Have it your way; it is a matter not worth my time or furher interest.

You are judged by your open suppoprt of Obama new age.

Live with it!

My criticisms of Mr. Armas revolve around his ability to be an effective BOE member. I am concerned with his attitude towards members of the community that choose to publicly disagree with him; his ability to work in a collegeial manner with his fellow board members; his ability to control his anger and sarcasm when he speaks; his more than sketchy understanding of Ed. Codes;and various and sundry other aspects of his performance as a member of the BOE.

Speak not for me Mr. Kyle, for you know nothing.

At the great risk of again being described as ‘pompous’ ( as Lucy’s Mom describes me..”) let me offer the following as an aid to understanding the rationale behind the LOA meetings.

To the best of my present knowledge the meetings are always held at the HARD offices on ‘E’ street The rationale seems to be that it has easy access and plenty parking available at an hour in which the parking problem remains acute around, 5:30 PM. at both City Hall and HUSD Hq. The meeting room is spacious but you do not need a sound system in order to be heard.

The basic purpose of the meeting is to provide a discussion period on topics which individual members of each group may think to have an interest. For example: Prior to reconstruction of the Burbank School it became obvious that the interests of HARD, the City and the Trustees of HUSD were confronted with a task of replacing the Burbank school buildings which were a pile of crap constructed on the cheap in late 1940‘s or early 1950‘s. There was the additional problem of opening up better road access to the Train Stop created at the west end of C. Street for those who commute from the East and South Bay Areas to Sacramento, every day. That had a negative affect upon HARD. City saw a need to reconstruct the Roads, relocate the underground utilities and repair the underground, tunneled creek bed, known as sulpher creek and expand parking for the train station.

The solution to the problems faced by the School District was beyond their management skills as well as it’s budget. What to do?
Well, that is where the informal meetings between the three different entities probably saw it’s greatest success. Despite Kathy Booth’s opinion of the man, the solution to that particular problem was solved by Jesus Armas who, as City Manager, brought the City’s separate ;planning‘, ‘redevelopment’ and ‘public works’ departments into the act and coordinated that involvement with the School District and Hayward Area Recreation District as well as then existent owners of the HUNT’s property, where warehouses had been leased out on relatively long leases to several separate businesses and of course the developers of the new housing presently seen being brought to completion.

The separate governing boards of HUSD, HARD and the City were enthusiastic about the thought of the new school, parks, roads and housing, none of which would have come to fruition without the opportunity to informally discuss the basic ideas involving legal counsel at each group so that the final plan and authority to act was placed before the ‘formal meetings’ of each. The agenda was placed before each at the time of need for action after all that investigation planning and financial arrangements.

Be aware that a great amount of money came from City’s redevelopment funds and tha fees extracted from home developers aided School District.

Each had a separate opportunity for input on the occasion when the project as a whole was brought publicly before their separate electorate bodies for input and approval.

Minutes? Agenda? No need ! Until it was agonized at their separate meetings. Each had opportunity to protect it’s own interest as well as take advanage of the benefits of the housing project. No point in taking the matter to formal meetings until all had agreed on the plan and their costs as well as benefits of ‘doing’ this major project, a huge benefit to the general welfare of the entire area covered under the responsibility of each.

Without the opportunity for open informal conversation with input from the public allowed and with separate research covering their own interests, nothing would have been done!. Then too, given K.B‘s disdain for Armas, it is a wonder the thing got done had she known and understood how the new Burbank school project was put together. We have grown to expect that from individuals who graduate from law school but who disdain presenting themselves before the Ca. State Bar Association examination entitlement to licensed authority to act as a real lawyer.

Those interested in attending the joint informal meetings of HARD, HUSD and City ought phone HARD’s office for the dates.
I recommend attending them as well as a HARD meeting or two. Just as City or HUSD MEETUINGS, can be quite informative JUST BY LISTENING CLOSE TO WHAT IS BEING SAID. Sometimes it may occur that there are no burning issues which need to be reported in the Review, thus, some meetings can be as dull as some of our most grumpy citizens..

I would also like to comment about awards for volunteerism. I think it is a good idea for the City to honor its volunteers. But, there is a related issue that we need to think about. Honoring volunteers who help you do what you want is one thing, but what about volunteers who want you to change? Can you also recognize their value?

I believe there are many unnamed, unrecognized volunteers floating around Hayward who are in that boat. It is their passion for change that energizes their journey. It’s what makes them carry on without recognition and in the face of opposition and abuse. Without them life would remain the same and stagnate.

I would like to see an award night for people who want to bring about change rather than the ones who simply follow the status quo. I can think of a whole bunch of rabble rousers, non-conformists and youth with creative, innovative, unfulfilled ideas who are never honored by the city fathers because they are asking them to change their ways.

Leadership in bringing about change in Hayward meets with the strongest opposition from those who are most comfortable with things the way they are. Louis Reynoso is the best public example of this.

The leadership we must nurture now is coming from those who are not comfortable, those who see a better, more inclusive, more transparent vision. That is the leadership we must nurture most of all if we are to survive.