Proposed Palomares Hills Housing Development Goes to MAC
At the Monday January 26th Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) meeting a proposal will be up for review that has sparked a loud protest from Palomares Hills residents. The plan calls for development of the vacant parcel between the Palomares Hills Community Center and Fire Station #7 on Villareal …
New Federal rules void MAC cell phone tower ruling
One particular issue that the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council has been particularly passionate about over the past few years has been cell phone transmission towers. They have usually been successful at convincing companies to disguise their poles to avoid visual blight. In fact, at the October 13th MAC meeting, …
Latest Canyonland Trash Updates
An update on the Canyonlands trash service from both the recent Board of Supervisors, and Castro Valley Sanitary District Meetings Alameda County Board of Supervisors Planning Committee Meeting – January 6th At the January 6th Alameda County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Planning meeting Liz McElligot, the Alameda County Community Development …
Is a comma keeping you from applying for the MAC?
Bad grammar on the FAQ page of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) page may inadvertently keep new Castro Valley residents from applying to serve on the council. People interested in filling the impending vacancies on the Castro Valley MAC could easily misinterpret the FAQ, incorrectly thinking there is a five year residency requirement for eligibility. In fact, any resident of Castro …
Why Does the MAC Have Seven Members?
The recent announcement of the impending resignation of Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) member Matt Turner reminded me of why the MAC was increased to a membership of seven in the first place. When the MAC was established in 1981 it had five members, all appointed by Supervisor Joe Bort, …
An Update on the Castro Valley Specific Plan Update
On Tuesday January 6th, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors held their regular Planning Committee meeting. One item on the agenda was a recap by Albert Lopez, Director of the Alameda County Planning Department on the status of the major initiatives of the Planning Department. A large part of his recap …
Matt Turner resigns MAC seat, accepts position with Supervisor Nate Miley
Matt Turner, who has served on the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) since April 2011, will resign from the MAC effective February 1, 2015 to work for Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley. Upon Turner’s resignation, the Board of Supervisors will need to confirm Miley’s appointment and/or reappointment of two people to …
The “Town Council” Movement of LA County
While researching the different ways unincorporated areas around California work with their Counties, I learned about the unique Town Councils of Los Angeles County. They act in an advisory role and are much like a Municipal Advisory Council (MAC,) but are not connected to the county government in any way. …
The Elusive Castro Valley MAC By-laws
Here at Castro Valley Matters, we are curious about the workings of our local government. To that end, we naturally wanted to read over and understand the by-laws of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC). We had a tough time finding them. The MAC’s by-laws are not posted on the …
CVSan Board Tackles Canyonlands Annexation
The Castro Valley Sanitary District Board of Directors meeting was held on Tuesday December 2nd. Melody Appleton and Ralph Johnson were given the oath of office after being elected to the board in November. Each of the CVSan board members nominated a person to serve the next term on the …