Gallegos runs for Hayward City Council – Hayward General Municipal Election for Mayor & City Council: June 3

Phillip Gallegos,
Hayward City Council Candidate

Hayward is my hometown. It is where I was born and raised and where my wife and I have decided to live and raise our family. I want the best for Hayward because I want the best for my family and for every person that calls Hayward home.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing the tall building up on the hill and assuming I would never go to college.  I thought it was only for people who had money or who had straight A’s. My parents solidified those thoughts by telling me they could never afford to send me to college, so I didn’t plan on it. My father completed third grade before he started working picking fruit and his advice was to start working right away.

Fortunately I had teachers and high school administrators telling me something different. I was encouraged to apply to Chabot College and spent a few years satisfying my parent’s wishes by working and myself by finishing an Associates of Art. I didn’t stop there; I transferred to California State University, Hayward and had the opportunity to go to that big building on the hill. While enrolled there I studied abroad in Florence, Italy for a year. At that point I realized so much more was possible than I ever imagined. After completing my Bachelor of Art I went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts.

Hayward will always need great educators, but now we also need programs that teach and encourage parents to get involved and show them that there are ways for their children to go to college. The Hayward Unified School District is already doing a good job, but we need more parent involvement to make it great. We can work toward building programs that support and encourage parents who find it difficult to support their children.  At the same time we need to encourage the families who make education a priority to stay in Hayward.

I have gone through phases of apathy, as a kid and young adult, but at some point I started caring about speed bumps and city planning. I started attending city council meetings and neighborhood meetings and gradually voiced my opinions. I made the decision to run for city council to represent the people who share my vision of Hayward’s future. My concern is when people get to the point in life when they really care about the city they live in, they leave Hayward and go to a place they assume is already better for them.

Hayward has a lot of potential. There has been a large production of wonderful murals on downtown buildings. I encourage the art movement in Hayward and participate as a member of the Hayward Arts Council and also as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Sun Gallery. I believe art can be one of Hayward’s great assets and the goal of making Hayward a cultural center is absolutely attainable.

With a thriving school system and cultural center, Hayward will become a place that people want to live. People will want to invest in homes and businesses here.  They will want great food, amazing entertainment, well-maintained parks, low crime, and so much more.  And, because the people who live here want those things, each improvement will affect each factor of our city creating a snowball effect of positive change.

You can find more information at phillipgallegos.com or drop me a question at www.facebook.com/Gallegos4CityCouncil and I would be happy to talk about Hayward’s future with you.