work there. I know there's a lot of projects going on right now and it's great to see all the planning and it'll be even better to see this um actually be implemented. Um so I just want to start by talking about some of the proposals that you're suggesting. I think it's great to see quick build solutions. Uh but I just want to suggest uh for the proposals uh for making the crossing safer uh where Olga and her uh grandson were hit. Uh I it would be helpful to actually add the flex pose outside the bike lane to make the make the car lanes feel even narrower and also protect the cyclist um and reduce the crossing distances for the pedestrians. Um, additionally, uh, Amed, he already mentioned that, but if possible, adding flex post dividing the car lanes also helps. Uh, but I know that can be, um, a bit more a bit more maintenance because they're more likely to get destroyed by the cars. Um, and, uh, yeah, besides that, I also want to touch on the reports about the pedest the other pedestrians that were killed. Uh, the one on Foothill on B Street. Uh on the on the report it mentions that the pedestrian was crossing outside of the crosswalk. And I just want to highlight that under the California Freedom to Walk Act, it's not it's not it's not illegal to cross outside of the crosswalk. You can cross mid block as long as it's safe to do so. So that report shouldn't imply that it will it was the pedestrian's fault. Uh drivers should still be aware of, you know,

anyone crossing. like the fact that you're not crossing on a crosswalk doesn't shouldn't give permission for a driver to kill you. And I also want to highlight that A3 is going to be repaved this year. So, we had a chance to talk to staff about what's being currently proposed. And we want to encourage um the city to look into making uh better improvements at at the crosswalks on A Street and Foothill because this is the best opportunity to make those improvements. And then also on a street and on and second street right in front of the new Bellara senior living. Um there's a lot of seniors that cross that area. So this is the best opportunity to make these improvements. And lastly uh on the crosswalk where Jill uh got killed on her wheelchair by the sand ridges. I I avoid crossing there because there's a blind spot. And also I've seen the I've seen the median get destroyed multiple times. The median that's where they have the crosswalk button and that that post has been destroyed multiple times or sometimes the crosswalk is not working. So even though the even though she didn't have the pedestrian light I think the city should look into making improvements because that's a very dangerous crossing as a even as a driver you don't see the pedestrians crossing and as a pedestrian you cannot see if there's a car coming. So, I would urge you to look into improving that crosswalk and yeah, thank you for all the work.

Thank you. I do not have any more cards and I um so what I'm going to do is I'm going to return to to count sound.

Sounds good now. Okay, go ahead now. Yeah.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you for the report. All three of you, excellent. Thank you for the public comments from those who are here. Uh, as a bicycle rider myself, uh, one who bicycles to work just about every day. I know what it entails and unfortunately we have had many fatalities. So, that's something we're trying to prevent. Every time we do a traffic calming project, I get all these mails. We get all these emails, why are you doing this? Why are you uh uh favor, you know, doing going in favor of the cyclists? How about us car drivers? So, we just take it to heart. So, I do have a couple of questions, some comments if I may. Um, uh, let's see. Uh, keep installing traffic calming. I don't care what they say. The the purpose of traffic calming is to slow drivers down. That's simple as that. That's what I do. I'm We're trying to slow you down. So, leave earlier, whatever you need to do, etc. So, please do that. All right. Let's see. Uh, vision zero by 2050. That's too long. I want 2035. Yeah, you guys agree? All right. Good. All right. Um uh just yesterday, as a matter of fact, I'm glad that uh Perry and and Sleepy Hollow is in your map. I live a block away and just yesterday about noon, three cars crashed into each other. Why? I do not know. There there weren't any fatalities, but it was pretty bad. Uh so, and that's a safe corner that I take every time anyway. So, um let's make sure that if you do drive that you do carefully and slowly, please. Um

uh let's see. Um funding. Do we have funding for this?

All these projects, all these traffic count projects.

Okay. Yes. Um yes, for the short-term projects, um we have funding. We actually identified um regional TDA article 3 funds to do a lot of these quick builds. Um surprisingly these these quick builds and especially we get a lot of requests for rectangular rapid flashing beacons. They can become very costly and we have found a regional funding source that we are applying for to do these quick builds. Um a lot of the other um I know it's a lot and I know our staff is doing a lot. Um but realistically we we evaluated our workload and this this set of proposals um okay is realistic in that in that sense.

Council member what we have proposed tonight we have funding for or we will get funding for them and implement them. Measure B probably measure BB different measures different funds. Very good. That's excellent. Mr. Mary, I wonder if you could do me a favor of telling everybody how many miles of the 252 miles in Hayward we have installed bicycle paths. I think everybody should know this. You asked me that question earlier this evening. I don't have exact data to report. My sense is that is it is about 50 miles all together that we have done over the past 10 years

and that's including my street. One is this we'll do Hisparian Boulevard. It needs it. When I come back from work from his from work and Hispanarian it's a toughy.

Uh let's see. So there is funding for this program. Okay. Good on the projects. Please uh uh pick it up a bit. Pick up the pace on all those projects. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. on Tennyson Road. Uh, please. I write it every day. I clean it every day and it is in my neighborhood. Um, and it needs work. I heard something about the battery of the traffic flashing lights did not work uh when this accident happened. So, how do you know take care of that particular issue? Um, uh, okay. Ryan. Okay. 880 and a uh once we do that, make sure that Cal Trans put lots of lights. Right now it's very very dark and we need it really well lit um uh to protect pedestrians as they walking on the bridge or uh cyclists. Um and and that is it. I am very happy today because what we're doing and I thank you and thank you all. Ride safely, please. Thank you, uh, Council, uh, Mayor Pro Tim Cyro.

