SAFE LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

By Joseph Hilson

Public Safety is Joe's #1 Priority. He helped expand the number of Police Officers on our streets and added paramedic services at every Fire Station.

Council Member Hilson recognized the value of trained volunteers serving as the "eyes and ears" of the community. That is why he supports expansion of the Police Reserves and the Neighborhood Watch programs.

"We deserve neighborhoods where families can live without the fear of crime, drugs or violent people," says Joe.

"I will continue to work hard to ensure that our police, fire and paramedic services are efficiently run and adequately funded."

"A safe, well planned community for your family and mine has always been a top priority and one of the primary reasons motivating me to become a member of the Hayward City Council. We all deserve neighborhoods where families can live without the fear of crime, drugs, weapons and violence."

Joe believes that community involvement to the key to reducing the crime rate. Neighbors watching out for neighbors help the police spot problems before they get out of control.

"The more you have the police and the community in tune with one another and working together, the better your success will be to combat crime," Joe explains.

"Reducing the crime rate is imperative, - but it isn't enough." To that end, he has pledged to work with Police Chief Dwyer to:

· Give police the modern equipment they need

· Ensure that each neighborhood has officers familiar with each beat

· Maintain close relationships between the police and community organizations

· Maintain positive relationships between police and the schools

· Encourage and provide incentives for police and firefighters to serve as Mentors to young people

Public Safety does not stop with police. Council Member Hilson has also worked hard to expand paramedic services and to preserve fire services. Joe worked to help create the City's present paramedic system. The system increases public safety and improves response times by placing paramedics in every fire station. It also brings private sector management skills and marketplace efficiencies to the system by partnering the paramedic program with a private ambulance service.

Joe remains a guiding force, working with others, in an on-going public awareness campaign. "Keeping our neighborhoods safe requires continuing community involvement and a commitment of resources." As your re-elected Council Member, Joe pledges to:

· Increase police presence to slow down cars on our streets

· Expand Neighborhood Watch and Disaster Management Plans

· Continue support to our Neighborhood Watch and Police Reserve programs

A safe community for my family and yours is a top priority. I will work hard to ensure that our paramedic service, fire service and the police department are well funded and efficiently run. We must keep our children safe and away from drugs and weapons. We must provide alternatives such as mentors, after-school programs, modern libraries and first-rate recreational facilities.

Livable Communities

A thriving Downtown is important to revitalizing Hayward. A new Albertson's Center, new sidewalks and landscaping on B Street, a new City Hall, a new Parking Garage, hundreds of new homes already built, with a new 12 screen Movie Complex and a new Cost Plus store and spaces for a dozen new small businesses, and a new Parking Garage coming, the Downtown is happening! Now it's time to re-focus some of our energy on fixing potholes, reducing traffic and creating Livable Neighborhoods.

Council Member Joe Hilson knows our neighborhoods and he knows how to find successful solutions. He is trustworthy and he listens to our concerns. He developed a financing plan to add 12 acres to the Mission Hills Golf Course and saved Hayward Taxpayers over $6,000,000. Joe has been working to improve Community Preservation to enforce building and zoning and codes in areas where decay was beginning to encroach on our Quality of Life.

Community Priorities:

· Fix Potholes, Remove Graffiti, Repair Streets and Sidewalks. When infrastructure needs work, Joe will get the City to respond

· Beautification, Plant trees, Increase Recreational Opportunities. Work with neighborhood and community groups to make Hayward a truly Livable Community.

· Support and encourage Community Businesses. Joe will help community business grow

Joe's biggest advantage in dealing with problems, both big and small: he knows how the system works - and, more importantly, he knows how to make it work for our neighborhoods. As a community leader and as a Policy Maker, Planning Commissioner and Elected Official for the past 12 years, Joe has seen from the inside how the City operates. There is no substitute for experience in problem-solving.

I will work to reduce traffic congestion by building the Foothill/Mission Boulevard 238 "Alternative" and the 92/880 interchange, fix our roads, provide streets that are swept, find a solution to unrepaired, neglected and delapidated buildings and get them fixed or replaced quickly and I will work to provide more recreational opportunities in Hayward, especially for our young people.

Hayward has more affordable housing than any nearby city. Still, Affordable Housing is a difficult problem and is in short supply. "I am very concerned that two of my four children, born and raised in Hayward, could not afford to buy a home here when they grew up. Even though we have an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, we need to find additional solutions. We need to work with builders, lenders and the community. We need to look at all the available agencies and programs and roll up our sleeves to find solutions. It would be easy - but wrong - for an elected official to say there's a simple solution to Affordable Housing. There is not. But, you have my commitment that I will work hard, and keep trying until we find workable solutions."

"You can count on me to always be accessible, to hear your comments and concerns and to use a fresh approach in solving problems. My job is to represent you and cut through the red-tape of the City bureaucracy to solve our problems."

"As your elected Council Member, I pledge to be accessible, to listen to your comments and concerns and to use a common sense approach in solving problems in the community. There are many reasons why Hayward is a great place to live and work and I will focus on making it even better."