Hayward Pays $345,000 to a Youth Center for “Rides Program Support” — What Are Taxpayers Really Funding?

The City Council just handed $345,000 to the Eden Youth and Family Center for something called “Hayward Rides Program Support Services.” Two residents showed up to question it. The council approved it anyway.

On August 19, 2025, the Hayward City Council unanimously passed Resolution 25-150, authorizing the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with Eden Youth and Family Center for up to $345,000. The stated purpose: support services for the Hayward Rides Program under the Active Transportation Incentive and Promotion Program, Project No. 06937.

That’s nearly a third of a million dollars going to a single nonprofit organization for “program support services.” The official minutes don’t explain what those services are, how many rides will be provided, who qualifies for them, or why this costs $345,000.

But two residents thought it was worth questioning. TJ and Tyler Dragoni both spoke during public comment. Their concerns didn’t sway the council. Mayor Mark Salinas and Council Members Julie Roche, George Syrop, Ray Bonilla Jr., Francisco Zermeño, Daniel Goldstein, and Angela Andrews all voted yes.

No debate. No questions. Just another unanimous vote and another six-figure check written to a community organization with minimal public accountability.

What Is the Hayward Rides Program?

Good question. The city’s official minutes provide almost no detail.

We know it’s part of the “Active Transportation Incentive and Promotion Program” — bureaucratic language for getting people to walk, bike, or use alternatives to driving. We know it’s a capital improvement project (No. 06937), which suggests it’s not a one-time expense. And we know Eden Youth and Family Center is getting $345,000 to provide “support services.”

But what does that actually mean?

Are they providing rides to low-income residents? Youth transportation to after-school programs? Bike-share coordination? Electric scooter management? Uber vouchers? Bus passes?

The city doesn’t say. And that’s a problem.

When government hands $345,000 to a nonprofit, taxpayers deserve specifics:

• How many rides will be provided?
• Who qualifies for the program?
• What’s the cost per ride?
• How is success measured?
• What happens if the program underperforms?

None of that information appears in the public record. The council approved the contract without documented discussion. And residents are left guessing what their money is actually funding.

The Math: What $345,000 Really Costs

Let’s break down what this program costs Hayward taxpayers:

Total Contract: $345,000

Per Household (approximately 50,000 households): $6.90

Cost Per Ride (assuming 10,000 rides): $34.50 per ride
Cost Per Ride (assuming 5,000 rides): $69.00 per ride
Cost Per Ride (assuming 1,000 rides): $345.00 per ride

See the problem? Without knowing how many rides the program provides, we can’t judge whether this is a good deal or a waste of money.

If the program provides 10,000 rides to low-income residents who otherwise couldn’t access jobs, schools, or healthcare, then $34.50 per ride might be reasonable. But if it’s providing 1,000 rides at $345 each, taxpayers are getting fleeced.

And here’s the uncomfortable reality: government-subsidized transportation programs almost always cost far more per ride than politicians admit. Administrative overhead, program coordination, outreach, and reporting requirements eat up a huge chunk of the budget before a single person gets a ride.

Who Is Eden Youth and Family Center?

Eden Youth and Family Center is a San Leandro-based nonprofit that provides youth development programs, family services, and community support. They do legitimate work helping at-risk youth and underserved families. That’s commendable.

But being a well-intentioned nonprofit doesn’t mean they should get $345,000 in taxpayer money without accountability.

Here’s what we don’t know:

• Has Eden Youth and Family Center run transportation programs before? Do they have experience managing rides programs, or is this new territory?
• What’s their track record with city contracts? Have they delivered on past agreements, or do they have a history of cost overruns and underperformance?
• Why were they selected? Was this a competitive bidding process, or did the city sole-source the contract to a preferred nonprofit?
• What oversight exists? How will the city verify that Eden is actually providing the services they’re being paid for?

The minutes don’t answer any of these questions. The contract was approved on the consent calendar — the part of the agenda reserved for routine, non-controversial items that get approved in a single vote without discussion.

A $345,000 contract shouldn’t be routine. It should be scrutinized.

The Public Pushback

TJ and Tyler Dragoni showed up to speak during public comment. The city’s skeletal minutes don’t record what they said, but the fact that they spoke at all is significant.

Residents don’t typically show up to city council meetings to praise spending decisions. They show up when something smells wrong. And two people taking time out of their evening to question a nonprofit contract suggests there’s more to this story than the official record reveals.

Were they concerned about the cost? The lack of transparency? The selection process? The program’s effectiveness?

We don’t know. The city didn’t think their comments were important enough to summarize in the minutes. But their presence is a red flag that deserves attention.