Uh, thank you, mayor. Thank you for the presentation. Uh, I know that this required a quick turnaround to put all this information together. Uh, and I appreciate all the work that has gone into making this available to our community because this is an issue that people are feeling very deeply in light of the recent fatalities in our community. Um, I also want to express gratitude to bike and the residents that came out today in support of uh, trafficcoming across the city. As the mayor had mentioned, there's a lot of negativity around trafficcoming measures that we hear online. Uh, but time and time again, it's the residents that are showing up that remind us that this issue is also widely and deeply felt. Uh, and these streets belong to all of us regardless of how we decide to get around. Um, so I appreciate you all being here tonight. I think we're having this discussion because of your advocacy. So, I just want to make sure that doesn't go uh unagnowledged. And I also just want to appreciate um the mayor and council member Andrews for their work on the uh council infrastructure and airport committee with me. I think you know the city obviously has room for improvement as it relates to traffic calming. Uh but we have made significant strides over the past few years with the uh support of course from our public works team and our transportation team um to make our city uh safer for all ages abilities and uh modes of transportation. Um, before I jump into some of my comments, or I guess my comments are, uh, you know, I appreciate the demands that bike has put out, I think it would have been helpful actually to hear those five demands tonight. So, the rest of the public was made aware of them. If you haven't emailed them to the council already, I think that could be helpful, too. I had a chance to review some of them online. I don't know if all of my colleagues have had that opportunity or if staff has had that opportunity. Um, so if they haven't been sent yet, please do send them in. Uh, to staff, my direction is please review uh, the demands that by Kwood has put together. I think there is quite a bit of overlap but what the plan that was presented in the staff report is can only be strengthened by the recommendations and we already heard tonight there's a lot of great community centric on the ground experience perspectives uh on you know what would be a feasible solution. We

can sit in, you know, city hall is not necessarily an ivory tower, but we can sit in city hall away from these locations or, you know, maybe visit the location once in a while, but it's the folks that are living in these neighborhoods that ride through them every day that I think really have an understanding, an intimate understanding of the solutions that uh uh would work. So, I just want to encourage our staff to continue our partnership with residents and and local advocacy groups to help us uh come up with the best solution because I'd rather us get it right the first time we do a quick build than have to keep revisiting it or install it in a way that is so frustrating to everyone involved that we turn people away from this larger mission of achieving vision vision zero. Because while there is opposition to the traffic calming that we're doing, ultimately we want everyone to benefit from this and we want everyone to understand their benefits from this too, even if they're against it now. So, it's incumbent upon us to do this right and I think that's informed by uh community input. Um, I also uh want to thank the police department for their work around being responsive to traffic enforcement. I think that it's critical. It's been asked for a lot as it relates to the traffic fatalities to set a cultural standard of not speeding in our city. And I think the presence of officers uh in these high-speed corridors in a very uh methodical and data data driven approach is going to go a long way. And so, I'm really excited to hear the results from that. and I appreciate the quick turnaround. Uh I believe it's called Operation Safe Travels and I I really appreciate the the thoughtfulness and and how quickly it was put together and is being implemented. So thank you for your work on that as well. Um I do have uh some additional comments. So similar to what council members are said, we need to speed up the process of getting our flashing flashing beacons up and running even on a road as as central as uh B Street coming right off of Foothill. Just yesterday, I was walking across there and the traffic beacon isn't working there on one of the, you know, most uh pedestrian roads in our city, right off of one of the busiest roads, which is Foothill. Um, so when we hear that traffic beacon isn't working on Tennyson or it's not working on on uh B Street, the ones on Main Street still aren't functional. I know we talked about this before, uh, we need to figure out how we speed up the process between receiving that information and getting

those lights up and running. Uh, because it can cost lives the longer we wait. And something as simple as replacing a light bulb shouldn't be the difference between life and death. Um, I agree with the comments around um, you know, us seeing an increase in uh, uh, ebike or e- scooter travel. Similar to council member Zmeno, I actually got to this council meeting on my e- scooter. It's parked in the garage below and uh, I use these roads regularly on a two- wheeled vehicle. Uh, the quality of the roads, the cycling protections have a material impact on my ability to stay alive and attend these meetings. I'm not just invested in this from a theoretical perspective, but from a very personal perspective. Uh we're looking at gas that's at $6.30 a gallon and probably only going to go up. And I I share that because uh this isn't a matter of if people are going to start riding their bikes, but a matter of when. Uh insurance for a new car is $300 to $400 a month. Uh if you're lucky, your car car payment is $400 a month. the rising cost of gas, the the the mass layoffs that we're seeing. All this is to say that we're seeing more and more folks that are going to be in a position where they're not going to be able to afford automobiles as their primary mode of transit. Uh and what I see us doing as a city is really preparing uh to be responsive to the needs of our community. This is not a judgment on whether or not somebody can afford a car. It's just addressing the reality that more folks will be taking alternative forms of transit. And we owe it to our taxpaying residents to provide them with the infrastructure to be able to do that safely and comfortably. And I use myself as an example because I'm one such case. I'm in I'm in a onecar household where I share it with my partner and the two wheel option was was the way to accommodate both of our needs transportation wise uh because of rising costs. Um so I just you know I really appreciate some of the commenters earlier saying you know people see bike lanes as kind of a luxury or a quality like a a nice to have quality of life improvement but for some folks this is necessary infrastructure for us to get to our jobs. And I just want to make sure that's clearly stated. Um, I also want to uh, you know, I support

the quick build solutions. I I support what's in the staff report as far as direction goes. I am curious about uh uh Hazel Road and an opportunity to pilot closing off a street similar to how a lot of Berkeley streets are closed off to through traffic to prevent um uh uh through fair because while I know that safe streets downtown is one of the projects and we're looking primarily at the loop, I think the comment tonight from Prospect Hill is helpful as we think about the roads that are impacted by cars that are seeking to avoid the loop. Um, and so if there's a way to factor in their neighborhood into some of these quick build plans, something like closing off a street, is that just a matter of buying two giant potted plants and throwing them down in the middle of the road, you know, and maybe shaving one down so emergency vehicles can go over? I don't know. But what does a quick build street closure look like? Uh, and are there other areas where we might be able to to implement a similar solution? I don't know if you want to speak to that. We are definitely going to uh study that, look into it, coordinate with all of the residents there and see if it is feasible to do at least on a pilot basis to see how it works.

