COUNCIL BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes of March 19, 2025
Call to Order: 5:30 p.m.
Members Present: Mayor Salinas, Councilmember Syrop, and Councilmember Bonilla Jr.
Members Absent: None
Staff: Dr. Ana Alvarez, Regina Youngblood, Dustin Claussen, Alex Ameri, Sharif Etman, Christina Crosby, Franchesca Hatfield, Nicholas Mullins Guests: None
Public Comments: None
Approval of Meeting Minutes from February 19, 2025
Action: Minutes reviewed and unanimously approved.
City’s Real Estate Update (Oral Report)
Public Works Director Ameri presented
Councilmember Syrop Questions:
What is our plan around having someone who specializes in land use development, such as a real property manager or a public real estate manager, for the City to help us leverage these resources? What resources do we have in place to leverage these empty lots? We have a real property manager in our title and pay plan. We attempted recruitment multiple times. Most recently was the end of calendar year 2024. We had a round of interviews. The candidates we attracted were more into managing the property and our intent was someone to do a portion of that but someone to aggressively market some of our properties to get developers in and do something that can provide resources to the City. Since that time, we’ve realized we need to get a working title that attracts someone with more marketing background instead of finding folks who are looking to just manage properties. We have since worked on the job description. The pay has been deemed appropriate. We have updated the job description at the personnel commission last week.
What is your philosophy on land lease versus selling?
More or less similar to the properties at the airport. We do not sell but we lease for 50 years to developers.
Is there any inclination to do that?
It depends on the property and usage. Some it makes sense to hold on to. It depends on the intent for the time and use of the property. Especially if there is a big community benefit. No one size fits all. We’re open with the focus on community benefit.
Mayor Salinas Questions:
Is there an overlay of these properties and the catalyst sites? Are we tracking the catalyst sites? We’re not tracking the catalyst sites. Paul Nguyen likely has something similar to catalyst sites list. He likely has a pulse on best opportunity to activate a site.
Action: The Committee received the oral report and provided feedback.
Hayward Economic Development Corporation Update (Oral Report) Assistant City Manager Claussen presented
Councilmember Syrop Questions:
Is the parking lot behind the movie theatre managed by the City or the property management company, Advent? We manage it. The successor agency owns it but our facilities team does some of the maintenance work.
Councilmember Bonilla Jr. Questions:
Is there an opportunity for us to do a retrospective review of the decision on the Cinema Place? Yes, there is an opportunity to do that. We recommend doing it after 1 year of owning it so we can see the full reality of owning it. The Economic Development Corporation owns the property. We always have the opportunity to sell if needed. All can be evaluated after owning it a bit longer.
Mayor Salinas Questions:
Is the manager of the site and staff focused and enthusiastic about the charge of this building? We understand the ask and we can evaluate whether we want to be all in or have the right person take over so we’re all out after owning it for longer.
Action: The Committee received the oral report and provided feedback.
Review and Approve the FY 2024-25 Agenda Planning Calendar What will be discussed at the April 16, 2025, meeting if the proposed budget has not yet been published? Updated Revenue and Expense projections in the 5-year model Action: The Committee reviewed the calendar and provided feedback.
Committee Members/Staff Announcements: None.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.
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