Here’s this week’s calendar. Lots of Hayward stuff going on — highlights include Burbank neighborhood meeting tonight, City Council priorities meeting tomorrow night, dueling State of the City vs. school board meetings on Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

I figured I’d put this in its own post because I have the press release info pasted after the jump. I’m already committed to another Thursday evening meeting, but Review will be staffing this … The East Bay Greenway path sounds interesting: Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, I really appreciate the feedback that came in, both in the comments and emails. I like Kelly’s idea about a place to put info regarding upcoming public events. Here’s what I can do — post what the Review has in the calendar section, looking forward about a week or so. Then everyone can use that post as a springboard to add events in the comments section. Let’s try it out, let me know what you think. You’ll find the community event calendar after the jump, followed by government listings. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, hello there. It’s been a while since  a new post has appeared on the HayWord, although I see the commenters have been keeping busy regardless.

The holiday weeks were a little frantic around here. We a had reporter off for those few weeks on vaca, and that means everyone else has to pull extra weight . Keep in mind that the Review has two reporters on staff right now and you’ll understand who everyone else is.

Recent recap: We had the HUSD superintendent announce her resignation, an officer-involved shooting and Hayward’s first homicide of 2011. Also had a story about the proposed expansion of the BART maintenance yard, as well as an update on what’s going on with those school construction funds. Couple of recent profiles — a quick one on Library Commissioner Judy Harrison, a longer Hometown Hero on another library commissioner (that was purely coincidental) and transgender activist Kari McAllister. There were also the various feature stories of the sort that reporters are prone to do when they need to find something fast to help fill the paper. Keep in mind that as far as Bay Area News Group beats go, Hayward is the largest city being covered in all aspects — City Hall, schools, crime and courts — by a single reporter. And it’s true that I’ve been seen lurking around the San Leandro City Council chamber — we still have not replaced our beat writer for that city.

I’m going somewhere with this. Find out where after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Still waiting for a full-time San Leandro reporter to join us to replace our guy who got called up for a year of service in the National Guard.

There’s a lot going on in that city. New Mayor Stephen Cassidy was sworn in this week at a meeting that also saw two-year contracts approved. Pension reform was a big part of Cassidy’s campaign, and that last action by the old council makes it difficult. Cassidy was on NPR the other night talking about it.

There’s also a new police chief, the city’s first female police chief, who will be sworn in on Jan. 10.

And the City Manager announced his resignation following his performance review Monday although what happened in that closed session is not being talked about.

All this follows a close election that saw incumbent Mayor Tony Santos defeated, a loss that soured the once-ardent supporter of ranked-choice voting on that system, which was used for the first time in San Leandro in November. 

There are a couple of active blogs run by politically minded San Leandro residents, as well as an anonymous insider who tweets and facebooks, all worth keeping an eye on if you are San Leandro minded.

I hear Alameda County Board of Education trustees were deadlocked over two candidates at a special meeting last week. This press release just came out: Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some links to look at… like I mentioned in a recent comment, I’m off this week but I wanted to open up a new post for election commenting.

HUSD 2-year seat. Here’s our story.

Here’s the smartvoter information page on candidates. Candidate websites: Jesus Armas, Lawrence Fitzpatrick, Annette Walker.

HUSD 4 year seat. Here’s our story.

Here’s the smartvoter information page. Candidate websites: Audie Bock, Lisa Brunner, Sue Lafferty, William McGee, Sheila Sims.

We also had stories on the Eden Township Healthcare District race, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, San Leandro school board, San Leandro mayor, San Leandro City Council, San Leandro ballot measures, more on San Leandro’s Measure Z, San Lorenzo school board, Fairview Fire  Protection District, Castro Valley Sanitary District, and last but not least, the District 2 supervisor’s race.

Here’s the smartvoter Alameda County page, where you can find more information on many of those races.

The city of Hayward website has a page with links to videos of forums between the supervisors and Hayward school board candidates, but it doesn’t seem to be working for me. Might be my computer.

Catch you all next week!

Find a preview of tomorrow’s story below for the nitty-gritty on all the elections with extended filing periods.

Both former city officials said they have a lot of other community service opportunities, as well as professional and personal goals.

“I definitely believe in Hayward, and schools are a priority,” said Greg Jones. “I’m certainly interested in using leadership however I can. I thought this would be a good way to serve but it did not turn into that in my mind.”

Jones added that he is a flexible man, and has no regrets about leaving the city to pursue other goals. May said the same about her departure from the City Council, adding that the atmosphere could be “stifling.”

She quoted a line from her Facebook page: “The right team can make the most mundane task worthwhile. Similarly, the wrong team can make the most meaningful endeavor a complete waste of time.”

Here is the election update story:

 By Eric Kurhi and Jason Sweeney
Staff writers
ALAMEDA COUNTY — An anticipated run for the Hayward school board by former City Councilwoman Anna May and her fiance, former City Manager Greg Jones, did not materialize as the Wednesday deadline passed and they decided not to file.
In addition, two candidates for Hayward Unified — Sabrina Becerra and Gabriel Jimenez — withdrew from the race, leaving a field of Audie Bock, Lisa Brunner, Sue Lafferty, William McGee and incumbent Sheila Sims seeking two available seats. Read the rest of this entry »

After looking at the “About The HayWord” page, it appears that it’s time to revisit all of that info. Still lists Kim Santos as editor (she’s now at the Valley Times/Tri-Valley Herald), Jason Sweeney covers San Leandro and Kris Noceda left us last week. To those not in the Twitterverse – that’s where news breaks these days — Kris left the Review to join an online news group.

Yeah, we’re already missing him — not just because he’s a good reporter and a positive newsroom presence, but also because now we have to cover his beats until a new reporter is hired. In a nutshell, that means I’ll pick up Castro Valley, Fairview, Cherryland, Cal State and Chabot College stories; Jason Sweeney is going to tackle unincorporated crime items, San Lorenzo and Ashland.

Now then, please read this official policy. We’re going to start enforcing it. I honestly don’t have much time to play comment police, so if you post something unacceptable, I will have to put you in the spam queue. Then, when I have a chance, I’ll look at the spam queue and see if there’s anything there to post. That means you will not have the instant gratification of seeing your comment go live when you hit the post button, and I can’t guarantee what kind of lag time there will be. Here’s that policy:

Blog policy: While The HayWord welcomes lively discussion and tough criticism, personal attacks on writers or other readers are not allowed. Spam, obscene language, personal attacks or abusive hate speech are not allowed. You may not pose as another person when posting. Violators are subject to a ban. We recommend that posters to The HayWord use their full names when posting, to keep this forum reliable and encourage constructive discussion.

Here’s where to go to see who has turned in papers.

So far all is quiet on the HUSD front, and there isn’t much activity in most of the other races either. Hayward Area Recreation District board President Paul Hodges is re-upping for another term, and former San Leandro Mayor Shelia Young tossed her hat into the ring for a spot on the Oro Loma Sanitary District board.

Aug. 6 is the close of the nomination period.