Great. And you know, to me, this effort is cumulative because we've had conversations recently about, you know, are there certain days of the week that we want or certain days of the month that we might want B Street to just be pedestrian only for outdoor entertainment zones. And if we can practice with neighborhoods and traffic calming there, we can apply similar techniques to very quickly do street closures for our downtown. So, it's all cumulative knowledge. I think what I'm really trying to say here is we're we have to exercise these muscles to get better at traffic safety uh even before incidents happen. And I think this is not to criticize our city government, just to say this is where our room for improvement lies, I think. Um, great. And then, uh, I did have a question about Tennyson Road. So, you're asking us if you want if you want us to prioritize uh receiving this grant. And of I say, of course, if there's money on the table, let's go for it. But what's what's the what's the cost here? What are we dep prioritizing if we pursue funding for this project? I just want to make sure we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water. Yeah. Well, um the original plan was when Safe Streets Hayward phase one would end towards the end of the year, we would pose the question, you know, of these three quarters, which one should we focus on? Because we can't do all three at the same time. Um but because this safe streets and roads for all um grant is in its last cycle and the the notice of funding opportunity is coming up um we have an opportunity here and we need to make a decision if we want to take advantage of this opportunity because um it's the same grant and they the feds encourage you to take a planning grant to an implementation grant. So we would need to get feedback on that decision sooner rather than later. We spoke to Alama CTC about this and they agreed on this type of approach if we want to fasttrack one of the quarters and Tennyson seems like the likely candidate, but we do need to get feedback on if that is the right direction. Understood. So, it sounds like we'd be leaving money on the table if we didn't prioritize this. It's not to say that we wouldn't get around to the other corridors, but at some point we would have to figure out in order to

do all three of these roads and if we receive this grant, it's just adding more resources for us to do this well, but start with Tennyson. So, personally, I don't see the drawback. Thank you for explaining that. I I I would agree with prioritizing the the tenant improvements here to make sure that we can secure that grant. I know, you know, let's not count our chickens before they hatch, but uh if we can secure it, I would appreciate if we could move on that project. The timeline you shared was very ambitious. If we can hold to that, um then, you know, I I owe you a drink outside of this meeting. Uh so, please try to try to uh secure that grant by any means necessary. And um I think those are going to be most of my comments for now. Uh, I agree with comments around increasing pedestrian lead time by adjusting our our signals. I think there's a lot of quality life improvements that are similar to making sure our beacons are working. Um, so yeah, I think just zooming out, the last thing I would say here is really just the the process the process around receiving this feedback and how quickly we can implement it is something I want to continue to refine. Uh uh uh I would love for information around traffic safety to be regularly presented presented at our council infrastructure and airport committees as well. Um so that way the folks that are here tonight and are invested in these solutions can come and hear updates on them. Um as well as continue to inform the decisions that we're making and uh I think I'll leave it at that. Thank you again for this report.

Thank you uh Council Member Andrews.

Thank you. Thank you for the information for this work session and thank you to all the community advocates and residents who came in today. Um I wanted to talk a little bit about um some of the advocacy that we have been doing already on the infrastructure committee which is to focus on um intersections as a priority as well. And um I do agree with making sure Tennyson sees those enhanced improvements. There is a lot of traffic that goes through there. Um, and I'm also interested in looking and revisiting um certain locations on mission. I am seeing a lot of road rage incidents um particularly on Foothill, particularly on mission and um I see it with my own two eyes multiple times a week actually. So um I I do think we need to um look at what we have done in the South Hayward area. And I think one of the things that when people ask me about bike lanes, I also remind them that this is also about pedestrian safety, not just bike lanes. And so we can continue to um improve uh those the pedestrian um the p pedestrian messages that we need to say. Um um but I do also want to look at a e an ebike policy. I know that San Carlos or Sanonteo County is looking at um having some policy around ebikes particularly with youth and I know that we distributed multiple bikes and I'm concerned about safety with those bikes and um to other council member comments. Um I do think we're going to see more ebike usage. So I would like for us to look at that in the future. Um, I also I I also want to look at partnering with agencies. Um, for the even before I was on council, I've advocated for Tennyson off uh the tennis

and exit off of 880 to be improved the on-ramps and off-ramps. We had multiple fatalities there as well, probably since 2016. And it's really disappointing that we haven't seen um more improvements to happen off those exits. I also feel like there needs to be more impro um improvements off of um Winton. Um there's a lot of traffic that goes through there and it's really unsafe and it's a lot of road rage that comes off of Winton as well. So it's great to see Whipple on here. Uh, but I do think Calrans need to partner with us to do more and and and because people are going to continue to get hit off those exits. Um, I also would like to uh bring a lot of these issues to the Hayward local agency committee. I think with our parks and our schools, they could be partnering with us to figure out how to make um the streets safe. I know we have safe roots for um for schools and um seniors but would think that we should bring that as a since we are already meeting as a body to just talk about the improvements that we're working on the quick bill projects uh because maybe they can partner with us and assist um in getting the message out. Um I also would like to partner with downtown Hayward Improvement Association particularly because we're highlighting so many projects downtown. I feel like we could have some events with downtown Hayward improvement association that talk about um safety, pedestrian safety, bicycle safety, and if we are looking at potentially looking at some streets in the downtown area and Prospect Hill, um maybe they can help partner with us. I know that extend that extends beyond their area, but maybe some of the ideas they have downtown of maybe it's a block party to block a certain street like may maybe we can start partnering with them to to have that because I think what happens in the past at least with the

