The Heart of the Happiest City: Mayor Michael Hannon on Newark

When Susan Munkner walked in on September 17 she counted three City of Newark name badges in the room, and told everyone it was three for the price of one. Newark Mayor Michael Hannon had brought his city manager, David Benoun, and his community development director, Steven Turner, whose department runs the city's economic development. For the next half hour, questions included, the mayor told a room of REALTORS® what is coming to the middle of the FUN cities and what they can tell their clients about it.

Susan warmed the room up with some Newark history. Newark was nearly folded into the city that became Fremont, and had the foresight, she said, to stop that. It has made salt since the 1850s. The Carter Brothers built railroad cars there, San Francisco cable cars among them. And the name comes from Newark Castle in Scotland. The mayor picked up from there: at Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernaci's retirement celebration a few years ago, she talked about the FUN cities, so he stood at the podium and reminded the room what you have left if you take Newark out of them.

Four mayors in fifty years

Mayor Hannon joined the Newark City Council in 2014 and was elected mayor in 2022. Newark has no term limits, and he is, as he likes to put it, only the fourth elected mayor the city has had in more than fifty years, after James Balentine (1972 to 1978), Dave Smith (1978 to 2011) and Al Nagy (2011 to 2022). The mayor runs every two years, and as his predecessor used to say, "we do have term limits. They're called elections." This November he has no opponent. His case for the arrangement is that a mayor who is not looking for the next job can hold a long view of the city.

His fun facts: he and his wife have seven children, three of them lawyers, which means no electrician, no plumber and no mechanic in the family but a great deal of review whenever the estate plan comes out. They also have eleven grandchildren, from a one-year-old to a freshman heading to the University of Oregon. Grandparenting, he told the room quietly, is the best.

As for his city manager, David Benoun lives in Newark. He was the city's attorney before he became city manager, the job he has held for nearly eight years, and in the mayor's words he is not going anywhere.

Newark turns 71

The city's birthday is September 22; it incorporated in 1955, and Newark Days filled the weekend before, September 17 to 20. Fremont, the mayor said, had pictured Newark as its industrial area, and the city's founders had better things in mind. Today it is about 49,000 people on about 14 square miles, surrounded by Fremont. When Fremont's mayor, Raj Salwan, talks about the happiest city in the world, Mayor Hannon reminds him that Newark is the center of it: the heart of the happiest city in the world. The south county mayors, Fremont's Raj Salwan, Union City's Gary Singh and himself, work at speaking with one voice, he said, because down here it is easy to feel forgotten.

Then he thanked the room. When you market a home in Newark, he said, you improve the neighborhood, because nobody lists a house without fixing it up first: new landscaping, new paint, whatever it takes to get the best price.

Roads first

When the city surveyed residents, he said, it did not get the answer most cities get, public safety. Newark's number one issue was the roads. (Drive Thornton Avenue, he said, and count the bumps.) With federal money behind it, the city will repave Thornton Avenue from I-880 to the edge of Old Town, and he promised it will look fabulous.

The rest of the capital list:

• The Newark Resource Center on Ash Street, built with $1 million in state funding that Assemblymember Alex Lee secured, is open and connecting residents with services.
• Two new fire stations. Measure GG, the half-cent sales tax Newark voters passed in 2016, has left money to spare for capital projects, and the city hopes to use it to replace Stations 27 and 29, on Cherry Street and Ruschin Drive. Public safety, he said, is still the first priority.
• A new Cultural Arts Center. The city plans to take down the 1968 Newark Community Center on Cedar Boulevard and build what he called a big, state-of-the-art arts facility in its place.

Behind all of it, a balanced budget with a modest surplus, at a time when a lot of cities are cutting, and the city's first five-year capital improvement plan, since capital projects take years to get from idea to ground.

Housing, and why buyers are crossing the bridge

In the last state housing cycle Newark was asked to plan for 1,078 homes and permitted more than twice that. This cycle the state wants 1,874 by 2031, and the mayor expects it to be a stretch. He added what he called an editorial comment: he wishes Sacramento would leave residential planning to local governments, because building and building does not account for traffic, noise and the older neighborhoods around the new homes. If the state requires it, he said, Newark will do its best to get there.

