The Hayward Chamber of Commerce endorsed candidates for mayor, city council and Hayward Unified School District board of education have been announced by the chamber's political action committee, Good Government Now! Good Government Now! is made up of representatives from the Hayward Chamber of Commerce’s 17-member board of directors and its 16-member Governmental Relations Council.
Here are the endorsed candidates:
For mayor: Barbara Halliday
For Hayward City Council: Sara Lamnin and Marvin Peixoto
For school board: Todd Davis and April Oquenda
BARBARA HALLIDAY
Barbara Halliday was first elected mayor in June 2014 after serving as a city council member for 10 years. She has served on a number of boards, including the Hayward Planning Commission the Citizens Advisory Commission, and the Hayward Growth Management Task Force. As mayor, she serves on seven intergovernmental agencies, including the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the East Bay Economic Development Alliance.
Members of GGN! on the interview panel were impressed when Halliday noted that her No. 1 priority was to, “support business-friendly policies, including streamlined permitting, to attract new businesses and more housing development.” She also supported “strong partnerships with the local education and business communities to better prepare Hayward’s students to qualify for available jobs.”
These elements are also priorities of the chamber, which conducts a work-based learning program with local schools and the Eden Area ROP to encourage students to consider careers in technical fields. The chamber also is a partner with the Eden Area One-Stop / America's Job Center of California to link job seekers with employers.
Other priorities for Halliday include improvements in the city’s transportation infrastructure, increasing the housing supply, emphasis on community policing policies, strengthening Hayward’s disaster preparedness program, and development of a community foundation to help arts organizations raise funds.
In her questionnaire response and remarks during her interview, Halliday stressed the importance of stabilizing the city’s long-term financial outlook while maintaining and improving service delivery.
“I support a multi-prong approach,” she said, “that includes continuing our work with employee bargaining groups to reduce the cost of benefits while adequately compensating good work, policies that make city hall friendlier to existing and new businesses, and looking for new ways to lower costs and increase effectiveness of city services.”
A retired claims supervisor for Norcal Mutual Insurance Co., she holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of Virginia and did graduate work in journalism at the University of Maryland. She is a graduate of the Leadership Hayward program.
SARA LAMNIN
Lamnin has served on the Hayward City Council since her election in June 2014, which followed service on community panels such as the Hayward Planning Commission, the Hayward Sustainability Committee, and the Hayward Citizens’ Advisory Commission. Her professional experience includes working as program director for the Hayward Community Action Network / South Hayward Parish, program manager of Kinship Support Services, and director of recreation therapy for Parkview Health Care Center.
She described as major issues she’ll address in her campaign: the need to build more housing, particularly so that employees can work near where they live; the requirement for consistent standards and code enforcement as the city’s economy adapts to cannabis businesses; and the necessity for “transparency and accountability” as city government works toward fiscal stability while assuring services for residents.
The Good Government Now! interview panel was impressed with her commitment “to streamlining our business and development permitting process.”
“To specifically impact jobs, housing and our local economy I will continue to develop a robust workforce by connecting education, job training and employers,” she wrote in her questionnaire response. “I have led collaborative efforts with the business and education community to improve the performance of our school district.”
Lamnin is a graduate of the recreation therapy program at San Francisco State and earned her master’s degree in health care administration from the California State University, East Bay, Hayward campus. She is a graduate of the Leadership Hayward program.
MARVIN PEIXOTO
Peixoto, a retired budget analyst, was first elected to the Hayward City Council in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. He also has served on the Hayward Planning Commission, the Hayward Sustainability Committee, and the Citizens Advisory Commission. He represents Hayward on the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda and chairs the East Bay Dischargers Joint Powers Authority.
Among his goals for another term is to advocate for allowing members of the city council to meet with developers before projects go to the planning commission.
“Too many times developers found that after having gone through numerous iterations with planning staff and after subsequently being approved by the planning commission that their project was ultimately denied by the council,” he wrote In his response to the GGN! Questionnaire. “This situation could have been avoided if the council met beforehand with the developer to discuss specifically what they were looking for.”
He has advocated for additional housing as a stimulus for economic development, particularly in the downtown area. He also encouraged continued interaction between the city and representatives of the Hayward Unified School District.
“With respect to fiscal stability, the city needs to continue to reduce its unfunded liabilities driven primarily by pension costs and retiree medical coverage,” he wrote. “Our strategy of cost sharing and making employees more responsible for their respective benefit packages must continue as we move forward with negotiations.”
Peixoto has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in public administration from the California State University, East Bay, Hayward campus.
TODD DAVIS
Todd Davis is “Made in Hayward,” having attended Loren Eden Elementary School and Moreau High School before earning a double major at UC Berkeley. He continues to mentor students and assist them become engaged in their community. He has served two terms on the City of Hayward’s Community Services Commission and was appointed to serve as a member of HARD’s Measure F1 Oversight Committee. Professionally, he serves as a consumer mediator with the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
Among his priorities for HUSD is a focus on safety by bringing together parents, students, and other stakeholders to develop strategies and plans to minimize threats. He also has ideas for better management of bond money and state funds to improve school facilities.
To address academic issues, he proposes channeling district funds into critical areas such as improving test scores, grades, and low performance. He has called for increased use of cutting edge technology in the classroom to strengthen students’ grasp of language and math concepts.
He would like to see improvement and expansion of supplemental programs such as Puente, College Bound and YEP.
He also proposes that the district partner with parents, students and community stakeholders to reduce late arrivals and truancy, and to increase graduation rates.
APRIL OQUENDA
April Oquenda has a doctorate in English and has taught in the California State University system for nine years. She has been a classroom volunteer at Glassbrook Elementary School and is active in the League of Women Voters.
As a small-business owner, she combines her interest in health and wellness with her skills as a teacher at Castro Valley Yoga. As the business has grown, she pioneered a Youth Wellness Program to bring the benefits of yoga and mindfulness to young people in Hayward and Castro Valley.
On the issue of school safety, her platform includes recommendations for gun violence prevention, conflict resolution and facility repairs. To address student success, she developed proposals for special education, English learners, college and career pathways, health and wellness, and early childhood education.
Her proposals for increased school district community engagement includes ideas for getting families involved in the education of their children, collaboration with civic leaders, and partnerships with the faith community, advocacy organizations, and businesses.