community when you take something away and they don't see the value of it right away that's when we get the the backlash that's when we get the push back. But if you can show an example of what a block street actually looks like and it's activated and they're part of it and they're actually part of the process, um you you may get a better reaction. So I think downtown her improvement association could help us with thinking of some of those ideas. Um, then also I would like to uh look at partnering with BART as well. Uh, just so we can figure out how do we how do we encourage people to use BART more with our projects, but maybe they can help us with some of the ideas of what they see in other communities and what what helps people get to BART is when they feel safer. How is that? What what what do they do? Um, I would like to see those linkages. And then um I also want to uh I want to look at how we present information. I know that we've we've mentioned 50 miles of bicycle uh lane installations and I want to compare that to other cities and other other communities similar to ours. Are they on track around? Because I would like to see how we compare to cities similar size, population, demographics. Um because I want to know how much funding is being contributed to to bicycle lanes, how how much funding is being contributed to pedestrian safety. And yes, we do have a speeding problem here. We actually have a really high great pavement index. Um but we do need to balance out with u bicycle lanes and pedestrian safety. Yes.

Just a couple of words. Um, a question came up uh last time I was here because we were asking you to approve a pavement improvement program that had $13 million in it. I u mentioned that some of that money is devoted to pedestrian improvement as part of the uh payment improvement program. But when I went back to the office, I looked at the data to see how much money in total we spent on pedestrian improvements. It was a total of about $7 million a year. So $13 million on pavement that has some pedestrian improvements included in it. But separate from that, about $7 million that year for pedestrian improvements, livable neighborhood improvements, and things of that nature.

Okay, great. Yes, I would love to continue to see that data and compare it to other cities because I do think Hayward is doing a lot, but obviously we can do more, but it'd be great to tell that story as well of us. I'm really trying here to improve safety here in Hayward. Um, so those are all my uh comments and questions. Oh, one other question I have is regarding development projects. Uh, when I worked on a development project a while back, I remember us like having to pay to enhance crosswalks and railroad crossings that was literally further down the road than my actual project and wanted to see if that's something that we can also look at as our development projects to see if we can get more B permits to do more in terms of pedestrian safety. I know they go through a very robust review period, but maybe this is something that can be included as revisiting these areas when there's a development project.

As long as there is appropriate nexus between the development and the improvements we are asking, the answer is yes. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Council Member Goldstein.

Yeah. Thank you. First of all, uh, want to thank staff for the report. uh and also uh our police department for uh continually looking for ways to improve the safety of our residents here. Thank thank you both for that. Um I want to point out though that the um presentation that you brought today, this is not like new insights that were developed over the last couple of weeks. These are mostly ongoing uh points of interest that we've been discussing for a very long period of time and brought current based on recent events. And so I want to thank you both for having that long-term vision uh but also bringing forward uh a response to the immediate need. So thank thank you especially for that. you know, when I was uh just before I was old enough to drive, I I remember uh you know, my friends and I were all, you know, picking out the cars that were driving by going, "Oo, I want that one." And it's got the cool lights on it and and all of that stuff. And I don't know if our youth are still doing that. I'm I'm really hoping that they're starting to see that there's a better way to live. Um, as as uh uh I think Tyler pointed out uh the cost of owning a car has just gone through the roof. I mean there are some economists that are talking about mortgage like financing for automobiles. You know how ridiculous that is to stay indebted for 10 years or more just for the privilege of driving. That's insane. Not not to mention the cost of insurance has gone through the roof, maintenance and all that other stuff. So, we have to promote an alternative, you know, for good financial reasons, but also the environmental reasons. And so, how do we do that? Well, there's a combination of things that we do. The bike giveaways, I

think, are a great example of that. Um, doing these uh quick builds and fixing intersections that that need it. Uh, traffic calming is an absolute must. So the ideas that Bike East Bay has brought forward about making uh our roadways safe uh and inviting for uh uh two- wheeled uh uh vehicle traffic and also for pedestrian uh traffic. So things like the A Street pedestrian improvement, I'm all for that. And I think there are other um overpasses that need a similar treatment to that. Right. So a street was just one of the examples that you gave. Is that right? Okay. And so uh definitely want to pursue that. Um definitely need to prioritize the tennis and improvements. I think just, you know, from what I've personally witnessed on that road, and I I don't think it's just because I'm on that road, uh, you know, more frequently than than some other roads, but um, whatever improvements we can make there, you know, there's a high concentration of, uh, residents in in and around Tennyson as well as businesses and, uh, a number of schools that are right there. And I think we just owe it to the community to prioritize that for safety. uh including traffic com uh traffic calming. I like the pedestrian lead time idea. This is the first. I hadn't heard of that before, but it really does make a whole lot of sense. Um now I mostly uh ride on two wheels, so I'm on a motorcycle and I've been a motorcyclist since I was pretty young. Uh and I do own a car, but I actually spend more of my travel time on a motorcycle. I enjoy it. Uh I think it's also uh environmentally better. There's some debate about that. We'll leave that for another time. Um, but I have to tell you, the road rage incidents, the people speeding to beat the traffic lights, uh, stuff like that

