Not sure what this means for the Cal State East Bay Hill Hopper, but AC Transit is proposing to re-align some of its routes that connect the hills to the Hayward BART.

See a map of the proposed changes and read AC Transit's summary descriptions:

Line 92
In order to improve service to Cal State University East Bay (CSU), AC Transit proposes to re-route the portion of Line 92 between CSU and Hayward BART. Instead of traveling along 2nd St. and Campus Dr., Line 92 buses would operate along Mission Blvd. and Carlos Bee Blvd. to CSU, where it would loop around campus and return to Hayward BART. Service frequency along the entire Line 92 route would be every 15 minutes.

Line 94
With the changes to Line 92, AC Transit proposes to also re-route Line 94 to maintain service along 2nd St. The new routing will provide longer service hours but at reduced frequency. The line would operate all day every 60 minutes along 2nd St., Campus Dr., Hayward Blvd., Skyline Dr., Dobbel Ave. and Spencer Ln. Selected Line 94 trips would operate via East Ave., Windfelt Rd., and 2nd St. to provide service to Hayward High School at the school's front entrance. The schedule, while not finalized as of this printing, will be designed to coordinate with the school's Read the rest of this entry »

On the local political scene, Castro Valley's Karla Goodbody has left the employ of Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, and gone to work as senior congressional aide for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, whose district includes some of the greater Hayward area's unincorporated communities.

And, if Friday night television isn't your thing, check out the politicos April 18 at the Hayward Demos Democratic Club's candidates' forum. The 7 p.m. meeting will be at Westminster Hills Presbyterian Church, 27287 Patrick Ave., in Hayward.
Candidates on the June 3 primary ballot have been invited.

Invitees include Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, and Jason Teramoto, who's challenging Hayashi for the 18th Assembly District Democratic nomination.

Hayashi's husband, Dennis, also is on the guest list, along with Phil Daly, Victoria Kolakowski and Dennis Reid, all of whom are vying for an Alameda County Superior Court judicial seat.

Torrico and Congressman Pete Stark, D-Fremont, both of whom are unopposed in their party's June primary, also have been asked to speak.

Club members will endorse candidates in the respective races, and also consider Measure I, the $205 million Hayward School District bond measure on the June ballot.

I spent much of today at a Cherryland "charette" attended by a couple hundred residents of the unincorporated communities most conveniently known as the Eden Area, which in this case (but not all cases) includes Castro Valley.

The unincorporated areas are confusing enough already, as people who live there will tell you. But no sooner did I file my story when a copy editor called me up and said, "Hey, what is a charette? It's not in the dictionary."

And no, it is not in our dictionary. But it is in some others. The exercise had some of the atmosphere of the town meetings I've witnessed in New England. The big difference is that while a true town meeting turns the local citizenry into lawmakers, Cherryland's charette electorate made symbolic votes and now will have to hope the real lawmakers listen to their non-binding suggestions.

But anyway, there was a charette and lots of people voted for lots of different things and here, in a HayWord exclusive, is the Read the rest of this entry »

San Leandro educators began informational picketing this week to raise awareness of failed contract negotiations. San Lorenzo teachers are also working on a new working agreement, while Hayward Unified's contract with its teachers expire this summer.

With the governor proposing across-the-board cuts, including in education, school districts are preparing for big losses in revenue.

So how can financially strapped districts fairly compensate arguably its most important employees? Remember, California already ranks among the bottom in per-pupil spending when compared with the rest of the nation.

School officials may look to you for the answer. Districts are warming to the idea of placing a parcel tax before voters to help compensate teachers.

Are you willing to support such a cause by paying higher taxes? Why or why not?

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley raised $71,000 in campaign contributions last year, according to his most recent financial statement, and it's not all going to this year's re-election campaign.

The Alameda County Labor Council's Hardship Fund, and the Black Adoption Placement and Research Center are only the few of the charities to which Miley donated, using campaign funds.

