Candidate for
Mayor; City of Hayward

As a teenager my Dad (people knew him as Tony) moved from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Hayward in the 1950's. He lived with his aunt Hilda on Chenault Way across the street from the Hayward Airport. My parents married in 1963 and they began their lifelong investment in Hayward by purchasing their first home on Gaither Way in the Schafer Park Neighborhood. My Dad worked hard his whole life. He worked in the Tire Department at Sears at Southland Mall and he was a Chabot College student. My Dad was a Police Officer for the City of Oakland for 18 years and he was so proud of his industrial steam cleaning business he operated for 10 years. When my Dad died he was an investigator for the State of California Health and Human Services Department. My parents were married for 32 years when my father died in 1995 and I am sure he's pleased that today he's buried at Lone Tree Cemetery in the city he moved to over 50 years ago and loved so much.

My Mom's story is similar to many Hayward families. From New Mexico too, my Mom moved to Hayward when she married my Dad. People know my mom as Lorina or Lori and she worked at United Can, a company that manufactured all of the cans for Hunts Cannery. She worked at B.A.R.T. for many years and today she works for Alameda County. My Mom over the years has been incredibly active in Hayward and the Hayward Area. From the St. Bede Woman's Club to President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Alameda County to Board Member of the Seventh Step Foundation.

I was born at St. Rose Hospital and I grew up in South Hayward in the Schafer Park Neighborhood. I attended Eldridge Elementary School, St. Bede Catholic School, and I graduated from Hayward High School. I transferred from Chabot College to San Francisco State University where I earned a bachelor's degree in La Raza Studies and a Master's degree in Educational Administration and Public Policy Studies.

I am an educator first and my career started 15 years ago at San Francisco State University. Today, I teach Ethnic Studies, History, and Sociology at Chabot College and I am a lecturer in the Political Science Department and Ethnic Studies Department at California State University, East Bay.

For 19 years I have been a volunteer at The Kids' Breakfast Club, a non-profit organization in Hayward responsible for feeding thousands of deserving children and their families every year. For the last 10 years, I have served as the Executive Director and I'm responsible for all organizational activities from budget to program development and evaluation to developing campaigns focused on regional and community health and nutrition policy initiatives for kids and their families.

Today my wife Lety and I live in Downtown Hayward and when we were married we wouldn't have chosen to live anywhere else other than Hayward.