scares the crap out of me. It really does. And not not enough to get me off of two wheels and back into a into a into a vehicle. Uh but some of these guys on Mission Boulevard and Foothill are driving in excess of 60 miles an hour even when it's posted 30 35 in in some parts 45. And so I I want to stress again that the need for a lighting mechanism that rewards people for driving the speed limit and p uh penalizes if anything those people that are speeding. If you're speeding to get to the next light, you should be getting a red every single time. And if you're driving the speed limit, you know, to the best degree possible, we should be getting green lights. And I think that may help. It may also help uh cut down on the frustration, the people that make those right-hand turns to try to, you know, wiggle their way back into the uh uh through traffic lanes, stuff like that. So, uh I know you're working on those. I I know we've talked about the traffic light automation. I really appreciate that. Um, but I just want to continue to uh u you know, continue to uh bring some attention to that. And then just a couple more things. Uh I I really would like us I I don't know how much we as a city promote the uh uh employer uh BART discounts. Um, but I see that as a way if we're not already doing some kind of outreach to uh Hayward employers uh to uh take part in those uh uh uh discounts. I I think we should and we should also find a way to promote Hayward jobs. We have great jobs right here in Hayward. I mean, the kinds of jobs that people are driving from Castro Valley all the way down to Santa Clara, right? And then they're complaining about the traffic, right? Uh but the jobs, like, you know, if you're in high-tech, there are high-tech jobs

here. Are you in biotech, there are biotech jobs right here. Uh and so I just feel like there's more that we can do uh to bring attention to what we have right here in Hayward. And I just want to thank you guys really for continuing to have this conversation, bringing attention to it. Really appreciate it. Uh really makes a difference. and I believe very strongly working together uh we're going to continue to make Hayward great. So, thank you. Thank you. Um so, I am in uh general agreement with everybody. Uh I think the uh the priority areas in the in the short term, yes, let's let's do them quickly. And um you know and I think uh that's that was a theme I heard up here. Um you know I uh I wrote here at the top of my notes um and I was looking at the signs that you know you are holding and uh holding out. You know we should name this something. You know uh we should you know this should be a citywide campaign. Uh and uh let's call it something. Uh and if it's you know safe streets Hayward let's call it safe streets Hayward. you know, if it's, you know, let's come up with um with, you know, with a a very clear uh vision, with a very clear direction where we're going to go with this and uh so, you know, so it makes it easier to educate, it makes it easier to uh to deliver, you know, the message on this um because clearly, you know, I mean, public comment, you know, uh the report and you know, the the report from the police department, clearly there's an issue. Clearly, there's a problem and um you know and so let's um you know uh let's tackle it and um you know and let's fix this um the uh uh I have to go back you

know um you know closing Hazel and hotel absolutely I you know I I would be interested to see how that works. Uh, I wrote I also wrote down repurposing those streets. Um, you know, put a farmers market there, you know, do, you know, night markets or, you know, um or something. But those two particular streets, um, I'm really familiar with those streets. And, um, it goes without saying, uh, Hazel in particular, um, there, you know, there was a development and Hazel was going to be changed anyways. And you know uh because of the development the development hasn't been built yet and you know we're that is um you know that is in the future sometime but but the idea of closing Hazel um very good point and I would be willing uh I would be uh incredibly willing to look at uh um what that would look like and um that would be uh and and hotel hotel um you know one of the things that um you know I look at you know one of the things I'm a theme I'm hearing up here too you know streets like hotel and in Hazel and some of these other streets you know they were built for another time in the city of Hayward and I think what we're grappling with right now is um you know is is sort of reconfiguring those for today for 21st century Hayward and so you know um you know roads are big roads are wide and I mean Hazel is a big street you Uh and so uh and and and particularly that end of Main Street. So uh so your your thoughts on Hazel and Maine are not lost uh with us. So I we get it. Um uh prioritizing Tennyson. Uh absolutely. I agree. Uh I should uh you know, Council Member Andrews brought up um the South Hayward, you know, uh you know, paying attention to South Hayward and

really focusing on South Hayward. Um, you know, I I'm I was trying to think of an example right off the top of my head right now and I can't, but um you know, the Alama County Transportation Commission, of which I'm the member of, um we do have an equity plan and um the we uh uh prioritize, you know, the even the high uh injury network streets uh all throughout the county. And um uh and I would I would bet I'm trying to think Tennyson I believe is I know Mission is but Tennyson is one of the main streets in there. I I'm going to go back I'm going to look at that and um and that could uh you know uh if we prioritize Tennyson I think that would be equal uh equally the leverage we we need to get ACTC on board especially the improvements that we want and I think you know um and um and so uh that is certainly going to be a conversation that I have with the with the director of ACTC. Um uh the other uh you know safe routes yes absolutely you know um HLAC we meet I think this should be an agenda item on HLAC um you know the education city working group that I meet with uh with all the leaders of the educational institutions in the city uh this will be a topic that we address um and uh you know uh sharing the responsibility I know council member Andrews talks about that you know uh we start to look at how Shabbo College is um you know uh building if if not you know uh if we're going to look at Hisparian you know at least in front of Shabbo College on Hisparian right uh same thing up at up at Cal State um and uh so yes uh you know looking at um how we partner with our with our uh schools

uh in uh in in doing this is is is so I agree with that um and you know I I I I wanted to um um wanted to uh acknowledge and and there was a comment that that was made earlier in public comment and and I believe it was uh uh Amed, right? Amed made it and you know the the pattern of shelving shelving projects and um uh and you know uh I absolutely uh I absolutely am paying attention to that. Um because uh you know I want to be uh I want to be very clear that this is the direction that we want to go. Um and one of the things that I brought up at the state of the city a couple of weeks ago is that uh you know we'll go we're going to do this and I think you see the appetite up here in doing it. We're going to do it. We were on track doing this stuff. uh has this sparked uh you know uh a quicker timeline and you know and phasing it in shorter. Yes, absolutely. Um but conversely um you know as I said in the state of the city uh we need support up here right um and you know uh the the I'm glad all of you are here uh and for those of you who come to uh uh infrastructure you you see us you hear us talk about this um but but conversely uh we need support out there you know if if we if we reconfigure Hayward Boulevard going all the way up you know I For those of you that were at the last, uh, infrastructure meeting when we talked about that, we got beat up on that. And, um, and so, um, you know, we'll do this. I mean, we're going to do this, but we also need, you know, we need support. We need support from the

