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Tom Wong
As an investigative reporter focusing on municipal governance and fiscal accountability in Hayward and the greater Bay Area, I delve into the stories that matter, holding officials accountable and shedding light on issues that impact our community. Candidate for Hayward Mayor in 2026.
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San Leandro City Council Meeting April 21, 2025
ll sick of me already, but, yeah, we are not above the law. For years, the city has known that our at large voting violates the California Voting Rights Act. Rather than address it with the urgency that we required, the city sat sat on their hands. This is about representation and accountability. As I’ve said in previous interviews and chats with some of you on the city council, we can literally be sued for millions of dollars for committing this level of disenfranchisement. My goal is to elicit this change without costing us millions of taxpayer dollars. You all know that this is a million dollar gamble. And as as stewards of our taxpayers money, I find it upsetting that knowing the stakes, the city chose to wait until a lawsuit was filed rather than what was doing what was right. You know, what was smart? I disagree with some of this council’s sentiment that this effort is undemocratic. The law clearly states that this method of at large voting is what’s undemocratic, not the other way around. Although many have elected officials and hundreds of residents that I have talked to throughout the city, there have been less than a handful, that would prefer the current at large system, mostly those who are or have been elected through it. So you may harbor some resentment towards me for taking action when elected officials chose not to. But remember, that also means that you also harbor resentment for those that want this type of representation. And we can do better because I know we can. And, you know, we don’t gotta fight. We just gotta do what’s right for everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Leo West? Well, this is caused by somebody who lost the election that wants to redraw the system as if, the race or a person would determine how they vote. The way that people vote in a city council is accordingly to the interest that bankroll their campaigns. We see meeting after meeting, they consent calendar with the issue are cooked up behind the scene, and we all we see is a 7 years vault. We also see our meeting after meeting, less and less council member even bother to show up here. That was not happening before. A total of the respect for the people, San Leandro. And, so you are gonna change 1 way or the other. You don’t touch the internet behind them. They take time to go to other cities, to other states. And **** the citizens. That’s the reality. So, Asian representation was claiming. We had a Asian representative when I was living in the Manor District, Benny Lee, who was consistently in favor of landlords, voting against any proposal of rent control, even, the tenant relocation assistance. And now we have no agent who spends her time going to 1 city to other states and neglecting the district. Thank you. Mister mayor, there is no more public comment. Okay. So with that, I will close the public hearing. It is 07:42. Okay, so continuing on the item. Are there any council member questions at this point in time? Okay. Seeing none, we will move to our next agenda item. Again, reminding the public that we will be taking public comment for a number of additional meetings. ll sick of me already, but, yeah, we are not above the law. For years, the city has known that our at large voting violates the California Voting Rights Act. Rather than address it with the urgency that we required, the city sat sat on their hands. This is about representation and accountability. As I’ve said in previous interviews and chats with some of you on the city council, we can literally be sued for millions of dollars for committing this level of disenfranchisement. My goal is to elicit this change without costing us millions of taxpayer dollars. You all know that this is a million dollar gamble. And as as stewards of our taxpayers money, I find it upsetting that knowing the stakes, the city chose to wait until a lawsuit was filed rather than what was doing what was right. You know, what was smart? I disagree with some of this council’s sentiment that this effort is undemocratic. The law clearly states that this method of at large voting is what’s undemocratic, not the other way around. Although many have elected officials and hundreds of residents that I have talked to throughout the city, there have been less than a handful, that would prefer the current at large system, mostly those who are or have been elected through it. So you may harbor some resentment towards me for taking action when elected officials chose not to. But remember, that also means that you also harbor resentment for those that want this type of representation. And we can do better because I know we can. And, you know, we don’t gotta fight. We just gotta do what’s right for everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Leo West? Well, this is caused by somebody who lost the election that wants to redraw the system as if, the race or a person would determine how they vote. The way that people vote in a city council is accordingly to the interest that bankroll their campaigns. We see meeting after meeting, they consent calendar with the issue are cooked up behind the scene, and we all we see is a 7 years vault. We also see our meeting after meeting, less and less council member even bother to show up here. That was not happening before. A total of the respect for the people, San Leandro. And, so you are gonna change 1 way or the other. You don’t touch the internet behind them. They take time to go to other cities, to other states. And **** the citizens. That’s the reality. So, Asian representation was claiming. We had a Asian representative when I was living in the Manor District, Benny Lee, who was consistently in favor of landlords, voting against any