However, working outside of office hours, Miley's county staffers also earned salaries from these funds as campaign workers or consultants. Bob Swanson, an aide in Miley's Castro Valley district office, was paid $980. Anna Gee, who works in both the Oakland main office and Castro Valley office, received $1,800. Robyn Hodges, who formerly worked in Castro Valley and now is in Oakland, made $1,200, as did Oakland aide Darryl Stewart.

Miley previously has said he has no problem hiring his county assistants to work on campaigns, since they separate the government duties from political work.

Miley's son, Chris, who works for United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County, an Oakland-based senior citizen organization, netted $2,500. Nate Miley also donated more than $1,300 in cash or advertising revenue to United Seniors, and forgave thousands of dollars in loans from other campaign funds.

Miley, in addition to his job as a county supervisor, is United Seniors' executive director. Chris Miley is the agency's project coordinator.

An order is an order, especially when it comes from state legislators such as Democrats Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, and Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont. Check out the "behested payments" page on the state's Fair Political Practices Commission Web site.

It reports contributions solicited by members of the Assembly, Senate and statewide elected officers. These payments are not considered campaign contributions or gifts, but payments made at the "behest" of elected officials for legislative, governmental or charitable purposes. According to the dictionary, the noun "behest" means an authoritative command, order or urgent request.

Stepping right up, donors in 2007 contributed $71,200 to various groups at Hayashi's "behest," including $11,200 to a San Francisco-based mental health organization that she founded and $10,000 to Girls Inc. of San Leandro. Contributors included major health organizations, PG&E, and international investment firms.

At the behest of Torrico, whose district includes a portion of Castro Valley, donors such as AT&T, Verizon, a brewery and a winery contributed $55,000 to five organizations. Beneficiaries included Raquel's Kids of Fremont, founded by Torrico's wife to provide health insurance to underprivileged children in Fremont, Newark and Union City ($10,000); and $15,000 to an institute backed by the six members (Torrico included) of the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus.

State Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, whose district includes Castro Valley, raised $840,000 for a variety of causes, including $25,000 for the Senate's Democratic Caucus retreat at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.

With Feb. 5 fast approaching, residential telephones are ringing with taped messages on behalf of state propositions on the primary ballot. Last week, Bill McCammon, who identified himself as a "fire chief," left a recorded message backing Proposition 93, which changes existing state legislative term limits. Pleasanton resident McCammon, however, hasn't been Alameda County's fire chief since he retired at the end of 2006.

In a related, political helpmate note: McCammon, identified as past president of the California Fire Chiefs Association in a pro-Proposition 93 mailer, was backed by state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, in the 2006 18th Assembly District Democratic primary. McCammon lost to Mary Hayashi, who won the general election and will be up for re-election this year. Perata also wants to run again, but existing term limits will force him out of his state Senate seat — unless Proposition 93 passes.

Ever been caught short of change and you know the meter maid/meter man is around the corner?

That's how I felt on Monday, when pennies (instead of the requisite nickels, dimes and quarters) were in my wallet outside the Alameda County Building on West Winton Avenue in Hayward. With no cashier available inside to change dollar bills into smaller bits of change, county employees Yolanda Robles and Keauna Kelley came to the rescue.

"I've gotten tickets before," Kelley said of the hungry parking meters. "It used to be $25 (per ticket). Now, it's $35." Kelley called around to see who in the Community Development Agency had change, while Robles went down the hall to her office and came back with four quarters, which she traded for my dollar bill.

"Be sure to put it in the paper," Kelley teased. "People always say bad things about county workers. This is a good thing."

'Nuff said.

Hi ho, bloggers! Got a cool holiday light display, or know someone else who does? Post the location on our new interactive holiday lights map. You can put anything on there, from local houses to big commercial or public displays.

The site also contains listings of holiday events around the Bay Area, and other fun holiday-related things. Have I used the word holiday enough yet?

Holiday. Holiday. There, that should do it.

It only mentions Hayward twice, and once incorrectly (no, the Coyote Hills are not here), but a 69-page report released today by the Golden Gate School of Law raises intriguing questions about flatlander access to parks in the East Bay.

Anyone ever try to take a bus to Garin Park?

In a press release and our story today, the report authors say one solution to the alleged inequity is making parks easier to get to via public transit.