Heart(burn) of the Bay

You need a program to figure out who's who at Hayward City Hall these days; Is a first responders fee the key to fully funding Oakland Fire?; Budget surplus/deficits for every Alameda County city

☕️MORNING BUZZ

If San Leandro or Union City ever wanted to invade and annex Hayward, this would be the time to do it!

Hayward City Hall is in chaos.

On Tuesday night, the city bid farewell to Assistant City Manager Dustin Claussen, who accepted a position in another city, reportedly San Leandro.

Claussen served as interim city manager last year, bridging the gap between long-time City Manager Kelly McAdoo and the controversial four-month tenure of her replacement, Ana Alvarez, who was placed on paid administrative leave on May 20.

Collin Thormoto of the Hayward Herald on Substack, boiled down the palace intrigue at the self-proclaimed “heart of the bay.”

So to recap: the City Manager is gone, one Assistant City Manager is leaving, the other is running HR, the Finance Director is a temporary appointee chosen by someone who is now on leave, the City Clerk is under internal investigation, and the City Attorney is running both his office and the City Manager’s Office.

To countywide observers the upheaval at Hayward City Hall is surprising. It’s long been a beacon of stability in the region.

The last time this much uncertainty permeated a city government in Alameda County was, perhaps, Oakland’s disastrous week in June 2016 when its police department cycled through three police chiefs in one week.

—More inside:

• Hayward’s estimated budget shortfall is larger than previously disclosed.

• Oakland Fire is eying a first responders fee like one recently approved in San Jose.

• As Oakland seeks to close its massive budget shortfall, one councilmember issued a challenge to illegal dumpers: “I will be coming after you.”

• Budget surplus/deficits for every city in Alameda County.

• Question are raised about enforcement of the county’s draft sidewalk ordinance.

• When does Supervisor Elisa Marquez’s probationary period end?

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