proposal of rent control, even, the tenant relocation assistance. And now we have no agent who spends her time going to 1 city to other states and neglecting the district. Thank you. Mister mayor, there is no more public comment. Okay. So with that, I will close the public hearing. It is 07:42. Okay, so continuing on the item. Are there any council member questions at this point in time? Okay. Seeing none, we will move to our next agenda item. Again, reminding the public that we will be taking public comment for a number of additional meetings. Thank you very much, and have a great evening. Thank you. Douglas Spalding, may you may unmute yourself. Thank you very much. Well, you know, I loves me some, some good art when it’s good art. So thank you so much for, for for doing that work. I I I’m scratching my head a little bit because I keep going by the Hesperian Triangle. I’m trying to figure out what that circle piece of art is. If it’s a portal someplace, how do you get to it? Because it’s all fenced in. And and it’s not really facing in a way that that welcomes people to our city coming in off the freeway on a hundred and fiftieth. So so, you know, I don’t I don’t sure how we make sense of all that. I I just I love this program. I I thank you for all the the, the events that happened downtown. It really makes San Leandro a happening place. And there is no other more cost effective program than I I think than the safety ambassadors. I think we really have to see it as part of a whole providing for public safety. It is very effective. And, and I wanna I wanna piggyback on what Jenny just said. You know, I’m I’m also remembering that we’ve talked or there’s been discussion about extending it to the greenhouse. And I think other areas too, you know, the manor, the Bay Fair District, you know, there there probably are half dozen or more areas that could benefit from a similar program. And I’d I’d love to see us sink more money into this very, relatively low cost, highly effective program. It just is, it it it is the right approach. So thank you very much. Thank you. Mister mayor, there is no more public comment? Oh, close public comment on the side of it. Come back to council members for questions or commentary. Beginning with councilman, Resvedo. Thank you for your presentation and yeah you guys this past year. There’s been a lot of great events. I’ve gone to a lot of them with my families and friends and I really enjoy it. My question for you is, have you heard any, feedback about the sign ordinance with businesses in downtown? Because I’m hearing that in District 2, like, Guadalajara’s and all that. Has it been affecting the businesses in downtown? I think that, you know, the sign ordinances were not enforced for a very, very long time, and signage really got out of hand. So I was really appreciated to see that the community preservation. Group was starting to enforce it. I think that the there’s a lot of confusion because people didn’t know what the ordinance was before the hammer kinda came down. So on balance, I think it’s really helped the downtown, but there are some unfortunate incidences, particular incidences that it could have been communicated a little better. But in general, I think it’s important that we do have standards. Otherwise, we’ll have feather flags just all up and down East Fourteenth Street. And, but, yes, some of our downtown ones are are scratching their head. They just don’t understand it. Yeah. There has to be some kind of order, but yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Some more education, I think, is probably in order. Okay.
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Newark City Council Regular Meeting April 24, 2025
ed to let us know because we represent you. You are our community. We have a number of proclamations tonight. Let me get my notes. Shamsa, please join me. Nice to see you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is proclamation 19 43, American Muslim appreciation and awareness month. Whereas enriched by the unparalleled diversity of its residents, the city of Newark takes great pride in supporting individual religious freedoms and is strengthened by the contributions of its diverse populations, including those who practice Islam. And whereas over 90,000 Muslims live in Alameda County and and make immeasurable contributions to the cultural, political, economic fabric, and well-being of our communities. Whereas in 02/2024, the Council on American Islamic Relations received sick 8658 complaints nationwide, the highest number in its 30 years, reflecting a 7.4% increase from 2023. Whereas the city of Newark acknowledges the importance of peace and justice, understanding that Muslims deserve to live in peace and safety as to all residents of Newark, irrespective of your religion, irrespective of your culture, irrespective of your immigration status, if you’re a resident of Newark, you should be treated in that manner. Whereas the Al Medina Education Center established in 02/2009 in the city of Newark provides spiritual, educational, and social services to the Bay Area and beyond offering regular prayers and programming for all ages while promoting a purposeful life rooted in Islamic values and a commitment to unity, growth, and service whereas it is appropriate to acknowledge and promote awareness of this myriad of invaluable contributions of American Muslims and extend to them the respect and camaraderie every American deserves. Now, therefore, I Michael Hamm, the mayor of Newark, on behalf of my colleagues on the city council proclaim the month of April as American Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month in Newark and urge all Newark residents to take the opportunity to better understand, recognize, and appreciate the rich history and shared experiences of American Muslims. So it’s with great honor I wanna present this, proclamation to you. Thank you. My pleasure. So good evening Mayor Mike and the city council. On behalf of Muslim residents of Newark, we sincerely thank you for the Arab American Heritage Month proclamation. This proclamation is a great example of fostering