The Active Transportation Boondoggle

The Hayward Rides Program is funded under the “Active Transportation Incentive and Promotion Program” — one of those feel-good government initiatives that sounds great in press releases but rarely delivers results.

Active transportation programs are supposed to reduce car dependency, lower emissions, and promote healthier lifestyles. Those are worthy goals. But they’re also a magnet for wasteful spending.

Here’s the pattern:

1. The city applies for state or federal grant funding for an active transportation program. The grant comes with matching fund requirements and bureaucratic strings.
2. The city creates a program with vague goals like “promote alternative transportation” and “increase community access.”
3. The city contracts with a nonprofit to run the program because government employees don’t want to manage it directly.
4. The nonprofit spends the money on staff salaries, outreach, administration, and a fraction of actual services.
5. The city claims success based on participation numbers that don’t measure actual impact.
6. The program becomes permanent because cutting it would be “taking services away from the community.”

This is how $345,000 disappears into “program support services” without anyone being able to say exactly what was accomplished.

The Cost-Per-Ride Problem

Let’s assume the Hayward Rides Program is providing actual transportation — rides to work, school, medical appointments, or other destinations for people who don’t have cars.

In the private sector, that’s called ride-sharing, and companies like Uber and Lyft do it profitably. The average Uber ride in the Bay Area costs $15-25. Even accounting for surge pricing and longer trips, most rides are under $40.

So why is Hayward paying a nonprofit $345,000 to provide rides when the city could just partner with Uber or Lyft and give out subsidized vouchers?

Here’s the math:

$345,000 divided by $25 per ride = 13,800 rides

If the city negotiated a bulk rate with a ride-sharing company, they could provide nearly 14,000 rides for the same price Eden Youth and Family Center is getting. No overhead. No administrative bloat. Just actual rides for actual people.

But that’s not how government works. Instead of buying services efficiently, cities create programs, hire nonprofits, and build bureaucracies that consume most of the budget before a single person benefits.

The Accountability Gap

Here’s the most frustrating part: there’s no clear way to measure whether this program works.

In the private sector, success is simple: revenue, profit, customer satisfaction. If a business doesn’t deliver value, customers stop paying and the business fails.

In government, success is measured by spending. Did we spend the $345,000? Yes. Then the program is a success. Whether anyone actually benefited is secondary.

The Hayward Rides Program will likely produce a glossy annual report with photos of smiling participants and statistics about “community engagement” and “transportation equity.” But will it show:

• Total rides provided?
• Cost per ride?
• How many participants found jobs or accessed services they couldn’t reach before?
• Whether the program is more cost-effective than alternatives?

Probably not. Because measuring actual outcomes would reveal how inefficient these programs really are.

What the Council Should Have Asked

A responsible city council would have demanded answers before approving $345,000:

• How many rides will this program provide?
• What’s the cost per ride, including all administrative overhead?
• Why is Eden Youth and Family Center the right organization for this contract?
• Was this competitively bid, or sole-sourced?
• What metrics will we use to judge success?
• What happens if the program underperforms?
• Why aren’t we just partnering with Uber or Lyft for subsidized rides?

Instead, they approved it without comment. TJ and Tyler Dragoni raised concerns, and the council ignored them.

That’s not governance. That’s rubber-stamping.

The Grant Funding Trap

This program is part of Project No. 06937, which suggests it’s funded at least partially by state or federal grants. That means Hayward is probably using “free” money from Sacramento or Washington to fund the Hayward Rides Program.

But grants aren’t free. They come with requirements:

• Matching funds: The city has to kick in local money to qualify for state dollars.
• Reporting requirements: Staff time gets consumed documenting compliance.
• Ongoing costs: Once the program launches, it creates expectations. Cutting it later becomes politically difficult.

So the city accepts grant money, contracts with a nonprofit, launches a program, and locks taxpayers into perpetual funding. And when the grant runs out, the city either finds new grants or shifts costs to the general fund.

This is how government grows. One grant-funded program at a time.

The Bottom Line

Hayward just committed $345,000 to Eden Youth and Family Center for “Hayward Rides Program Support Services.” Two residents showed up to question it. The council approved it unanimously anyway.

We don’t know how many rides the program will provide. We don’t know what the cost per ride is. We don’t know why this nonprofit was selected. We don’t know how success will be measured. And we don’t know what happens if the program fails.

What we do know: $345,000 in taxpayer money just disappeared into a vaguely defined program with minimal accountability and no clear metrics for success.

This is how government spending spirals out of control. One feel-good program at a time. One nonprofit contract at a time. One unanimous vote at a time.

The meeting adjourned at 10:06 p.m. Resolution 25-150 is now law. The contract will be executed. Eden Youth and Family Center will get their $345,000.

And taxpayers will never know if they got their money’s worth.