neighborhoods. We need support from, uh, from groups, from advocacy groups, and, um, you know, because, hey, you know, it's it's a it's a tough world out there, right? And um but we're um but we're committed and we're going to do this. Um and it it doesn't take three incidences like that like we had last month to do this or or to sort of spark it. Um but you know we um you know we're going to you know we're going to do this. We're going to be aggressive about this and um but uh my ask of the neighborhoods and my ask of all the groups would be um you know uh we need support and uh and and we'll uh and we need partnership right and and I uh and the fact that you guys are here uh is clear example of that and you know I also wanted to acknowledge um uh Mr. Harmon you know Mr. Harmon and I'm sure you guys all know him. I mean this guy this guy is all over the Bay Area on his bike and um you know uh you know I follow him on Instagram and I mean he is everywhere and you talk about a guy who practices what he preaches that brother right there practice he practices what he preach and and so when when someone like uh uh Harmon comes up here and uh and agrees with us uh and and even when he disagrees with us uh we certainly take it for uh we certainly take it to heart and uh and so um so I appreciate all of you coming out tonight. Thank you very much. We certainly listened uh and uh and I know staff uh listened and um uh that's all I have. Uh Director Mary, do you have anything?

Yes, I do. Thank you very much for your comments and the community's participation. We appreciate the comments and we'll implement them. Great. Thank you. and to the police department and to your staff. And I and I know uh uh we have our uh uh one of our supervisors and our maintenance department uh Mr. Kintterero over there. Um you got off off you got off off the hook tonight, sir. Uh but uh but I know uh you heard a lot of the conversation around here around the enhancements and and and so forth. So I know your department is very much well uh connected to a lot of the work that's here. So, thank you. Uh, madam city manager, anything?

No, thank you very much. This is great. We're going to get to work. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mary. Okay. Okay. Um, moving on to our next item uh is a let's see um informationformational item. Madam city manager.

Yeah, we don't typically have staff reports on this, but it's on the agenda asformational reports. A lot of great information. If you had any questions, we do have staff here, but um other than that, we'll we'll be happy to answer your questions. This I'll pause. No, no. I'm I'm Do you have a question?

Yes. I um for the economic development item for item number two, branding and marketing program. Um I know that this is it shows complete and then it has ongoing. Um so I was kind of confused by that. I think that it was a 2016 that was it was complete and then it looks like the work is ongoing. Um so just wanted to know if there's um any partnership we can do on branding and marketing in the future particularly with social media. I know that um they uh staff did a really good presentation at the last economic development committee meeting, but uh and then we also had the downtown HR improvement association um present um on their strategies, but I would like to see some followup with with Downtown Hayward Improvement Association because they really should be the driver of making sure we're up to date in marketing and in in social media if they're advertising a particular particular section downtown and then also wanted to see if there's other sections downtown and other business associations or the chamber that could help us really um change the image of Hayward. And I know that we have we have great fonts, we have great website, but as far as actually marketing the city in a positive light um and making sure that our businesses are feeling supported and making people want to come here, I think we do need to have a stronger partnership. um on social media, particularly with bar, particularly with DHIA. So, just wanted to see if that's something that we can bring back um as as it relates to this item.

Yeah, it's something we're happy to we're happy to take a look at. It's something we've talked about, especially from the economic development standpoint. So, we'll take this feedback and see what we can do.

Yes. And if one immediate thing that we could look at is that um the the community that the community engagement team uh they did a really good campaign for the Super Bowl and um it it was it was great. It was in a very short time. Um, but the World Cup is around the corner now and I'm not really seeing a lot of uh strategy from our outside agencies that are supposed to be, you know, looking at these things. Um, also know that the hotels were asking us to support them during this time and advertising uh their hotels. So, just wanted to see if there's anything we can do because that's in less than what 70 days. So not sure what more we can do right now, but I think when these are when these events are happening in the Bay Area, we need to start looking at strategies there.

Yeah. In fact, we just had this conversation I think today about this. I mean, we already the heart is has already started planning a number of watch parties and we're already starting to put together some ideas and thoughts for how to really capitalize on not just watch parties, but also how to promote our hotels and um kind of really build on the work that was done for the Super Bowl and and kind of create, you know, have that momentum going into the the World Cup, too. And just one last thing, I think most people know that I am BTS Army, but watching the live concert on Netflix and seeing how the whole city transform that one band to take over it, it drove billions of dollars into that to that city and country. I just think we can do more uh when we have these types of things. So, just wanted to flag that. Thanks.

Great. Thank you. Um, I don't see any more. Oh, yeah. Council member Cy,

thank you. Um, just I'm curious because as I was looking at the general uh plan staff report, there's a significant portion of project, not significant, but you know, 22% of projects haven't been started yet. And I know when we're doing long range planning, we kind of throw a lot of things into it. And uh, you know, in ideal world, we could complete all of them. We uh, you know, tend not to. Yes, we have a still we still have a little bit of time to to start some of these projects, but I I guess I'm just curious from the planning perspective, you know, as we approach 2040, um how we how might we have a more focused general plan the next time around that allows for setting goals that like we can realistically achieve or deliver on so we're not like loading ourselves up with things that might distract from the work that we can do. This is more just kind of like a meta question around general planning as a whole. Um I it's a it's a good idea. I think uh general plans are are they're they're designed to be 20 25 30 40 year plans and what you this council seated at the time a general plan is developed in the two-year kind of community outreach process that leads into it really feeds into the goals, policies and programs you see. Um and that what's people feel in 2026 is not necessarily reflective of 2014, 2015, 2016, you know, or 2012 through 2014 when this was adopted. Um so I mean it's it's it's just the nature of the general plan that you will set goals that become less important over time. Um you end up prioritizing items like the work session that just went before this. Um, and so you'll see that while some of the programs in the mobility section might not specifically talk about the intersections that you discussed tonight, in general, the general plan addresses mobility and multimodal transportation and improving bike infrastructure. And so, you know, it's it it it's a, you know, degree of

specificity versus general. Um, but we can definitely make an effort, you know, in the housing element, which is updated every eight years. it's much more specific. You know, you'll see, oh, we're achieving this. We're held we're held to be account by the state um versus a general plan, you know, which isn't necessarily as as scrutinized.