unity, inclusivity and appreciation for our diverse communities. We deeply appreciate your commitment to celebrating and honoring the rich cultural and religious traditions that make the city of Newark a welcoming home for all. Thank you again for your continued support and leadership in fostering an inclusive and harmonious community. I don’t know about you folks, but when I read those proclamations when it comes to, unity and cooperation and things of that nature, it seems so simple. You know, at the end of the day, it seems so simple. I just don’t understand why it becomes difficult. Next, I’d like to invite Dan to join me at the podium. Dan, you know I’m not gonna even try to pronounce your last name. I get it wrong every time. I know. Welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, this is proclamation 1941 to, recognizing Arbor Day. The first Arbor Day was established in 1872 to promote the reforestation of the Plains Of Nebraska. And by the year 1920, more than 45 states and territories observed Arbor Day, whereas Arbor Day will be observed in the city of Newark on 04/24/2025, whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, enhance the environment by providing habitat for animals, purify the air, and beautify our community, whereas Arbor Day promotes tree appreciation and conservation, tree planting, and tree care, whereas the city Of Newark has recognized the value of thousands of specimen trees within the city limits and has consistently supported the planting and maintenance of approximately 13,000 trees on public property. Now, therefore, I’m Michael Hanna, mayor of the City Of Newark on behalf of my council, declare April 24 as Arbor Day in Newark and urge all residents to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands and to support our city urban forest program. Dan, I present this to you and, thank you for all your contributions to the city on Arbor Day. Thank you. My pleasure, my friend. I I just want to say we are planting trees next Saturday at Sportsfield Park off the Cherry Street parking lot. So if you want to come volunteer and get dirty and plant some tree, learn how to plant a tree properly, come on out. We start at 08:30 till noon. Beautiful. Hey, Dan. I know you are actively out there, you know, working in partnership with other volunteer organizations to plant trees in our city maybe next year. Let me know just how many trees we’re planting this year because the number will surprise many. We are out there planting trees all the time. I’d like to invite my good friend Matthew Farrell, our chief building official, to join me. Hi Matthew. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re issuing proclamation 1935, Building Safety Month. Whereas the City of Newark is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. Whereas our confidence in the resilience of buildings that make up our community is achieved through the implementation of modern building codes and the dedication of building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. Whereas these modern building codes include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. I might have put earthquakes first. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m gonna digress for a moment. I was in San Jose back in ’89 when we had the, earthquake and, working in government at that time, we must have received tens of thousands of calls after the earthquake from concerned citizens worried that their homes were either off their foundations, their brick chimneys had collapsed, there was a lot of concern out in the community. And even in San Jose where we probably had 40 or 50 building inspectors, there was no way that they were gonna be able to respond to all those calls in a timely manner. So we basically utilized a lot of city staff who were quickly trained on recognizing immediate health and safety issues to really go out and calm the nerves of residents to assure them that their home was safe and it was not going to fall down. But you can imagine in an earthquake, which I would put first, this city is going to receive lots of calls from concerned residents and we need as a community to be able to respond in a timely manner. Whereas Building Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council to remind the public about the critical role of our community’s local code officials and assure us on safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our property, whereas game on, that’s the theme, game on. The draft is today, too. Game on. The theme for Building Safety Month 20 25 encourages people to get involved in all aspects of building safety. Now, therefore, I, Michael Hammond, mayor of the city of Newark, on behalf of my council, declare May 2025 as Building Safety Month in Newark and urge all Newark residents to consider the commitment to improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment at home and in the community and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all of us by local and state building departments, fire prevention bureaus and federal agencies in protecting lives and property. It was only a few years ago, folks, we saw what happened at the Ghost Ship Fire situation up in Oakland where a lot of people lost lives on a condition that the government knew about, but in my estimation failed to respond. That doesn’t happen in Newark. If we come across an emergency or an immediate situation, we’re going to take whatever steps necessary, not because we want to be hard on residents. We just want to make sure people are living in safe homes, and that’s really the commitment of our building department and our city. So it’s with great pleasure that I present this to you, Matthew, and certainly feel free to say a few words, my friend. Oh, I’m okay. Thank you. Okay. You you say it so much better. Matthew just wants you to hold to watch the completion of the draft. I get it. The, next proclamation is where did I put my notes? Bridal Storms. You never really need to do RayStorms, are you? That’s the father. Are you kidding me? You worked with him in San Jose? I I thought I no. No. I I didn’t set Ryan up on that. I