Civic Toolkit: Make Your Voice Heard at the Castro Valley MAC

Civic Engagement Toolkit
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The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) advises the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on issues of land use, development, and planning in Castro Valley.

Meeting Time and Place
The Castro Valley MAC Land Use Meetings are generally the second and fourth Mondays of the month, and the Castro Valley MAC General Meetings are the third Monday of the month. If a meeting should fall on a holiday, it is typically cancelled rather than rescheduled. All meetings begin at 6 p.m. in the Chabot Room of the Castro Valley Library.

Published Agendas
As per the Brown Act, the meeting agendas must be posted 72 hours in advance; they are typically found on the Castro Valley MAC website. CVM tracks upcoming Castro Valley MAC meetings on our Castro Valley event calendar.

Once at the meeting, printed copies of the agenda, along with comment cards and other meeting content (staff reports on agenda items, slides from presentations, etc.) are available on a table on the side of the room.

MAC Meeting Contents
Some items automatically go before the MAC for approval, such as permits for design and development. Other topics that fall under the MAC’s purview can be added to a MAC agenda by approaching a MAC member, approaching Supervisor Nate Miley, or by making a public comment at a MAC meeting and requesting that a topic be addressed at a future MAC meeting.

Public Comments
An “Open Forum” agenda item is at the beginning of the meeting for attendees to make comments about items not on the agenda. You may also make a public comment for an agenda item after the relevant discussion or presentation.

For either type of public comment, you must fill out a comment card, and hand it to the clerk seated at the end of the table. If you’re talking about an agenda item, be sure to note the number from the agenda. Each speaker has three minutes to speak, and the speakers are generally called by name to the podium.

Keep in mind that while the public comments are taken into consideration by the MAC in their discussion and deliberations, the public comments are just that, a comment — they are not a chance to have an active dialogue or back-and-forth with the MAC.

The comment card used at MAC meetings.
The comment card used at MAC meetings.

Minutes of Past Meetings
The Castro Valley MAC meeting minutes can be found from the Alameda County webpage.

More About the Castro Valley MAC
CVM has previously covered the history of the Castro Valley MAC and is advocating for an elected MAC.

Governance
Supervisors to hear proposal for incorporation fiscal analysis

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors Unincorporated Services Committee meets on Wednesday, April 27 at 6:00 pm to hear from the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) about a proposed fiscal analysis of the feasibility of incorporating Castro Valley and the other Alameda County unincorporated communities.

This is a map of the location of Castro Valley Lumber
Community
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Chick-fil-A next to Burger Island? Where’s the beef?

When you consider how this location is a gateway to this community, how poorly conceived this intersection is, and the increasing traffic along 580, it is fair to question the wisdom of placing a new drive-thru restaurant here.

Community
Community signs, Safe Routes to School on Monday’s MAC agenda

The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council meets tonight at 6:00 and will receive updates from Alameda County staff about “The Eden Area Signage Plan” and the Safe Routes to Schools Program. Safe Routes to School Safe Routes to School encourages walking, biking, carpooling, and public transit use in an effort …