Newly elected city council member Mark Salinas, a Hayward native, wants to make “Hayward a better place to live, work and do business,” according to Salinas for Hayward.
Salinas was elected with 6,200 votes based on his community campaign and city priorities, according to the City of Hayward Voter Information website.
After living his entire life in the Schafer Park neighborhood and attending Hayward High, Salinas went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in La Raza Studies and a master’s degree in Educational Administration, Leadership and Public Policy at San Francisco State University.
Salinas lives in downtown Hayward with his wife Lety, and actively participates in city engagements.
For the past 15 years, Salinas has taught for both the University of California and the California State University systems, as well as for the California Community Colleges. He teaches at Chabot, Las Positas and Laney colleges, and lectures at CSU East Bay.
Besides working as a professor, Salinas serves as executive director of The Kids’ Breakfast Club, non-profit organization, which fed over 2,000 families last year, according to Salinas.
Salinas is responsible for the organization’s operations and raising its $100,000 annual budget.
Even though he’s taken on extra responsibilities, “I’ll still teach. It’s my pride and joy,” said Salinas.
“Professor Salinas is a caring professor, who understands students problems,” said Christopher Stevens, 20, a student at Chabot College.
“He encourages everyone to attend his Saturday morning Breakfast Club and to participate or engage in community functions,” said Hayward resident Luis Ortega, 25.
“He’ll even give extra credit if you run into him,” said Melissa Perez, former student and resident of Hayward.
“When’s the last time you could eat with your councilman?” she added.
Along with working with The Kids’ Breakfast Club, Salinas also splits his time between other community projects, including the Hayward Unified School District Measure I Oversight Committee, said Salinas.
Salinas always invited students to join in any one of his projects, said Stacey Dennis 21, a CSUEB business major.
He was a founding member of the Latino Business Round Table and works on the Chabot College Puente Project, where he is a mentor and member of the Advisory Board, Salinas added.
“With 20 years of political campaigns and experience, I plan on making Hayward a place we can all be proud to call our home,” said Salinas.
He entered the Hayward City Council with three main priorities, “to make sure fire and police are fully funded, invest in cleaning up our neighborhood and parks and keeping them safe, and focus on economic development to bring jobs to our city.”
“Salinas just won the election not too long ago, but it seems that the City of Hayward is the real winner,” said Daniel Millard, 46, a Hayward resident.