did not set Ryan up on that. It’s not a common name. Ray Storms worked in the fire department. He was in fire protection services. And it wasn’t uncommon for me to look to Ray to help me industrial building that was being used for a variety of uses not intended for industrial buildings, and your dad was outstanding. So please make sure you share that with him. I had a great pleasure working with him. Small world. He called me the, the night you first announced me getting hired here. Oh, did he? Yes. He’s a good man. So this is National Water Safety Month, proclamation 1936, whereas individual and organized forms of recreation and the creative use of free time are vital to the happy lives of all of our residents. Whereas residents of the city of Newark recognize the vital role of swimming and aquatic related activities playing good physical and mental health and enhance the quality of life for all people, whereas the community understands the essential role that education regarding the topic of water safety plays in preventing drowning and recreational water related safety. Whereas the city of Newark is extremely proud of the George M. Silliman activity in a family aquatic center and its contributions to provide critical life skills, a safe and healthy place to recreate, a place to learn and grow, to swim, build self esteem, confidence and sense of self worth which contributes to the quality of life in our community. Now therefore, I’m Mark O’Hannon on behalf of my colleagues on the Newark City Council, declared National Water Safety Month for the month of May in Newark and urge all Newark residents to enjoy, recognize, and help promote the benefits derived from quality water safety programs and recreational services which provide something to value for everyone. So line, I present this to you, and, I don’t know if you wanna say a few words, but you’re certainly entitled to do so with that, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Hannan, City Council members and the City of Newark, for this proclamation. Drowning is still the leading cause of death in children from ages 1 through 4. The second leading cause for children from 4 to 14, and a top 4 cause for adults 54 and above. There is an average over 4000 unintentional drownings every year in this country, with over 8 times that non fatal drownings that require emergency medical care. Drowning can happen in as little as 20 seconds and is often silent. But it can be prevented. The city of Newark’s recreation department is deeply committed to preventing drowning through a comprehensive approach that includes awareness, education, supervision, and training. We provide American Red Cross based swim lessons to thousands of students annually, ensuring foundational water safety skills from an early age. In 2024 alone, we’ve reached over 3,300 students. 2 40 3 participants were in our new Make a Splash campaign, which offered free swim lessons to increase access and equity in water safety education. Our staff are highly trained through regular in service sessions and a robust, robust certification program. In 2024, we certified 5 new lifeguard instructors, 37 new lifeguards, 9 junior lifeguards, 42 individuals in advanced public, or advanced first aid for public safety personnel. Additionally, we offer certifications in lifeguarding, water park lifeguarding, CPR, AD, first aid, emergency oxygen, water safety instruction, and Title 22 Advanced First Aid for public safety personnel. We also extend our outreach into the community. For example, we introduced the Whales Tales Water Safety Program in local classrooms, beginning with a kindergarten presentation and aiming to expand to all elementary schools. To further support safe recreation, we’ve provided over 4,300 life jacket rentals during our public swim hours, reinforcing our belief that safety should be accessible to all. As I close, I’d like to leave you with a few important reminders, simple yet powerful steps we can all take to promote water safety. Non swimmers should always wear a properly fitted life jacket and stay within arm’s reach of a responsible adult in the water. Always actively supervise children by being in the water with them. Remember that 88 percent of drownings occur with a distracted adult in, the nearby vicinity, so always assign a designated water watcher. Never swim alone. Always swim with a buddy and in areas where lifeguards are present. Know and follow all safety rules and facility rules. Or, be aware of water depths before entering any body of water. By keeping these tips in mind, we can all do our part to ensure a safer and more enjoyable experience in and around the water. Through this, the City of Newark is building safer communities, 1 splash at a time. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the public comment section of our agenda. This is an opportunity for anyone, any member of the public to speak on an item that is not on the agenda this evening. Is Is there anybody in the audience who would like to speak to an item not on the agenda tonight? Yes, please come forward. If you don’t mind state your name please. Sure. Hello, thank you for having me. Our pleasure. My name is Norbil Bizzi. I’m a Fremont Business Owner but Newark resident. I’d like to tell you about a intersection that I feel is a little dangerous. I live in the Bridgeway neighborhood and I constantly drive down, Central. As you’re going down Central, when you’re crossing Cherry, Cherry, the right turn from Cherry onto Central is kind of a yield and then there’s this corner where there’s a whole bunch of trees. The people who are driving down Central have to switch to the right lane after the intersection. Because it’s a 1 lane intersection and then it becomes 2. So they are turning into the right lane as the person turning right is yielding. And the person turning right can’t really see because there’s a whole bunch of trees and bushes there. And I used to live in that area and I’d always hear in the middle of the night screeching and I knew it was that intersection. So I was hoping those trees could be cut down or something could be done about that.
