Bikes, Budget, Liability, And Furloughs

Hayward Rides Gives Away Free Bikes

At the Hayward Public Library’s big Trunk or Treat event last Saturday, the Hayward Rides Program distributed its first batch of bikes to the community. Despite the rain, more than 100 bikes were given away to eligible applicants at the event. The goal, according to the program website, is “to make cycling a more accessible, affordable, and sustainable transportation option.” Mayor Mark Salinas said that the City of Hayward is “the first city in the United States to launch this groundbreaking initiative.”

Using money from the California Air Resources Board’s Clean Mobility in Schools grant, the City of Hayward partnered with Trek Bicycles in Castro Valley to supply the bikes and Specialized Bicycle Components to supply the accessories. Eden Youth and Family Center was awarded a $345,000 contract to distribute the bikes and accessories, as well as run future community programs including—according to the August 19th Staff Report—“co-hosting rides, facilitating culturally relevant bike culture events, and leveraging existing partnerships with local schools and community institutions.”

The giveaway is open to any resident of the City of Hayward—sorry, Cherryland and Fairview—and you can apply by contacting HaywardRides@hayward-ca.gov. The program aims to prioritize local high school students, with 75% of the approximately 2,000 bikes earmarked for them, specifically. In addition to a bicycle, all recipients will get a helmet, front and rear lights, a bike lock, kickstand, and a tire-repair kit.

Although no identification is needed to apply, in order to prove residency within Hayward city limits, recipients are required to bring either a driver’s license, school ID, utility bill, or passport when picking up the bike. Also, anyone under the age of 18 will need to have their parent or guardian fill out the application on their behalf and be in attendance at pickup.

After the Trunk or Treat event, Mayor of Hayward Mark Salinas took to social media to celebrate. “Though Hayward Rides, we distributed the first 130 bicycles to Hayward youth sparking the first generation of students who will integrate cycling into their daily lives as a healthy, sustainable alternative to driving.” He tied the initiative to the City’s Climate Action Plan and called it a “direct investment in… Hayward’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases, promoting active transportation, and building a city that is resilient, sustainable, and forward-thinking.”

Budget Scrutiny Continues Ahead Of Big Report

Councilmember Julie Roche pulled a landscaping contract worth approximately $3,200,000 over five years—or around $650,000 per year—to maintain the landscaping along Mission Blvd and Jackson Street. While the majority of the funds were already accounted for in the budget, the preferred bid came in over cost and require an additional $120,000 per year.

The extra money gave Councilmember Roche pause. “I am really hesitating,” she said. “Do I even say yes… okay to $120,000 when we’re talking about the austere world we’re moving into?” She asked the Director of Maintenance Services Todd Rullman, if it was possible to defer the maintenance, but he didn’t think it was a good use of money. “We have fresh plant material everywhere that we spent a lot of money on,” he said. “That’s going to die if we don’t maintain it.”

Councilmember Ray Bonilla asked if it would be possible to reduce the scope to bring the project within budget. “It’s already worth, like, $3,000,000 over the five years,” he said. But Director Rullman explained that the contract already changed to double the area covered while only increasing cost by 20%. “Because we really tried to roll back what we could and really minimize the cost and the frequency that they’re out there,” he said. “It’s bare bones.”

During the standing item on the budget, Councilmember Angela Andrews asked if City Staff would be able to provide a 10-year retrospective as well as a five-year projection at the next City Council meeting. Assistant City Manager Mary Thomas said that the look back would be easy—it was already presented to the Budget and Finance Committee on October 15—but projections aren’t ready yet. “The main goal… is calculations of what our expected revenue and expenditures are this year,” she said, “so most of our time is being spent going through making sure that we think these numbers are accurate and running actuals.” A five-year projection might be ready by January, she said.

Councilmember Roche expressed a desire to share information publicly as soon as possible to get everyone in the community on the same page. “I’m sort of hoping this financial analysis might help that,” she said. She also questioned how everything happened in the first place and what’s being done to stop it from happening again. “It seems like there was sort of a breakdown of each individual department [not] being held to account for their actuals.”

“What fundamental structures [are] in place that we do not end up in the same situation again?” Councilmember Roche asked. Interim City Manager Jayanti Addleman said that the external reviewers will deliver suggestions on best practices in the second part of their report in Spring 26, but Councilmember Roche wanted to know what is being done now. “We are doing almost real-time monitoring of all of our expenses and revenues,” Interim City Manager Addleman said. She explained that, in the past, response times from the Finance Department were often too late to be useful.