And may add a little bit and I agree that naturally over such a long period you're going to have shifting priorities, but I also just maybe this is a little philosophical in my career where I do think it's important to also be aspirational. Um, and I think plans, so there's a natural, like if we don't aspire then, you know, or you don't shoot for things, you're not going to get them. And so sometimes it's just going to be naturally kind of a a part of your goals that are just not going to get done, right? I mean, the alternative is to be really practical and only put goals in that you conservatively think you can achieve, but then we're also not aspiring. and and so whether or not 22% is the right number, maybe that's not, but I do think there it is important to aspire.

Thanks for that that insight. I um that all makes sense to me. I think what I'm trying to make sense of is how we balance a few different data points that we generate. One is the the general plan which is, you know, long range and I think it's good that we're flexible because there are multiple iterations of the council that will have never had participated in that process, including myself. you know, as repres like representatives, you want to be able to be responsive and shift uh goals and projects as needed. Uh then there is our actual strategic planning process that we do once every few years. And then there's a resident satisfaction survey. Uh and so I'm just trying to make sense of how we as uh city leadership kind of take in these various data points to help inform the decisions that we make. I know this has been an ongoing conversation where we, you know, the budget would be the fourth data point, right? How does our budget reflect resident needs? this the city council strategic priorities as well as the overarching goals of the general plan trying to find a way to kind of synthesize all these together. So, we're making very informed decisions um that are guided by uh long-range community input, you know, the the input of the council, input of the residents uh and the financial realities that we're we're dealing with. Um so, this is more of I'm not trying to to ask for anything here. It's more of just kind of like a uh something for us to consider as we uh approach setting goals for ourselves as a city. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, moving on to council reports and announcements. Any council reports and announcements? Seeing none, um, I will move on to our next item. I wanted to, um, Oops. Hold on. Um, wrong one.

Um, our next item is uh council referral and I wanted to first uh make uh a a quick comment. Um, the fereral the referral is here and uh it I'll let it speak for itself. Um, however, I I did want to I wanted to formally apologize to my colleagues, you know, when I wrote it and of course, Council Member Zermeno and Council Member uh Bonia and I uh co-authored this. Um and when you know when I submitted it and got it uh processed, it then occurred to me that you know uh we have a standing policy up here that you have to have it you know 10 days you know uh to um before we submit. So what I want to do is um you know I I want to totally respect the 10day timeline uh you know and uh honor the rule and and I'm okay with that. Um, you know, and the reason why I sort of submitted it is because, you know, uh, we had a a holiday coming up on Monday and and I just saw that the timeline was being crunched, but I'm I'm I'm totally okay and I and I would assume that my Yeah, that Council Member Sino is okay with that. Um, and and and the other and so I'm willing, you know, I'm totally open. I I can certainly table this and or, you know, I would be even willing to pull it. um because the work the three things that we're asking that you know that that I'm asking is um staff is already doing it uh and um you know we will um you know there is uh we haven't done a public statement um regarding the issue but you know I have made a public statement it's been posted and you know people can look at it um if we wanted to you know make a public statement on the 7th and bring it back you know it might be sort of too too long after the fact and and I mean I don't want to keep uh

relitigating this or or or sort of dragging this on. Um but you know having facilities um you know review and and and look at all the artifacts within the city that contain uh Cesar Chavez uh his his likeliness or his namesake. Um uh I think there's only one or two pieces of artifacts that are in the city that I think we can quickly resolve and and so um and then of course um you know review the um the the holiday uh observance that we uh had passed a few years ago uh that is coming up uh uh on the 31st. and and I think uh uh uh from a conversation I had with the city manager uh we're going to uh notify his staff or the organization and say that we're going to recast that holiday instead of calling it Cesar Chavez uh observance day or holiday we're going to call it um we're going to follow line with the state of California and call it farmworker day and and so um you know so I I you know um you know I'll be willing to p to withdraw this if we could just move move forward and uh and and and just sort of have a consensus that that's the direction we're going to give the city manager to move forward. But I am I am totally okay with that. Uh Council Member Andrews. Um, first I wanted to just um I my thoughts are with with all the folks who are impacted by this and also I know a lot of people were inspired by the movement and may be feeling a particular way about the subject and um just know that the um movement continues for on multiple fronts whether it's part of the Latino community, the worker community, all the um the communities that uh felt an attachment to the work um the work is going to continue. Uh for me the u the referral was a very short turnaround. I

understand the reasons why obviously um and I am not interested in pulling it particularly because of the holiday um that's coming up and I'm totally fine with us uh following the lead of the state on this. Um but just want to make sure that us on the deis just know that we are going to follow that policy unless the policy changes. So that's um is something that um I just want to reiterate um because there's been a lot of ideas that we've had that we had to wait on be in in in the duration period was the reason why we waited. So um so yes, I just wanted to say that that I'm not interested in pulling it, but definitely want the policy to remain. Thanks.

