There was a changing of the guard last Tuesday night in Hayward’s packed city council chambers, as the City Clerk officially certified the city council and mayoral election results and inaugurated the victors.

Mayor-elect Barbara Halliday and Councilmembers Sarah Lamnin and Marvin Peixoto were sworn into their new positions. Peixoto ran for re-election to the council seat.

The turnout for the June Hayward city council and mayoral election was low but typical for an off-season election; only 22.6 percent of registered voters went to the polls.

Mayor Michael Sweeney was first elected mayor in 1990 and has since served as mayor since 2006. Sweeney did not run for re-election in the mayor race, and will be retiring from civic service.

Councilmember Mark Salinas was sent off with warm salutations and an outstanding citizen award, along with a hope to return to the council dais to put his name placard, “where it belongs!” quipped Hayward’s City Manager Fran David.

Salinas is a professor of history and political science at Chabot College and California State University, East Bay who ran for the mayor’s seat but lost to Halliday.

Perhaps the most raucous moment of the evening came when union-backed council member-elect Sarah Lamnin rose to take the civic oath of office. Cheers from supporters filled the room and Lamnin’s beaming smile gave an air of energy that rarely greets the chamber walls.

Many reflected on Sweeney’s retirement and how dedicated he is to the city of Hayward. Sweeney, who is a CSUEB alumnus, warned that the biggest obstacle his successor Halliday will face as mayor is keeping the city’s finances balanced.

“We face major fiscal challenges in the coming years,” Sweeney noted, referencing the city staff reports of Hayward’s looming budget shortfall.

The Hayward City Council is in the midst of negotiations with its city-unionized work force—negotiations that have reached a stubborn deadlock as of late, but with hope for a resolution in the near future.

Lamnin, who was endorsed during her election by the union SEIU Local 1021, which is currently in talks with the city, has an optimistic view. “Everyone needs to feel like they’ve been heard during these talks and communication is vital,” Lamnin said. “I hope to be and help that bridge of communication.”

Lamnin also touched on why she left the non-profit Hayward Community Action Network in South Hayward and began to take a bigger political role: “The City Council…has not chosen the greatest possibilities for Hayward.” She was quick to emphasize that she has respect for all of the members on the council.

For her part, new mayor Halliday seeks to “keep on trying” to solve some of Hayward’s most stubborn and persistent problems. On the top of that list is the revitalization of downtown.

“Citizens that work together for a better Hayward, that enliven downtown with business patronage,” Halliday expounded, would be the ideal future for the city of Hayward.
“But the way Hayward is now is beautiful too,” Halliday prefaced.

During the reception that followed the swearing-in ceremony, former Mayor Sweeney, who made a point of referring to CSUEB by its old name “Cal State Hayward,” was asked what he plans to do with all his extra time. “What extra time?” Sweeney demanded.

In sincerity, Sweeney plans to slow down to a “more humane pace of doing things,” and “watch some TV, too.”

Closing her inauguration speech, Halliday had a challenge for the citizens of Hayward. “[The council is] here for you!” Halliday proclaimed. “It’s you who tell us what to do.”

High aspirations and hopes filled the ceremony but with the revived old specters of an unsavory tenements, like the Green Shutter Hotel in the heart of downtown, and vast buildings throughout the city being lost to time, Peixoto reminded those gathered that Hayward has come far but not far enough.