City Cancels Community Services Funding

The City of Hayward announced that it has cancelled the Notice of Funding Availability for local community service providers. According to the notice, “Due to a projected budgetary shortfall in the City’s General Fund, the City of Hayward will not be awarding General Fund, Community Development Block Grant, or Opioid Settlement Remediation funds under this NOFA.” The City also cancelled the annual Bidders’ Conference, which was scheduled for October 22nd, where local agencies learn what is needed to access Community Services funds.

According to Community Services Manager, Dr. Amy Cole-Bloom, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) will be used for eligible City projects that would otherwise use General Funds, including the Navigation Center and the City’s portion of the 211 information and referral line, among others. According to Dr. Cole-Bloom, Staff are still evaluating eligible uses for the Opioid Settlement funding. All funding sources combined are estimated to save the City around $1,400,000 this year.

Around $1,140,000 in CDBG money was used last year to support Economic Development activities like Centro Community Partners, 4Cs of Alameda County, and Downtown Streets Team, as well as social safety net services like Ruby’s Place, FESCO, and Abode Services.

General Fund money, around $580,000 last year, was used to support over 20 agencies doing a variety of work throughout the City of Hayward. The work supported housing and homelessness services, food security services, and legal and informational services for immigrant families. General Funds also supported arts and music services from the Hayward Arts Council, Hayward Area Historical Society, Hayward Education Foundation, and more.

The future of the Community Services Commission (CSC), which interviews agencies and recommends funding allocations to the City Council, is also in question. As we reported in March, the City Council voted to enact changes to the CSC’s role as outlined in Municipal Code. According to Section 2-3.93, of the four duties given to the CSC, all but one are directly tied to allocating funding. “Promote interagency and intergroup coordination in the development of community social resources,” appears to be the only duty left that does not directly tie to funding allocation.

The CSC’s recent move to a two-year funding cycle would also have changed how they perform their duties, but with the cancellation, the CSC will have to figure that out even sooner. Dr. Cole-Bloom said that the plan is to explore “ways the CSC can leverage its expertise to provide technical assistance to agencies.”

City Staff have repeatedly emphasized that the City will need to redefine core services in the face of the budget crisis. During the October 8th City Council meeting, Assistant City Manager Regina Youngblood said, “We’re examining the importance of filling [vacant positions] again just in alignment with Council Priorities and public safety needs.” According to Dr. Cole-Bloom, the cancellation was made at the recommendation of staff, “consistent with direction from and with the knowledge of the City Council.”

When asked about the FY 26 funding allocations approved in April, Dr. Cole-Bloom said, “At this point, the allocations remain the same as adopted last spring. Staff are reviewing the FY25-26 grants and other items within the broader discussions on how to balance the FY25-26 budget, at the direction of Council and the City Manager’s Office.”

Hayward Announces New City Manager

On Friday, October 17th, the City of Hayward announced their choice for the new City Manger, Jennifer Ott. Leaving her position as City Manager of Alameda, Ott returns to Hayward where she served as both Deputy City Manager and Assistant City Manager until 2022. The announcement comes less than a week after the City Council held a special Closed Session on the position last Tuesday, presumably where they finalized their choice.

“The Council and I are thrilled to welcome Ms. Ott back to Hayward,” Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas said. “I’m especially pleased that she returns as an experienced local government leader and a proven City Manager.” Former City Manager Ana Álvarez had never been in a City Manager position before she was hired by the City of Hayward.

Ms. Ott is set to return to Hayward on December 8th. “I am very excited for the opportunity to join former and new colleagues at the City of Hayward and meet the immediate challenges and future opportunities together,” Ott said.

Thanks for reading Hayward Herald! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Ms. Ott previously served in Hayward under former City Manger Kelly McAdoo, who left the City in May 2024. Since then the City Manager position has been filled by former Assistant City Manager Dustin Claussen, former City Manager Ana Álvarez, City Attorney Michael Lawson, and Library Director Jayanti Addleman. Interim City Manager, Jayanti Addleman, will be returning to her role as Library Director on December 8th after having served in her temporary position for over 5 months.

Since Ms. McAdoo’s departure in May 2024, the budget outlook has progressively worsened, with a deficit growing from $1,000,000 in June 2024, to $3,000,000 in February 2025, to $12,000,000 in May 2025, to the current $30,000,000 revealed at the end of August. The City of Hayward has also experienced unprecedented turnover in their Executive Team this year, losing an Assistant City Manager, Finance Director, and HR Director within a matter of months.

According to her Employment Agreement, Ms. Ott will be paid $393,000 per year, an increase over the currently approved City Manager salary of $385,008 per year in the City’s Salary Plan. It’s also a substantial raise from her 2025 Employment Agreement with the City of Alameda, which agreed to $359,969 per year in July—an increase of more than $33,000 per year.

Hayward Declares No Kings

Residents of Hayward joined those from across the Bay Area and around the country to peacefully protest the actions of the Trump Administration. The protest took place outside of City Hall and in front of Old City Hall on Mission Blvd, organized by Eden Area Indivisible. The protest was joined by Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas, Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Marquez, and Assemblymember Liz Ortega.

Local officials, including Mayor Salinas, have consistently spoken out against immigration policies put forward by the Trump Administration. After the nationwide protests, President Trump suggested multiple times that he may send National Guard troops to San Francisco.

Members of the Hayward community are on edge, however, given that much of the enforcement action in Chicago has fallen on the outer suburbs. It’s possible that increased militarization aimed at San Francisco could fall on suburban communities, like Hayward. Areas up to 40 miles away from San Francisco could be targeted by ICE, if past history is any indication, and Hayward is well within that radius.

Hayward Night Market And Zine Reveal

The Hayward Herald tabled at the Hayward Night Market on Saturday, engaging with the Hayward community and putting our brand new zine in as many hands as possible. I also got the chance to meet and chat with Louis “Big Lou” Jiminez, which was a real treat. His art really made the zine shine and brought to life our article about him, which is featured in the zine.

And Ernesto of The Vatos Brand also came by and kindly gifted me a dark green version of his Hayward Aztlan Tee—I already bought a white version earlier, which I wore during our Hayward Voices event. distributed zines to vendors throughout the market and dozens of people got free non-profit Hayward news shoved into their hands.

also created a Reader Survey that we hope you’ll take for us! We want to know more about you, how you get your news, and what kinds of things you value most about the Hayward Herald. If you have a minute or two, please take a look!

And finally, Issue 2 of the Hayward Herald Zine is here for your enjoyment! If you weren’t able to make it on Saturday to get your hands on a copy, you can either view the PDF above, or you can keep an eye out in local businesses in the coming weeks. We still have around 40 or 50 copies left that we’ll be giving businesses to share with you all!