Yeah, absolutely. Um let's see. Council member Cyro.

Thank you, mayor. Um, similarly, uh, you know, I'm happy for us to make a decision on this tonight. I think it's important for us to be responsive to how members of our community are feeling about, uh, the really horrible news that had surfaced. Uh, so, you know, just as far as the policy goes, I think, you know, it'd be helpful for us to revisit. Maybe it's something if there is a need for a tight turnaround on a referral, it's something that maybe the city manager can run by council members and if there's no objections, we can have kind of an expedited referral process just as a suggestion for how we might be able to have the flexibility as a council to move forward and avoid an awkward situation because really the focus tonight is on trying to address uh the harm that we had learned about um uh regarding Sister Chavez and and Dolores Horta. So, I'm supportive of what's contained in here. I'm really appreciative of uh uh the mayor, council member Zermeno and council member Bonia for moving quickly to initiate this process. I was appreciative of the statement that you had shared online, mayor. Uh and thank you to staff for uh really quickly um you know trying to assess where we can make some interventions to of course correct quickly. I I recognize with the holiday coming up soon uh it was important for us to take a stand on this as a city especially given the demographic makeup of our town and the working-class nature of our town and and the fact that we are a union town. Uh, so, you know, I'm I'm uh happy to support this this referral tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, uh, Council Member Goldstein.

Yeah, thank you. I I agree. I think timing is important and I think we should, uh, continue to move this item. In fact, I I did move it. And uh you know, I I remember uh supporting the farm workers strikes and I think it is important to have heroes in our lives and it's unfortunate that you know human beings fail. It it's unfortunate and this is one of those times and I you know my uh heartfelt feelings go out to Dolores Harta and everybody else that might have been impacted by uh Caesar Chavez bad behavior. Um but I think we do owe it to the farm workers union to continue to stand in solidarity with them and so I agree with what you're proposing and therefore I have uh made the motion.

Uh council member Zmeno.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor, and thank you for the idea. I think in my mind it needed to be done right away. Uh, and I'm glad that we did do that. Uh, drafted by a mayor and then, uh, we agreed with it. So, um, I say if we can handle this now, I would that's what I would approve. U, I really don't want to delay it anymore, but if it's going against the rules, I will abide by the majority. So, thank you, mayor. Um, okay. So, uh, so I'm a little confused. Oh, we're just Oh, okay. All right. Okay. Um, and so, um, uh, so one, thank you. Uh, two, um, Mr. City Attorney, um, would we need to, uh, vote to suspend the rule and then vote on the, uh, on the referral or can we just move forward and vote on the referral? Thank you. That's a really good question. Um if the council is by um sort of consensus okay with suspending the rule and then moving directly to the vote on the issue, um I think that's acceptable. Um madame city clerk, um is that okay with you?

That that is fine, Mr. Mayor, your attorney.

Okay. Okay. Um, so before um before we go into that, I uh you know, I wanted to um you know, just mention, you know, I I did make a a statement. I I it's I published it on on on online. Um and you know, um and just for clarification, I don't I didn't want the council to think that that was on behalf of the whole council. And I mean if you um you know if you were in agreement with it, thank you. And um you know I appreciate that. Um I also wanted to um you know just reflect on uh on last week. Uh last week was an incredible week and um you know as a uh you know uh as a student at San Francisco State University the at the home of ethnic studies the home the only college of ethnic studies in the country um you know we you know I took courses uh on you know on labor unions and labor labor movements uh where Cesar Chavez was a key figure and um you know and to learn of what had you know uh and to and to and to read uh the press release that Dolores Wera and other victims um uh had published um was absolutely astounding and I you know it was I I think there was a collective um you know inhale by the Latino community all across the United States

and all across the world. Uh and um uh the but one thing remained um at top of mind and which was mentioned up here was that um the United Farm Worker Union, the UFW and the plight and the struggle of farm workers uh not only here in California but all throughout the Southwest and in the country, the movement was larger than just one person. And um and clearly uh I think that was the message of any labor movement of any uh movement that fought for the plight and struggle for uh working people in this country. Um it is absolutely unfortunate uh the news and um and we uh as a community uh not only as a CHO Latino community but also as a community that is uh uh that has a rich rich tradition in uh in labor and in unions uh such as Hayward. um we will move on and we will uh continue to support um victims. And um you know, one of the comments I made uh in my statement was I think what is what is especially hard in this case is um we don't have an individual to hold account because they're no longer with us. And I think that is what the that's the hard part right now. and and the victim is uh the victims are with us and um and uh so I think collectively that is something that we're all trying to resolve. So, um

I uh wanted to thank my colleagues uh in supporting this and um uh so with that uh I I do see uh uh respectfully uh uh council member Goldstein did move it, but uh if he doesn't mind uh council member I'd like to be the mover and uh and I'd like to have my co-author uh council member Sirmeno second it if you don't if you don't mind. So uh I'll move the item. a couple of words about just 15 words. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Um as a former farm worker and as a former machista and a former Brown beret follower and a rebel browser at UC Santa Barbara where we took over a building because of what was going on. I was devastated. So I'm glad that we're doing this and I think that we need to ensure that women are protected wherever and whoever they are. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so with that said, um, madame city clerk, we can take the role. And Mr. Mayor, just for the record, we don't have any public speakers on this item. Correct.

There. Yes, there's no Oh, I didn't even uh There are no public speakers, correct? So, I will close public comment and then come back. Thank you. So, the item was moved by Mayor Selenus, seconded by council member Smeno. Correct. Thank you.

I could do it from here, council member. And of course, yes. Correct. Okay. And the item uh passes with five eyes with two absent.

Okay. Thank you very much. Um our next meeting will be uh April 7th, 2026. Ladies and gentlemen, meeting adjourned. Heat. Heat.