Assistant City Manager Thomas said that the City was in a tricky situation around the budget at this point. They have to choose whether to adhere to a faulty budget or make some other, on-the-fly plans. She said that the Finance Department is sending departments their actuals every other week to try to keep spending in check. She also explained that staffing is where the overage is coming from, but supplies purchases already have controls in place.

Councilmembers Andrews and Syrop called for changes in financial policy to prevent the situation from happening again. Councilmember Syrop requested some kind of future policy to keep the percentage of the General Fund spent on employee salaries to a healthy level. “Find a way to keep it within 70-80% range so it never hits this current state that we’re in again,” he said. The current budget spends about 95% of the General Fund on staffing.

Sidewalk Liability And Hardship Program

The City Council received another presentation from the City Attorney about the new language clarifying liability around residential sidewalks. Earlier this October, the City Council expressed concern around the initial language, with Councilmember Roche requesting some changes to the wording. City Attorney Michael Lawson explained that the ordinance clarifies the duty of property owners around maintaining sidewalks, establishes a hardship program, and a waiver for sidewalk encroachment permit fees—which are necessary to perform repairs.

The important part of the change focuses on homeowner liability. For example, if a sidewalk needs to be repaired, that’s the homeowner’s responsibility. And if someone trips and falls because they didn’t repair the sidewalk, the homeowner is the one who is liable. “[This] creates a presumption that owners are also responsible for any resulting injuries that are caused by the disrepair of their sidewalks,” Attorney Lawson said.

He emphasized that there is new language that will allow the City to take on some liability, as well. “[It] creates a rebuttable presumption of responsibility of potential liability,” Attorney Lawson said. He also added that there are exceptions for things like damage from City-owned trees.

On top of that, there is a new Hardship Program that uses non-General Funds—though it was unclear where it came from—to help with repairs for those who cannot afford them. The initial fund is $30,000.

Councilmember Concerns Addressed

Councilmember Roche clarified that the law had changed and forced this to be necessary. Attorney Lawson clarified that the law changed “25 years ago and cities and counties had to catch up.” He said that Hayward was lagging behind. The Attorney further clarified that for any repair under 1 3/4”, the City will grind the concrete for free, but anything bigger will need to be repaired by the homeowner—requiring a permit, contractor, and inspection.

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Councilmember Roche asked that if someone trips and falls because the sidewalk hasn’t been maintained, then it would be the homeowner’s fault? The City Attorney said, “Unless it’s a City tree that’s caused the defect.” He added that the homeowner would have an opportunity to prove that.

“I do feel like a lot of people are just unaware of this responsibility,” Councilmember Roche said. She pushed for notices to be sent to homeowners, and the City Attorney assured her that notices would be sent with water bills during the next cycle. He also reassured her that insurance won’t be affected by the change.

Councilmember Andrews asked that people also be notified through the adopt-a-tree program, in an effort to ensure that people aren’t put off by potential liability around planting a tree. Director Rullman said that his team would educate people using the program.

City Execs Voluntarily Furlough—Except Police Chief

The City of Hayward’s Executive Team has volunteered to furlough the equivalent of 4% of their salary for the remaining of the year, effectively undoing the 4% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that was approved in January of this year. The Executive Team is every unrepresented Executive-Classification employee and Appointed Officers, and includes the following positions:

• City Clerk
• City Attorney
• Assistant City Manager
• Public Information Officer
• Deputy City Manager
• Director of Development Services
• Director of Finance (Vacant)
• Director of Human Resources
• Director of Information Technology
• Director of Library Services
• Director of Maintenance Services
• Director of Public Works
• Fire Chief

The furloughs will save the General Fund approximately $122,000 from the General Fund for this Fiscal Year.

The City Manager is also on this list and will be reducing her compensation package by approximately 4%, but she was not included in this change.

The Police Chief also counts, however he is, according to Acting City Manager Addleman, unable to furlough. “We are talking about how he can do it where instead of furloughs, what the other options are for him,” she said. It’s possible this has to do with contractual percentage differences between positions in the Police Department, but it was unclear from the discussion.

While all other departments earned a 4% COLA, the Hayward Police Officers Association (HPOA) received a 5.5% COLA.

Councilmembers thanked the Executive Team for their sacrifices and leadership. “[I] really appreciate their sacrifice as we get through this fiscal emergency,” Councilmember Andrews said. “[I] thank our Appointed Officers and our Executive Team for stepping up and demonstrating leadership,” Councilmember Syrop said. And Councilmember Bonilla gave his “sincere gratitude,” as well.

For more information on the salaries of Unrepresented Executive-Classification Employees, please see the City of Hayward’s 2025 Salary Plan. For context, it’s worth noting that the Area Median Income for Alameda County for 2025 is $159,800 for a household.