The city of Hayward has settled a voting rights lawsuit by agreeing to create six district boundaries for its City Council and transition its election process away from citywide contests, except for the election of the mayor.
The Hayward Unified School District will also create district boundaries for its school board of trustees.
District boundaries for the City Council will be established for the 2026 election, when two seats will be up for election. The remaining four councilmembers will be elected in the new districts in the 2028 fall election.
A public hearing at the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday will seek public input on the boundaries. An online map tool is available at maphayward.org.
The move to geographic-based districts and elections of representatives from within those neighborhoods comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a local resident and a group called Neighborhood Elections Now Inc. that challenged the city’s practice of holding citywide elections for all city councilmembers as illegal under the California Voting Rights Act.
The lead plaintiff, Jack Wu, and his attorney Scott Rafferty, argued that citywide elections, known as at-large contests, diluted the voting power of the city’s Asian American population.
The City Council passed a resolution at its April 16 meeting to start the process of making the change, eyeing 2026 as the first election to use the boundaries.
“Many Asian Americans will only vote when someone from their own neighborhood explains why it matters — and when they have an equal voice on the city council and school board, it will matter.” Scott Rafferty, Jack Wu’s attorney
Wu and Rafferty had urged the council to make the changes before the presidential election this November, but the settlement announced Tuesday means the process will be delayed one more cycle as public outreach and a formal redistricting process is established. Both separately expressed frustration that the city had delayed the decision and fought a legal battle after a formal complaint was first filed in 2021 asking for immediate changes.
“Every Californian who supports democracy is injured by Hayward’s use of a discriminatory election system,” Rafferty said in an email in response to the settlement.
“Many Asian Americans will only vote when someone from their own neighborhood explains why it matters — and when they have an equal voice on the city council and school board, it will matter,” he said.
Rafferty has filed lawsuits forcing changes in other cities, including Antioch, Brentwood, Concord and Napa, according to Neighborhood Elections Now’s website.
The settlement included $125,000 in attorney fees for Rafferty.
A ‘very complicated’ process
Hayward City Councilmember Dan Goldstein said at the April 16 meeting that he thought the council had done a good job for its constituents but said the law had been beneficial when applied elsewhere in California and said the city should follow the law as it expects other people to do. But he said it would be unrealistic to ask staff and the public to complete the process before 2024.
“It’s a very complicated process,” he said.
Mayor Mark Salinas expressed frustration with the resolution ahead of the lawsuit settlement, lamenting that the only reason the council was passing the resolution was because of the lawsuit. He was the only member of the council to vote no.
The second of at least four hybrid public hearings will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, in City Council chambers at Hayward City Hall.