The projects he walked through:

• FMC Willow and its Grand Park, the last piece of the Bayside area off Willow Street, now being graded: 370 homes, 90 of them affordable, around a five-acre park. He walks his dogs there.
• Mowry Village, 196 single-family homes and 30 affordable ones on the site of the Pick-n-Pull off Mowry Avenue. He acknowledged it was controversial and said the infrastructure work will keep the area reachable for emergency services.
• Marabel, Robson Homes' neighborhood on Cedar Boulevard. The mayor has toured it and called Mark Robson's work simply quality.
• Cedar Townhomes, 76 three-story townhomes next door by Taylor Morrison, under construction now.
• Timber Senior Apartments, 79 affordable homes for seniors that opened in May. At the ribbon cutting the mayor met residents who had been homeless for years and now have a home.
• Thornton Avenue Apartments, 59 affordable family homes by Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, backed by a $12 million commitment from the city's housing impact fee fund so the project competes better for state and federal money. It is still a few million dollars short.

The selling point he gave the room: Newark sits at the foot of the Dumbarton Bridge, and Menlo Park, Redwood City and Palo Alto are not building much new housing. Buyers are coming over from the Peninsula because Newark is affordable by comparison and the new homes are good. His first question for any developer, he said, is how many affordable units they will build, because he is tired of hearing that the children of families in Fremont, Union City and Newark cannot afford to buy where they grew up. The developers, he said, have not pushed back.

Tell your first-time buyers

The item the mayor most wanted passed along: the city council has approved down payment assistance for first-time buyers, up to $200,000 for households at or below the area median income and up to $150,000 for households up to 120% of it. The city has set aside $3 million, enough for at least fifteen buyers. Nothing is paid on the loan while the buyer owns and lives in the home. It comes due at the end of its 30-year term, or sooner on a sale, a transfer or a refinance the city has not approved, and the city then gets its money back plus a share of the appreciation (or simple interest, whichever is greater), so the money goes around again to the next buyer. Hello Housing runs the program for the city.

He did the math out loud. On a million-dollar home, how many young buyers can put $200,000 down without help from their family? Not many.

Measure DD, the business tax, in November

Newark is asking voters on November 3 to rewrite its business license tax, Measure DD. The mayor quizzed the room on when the city last made a significant change to it. The answer is 1970, 56 years ago. The tax brings in about $1.4 million a year, he said, while the utility tax that households pay brings in about $5 million, and in his view the city's businesses have not been paying their fair share.

As he described it:

• More than 30 business classifications become seven, so owners can tell which one they are in.
• Every business pays $25 on its first $100,000 in gross receipts. Today, by the city's figures, the minimum is about $39 and covers only the first $25,000.
• By his figures about two thirds of businesses would pay less, with the increases aimed at large manufacturers and corporate businesses that use the city's roads and infrastructure.
• Real estate agents and brokers fall under professional services: $25 plus 0.25% of gross receipts above $100,000. For an agent, gross receipts means commission, and only on sales in Newark, wherever your office is.

If your tax does go up, he said, it will go up modestly. The measure has a published argument against it too, from Councilmember Terrence Grindall; both sides are in the voter guide.

NewPark Mall

The mayor called the mall probably the most significant issue in the city. Before the pandemic, the owner, Brookfield Properties, had a plan for about 1,500 rental homes on the mall's parking lots, the kind of housing few cities are building. When the pandemic hit, Brookfield told him it no longer penciled out. He has since told them, more than once, to come back with anything, some rental, some ownership, whatever works, and most recently suggested that without a vision for the mall they might think about selling it. Brookfield has already sold Southland Mall in Hayward, and he believes a sale of NewPark is in the works.

The good news is at the Macy's end, which Brookfield did not own. The building's new owner is bringing in T&T Supermarket, which will take the whole ground floor: about 72,600 square feet, T&T's largest store in California, expected to open in 2027. AMC and 24 Hour Fitness are still there. His long-standing view is that housing in the parking lot is what brings a mall back, because nothing helps a restaurant or a coffee shop more than people who can walk to it. The city also brought in the Urban Land Institute for a panel on what the site could become, and he put its ideas on screen for the room to read.

Questions from the room

Who qualifies for the down payment money? It is based on income, the Newark team explained: buyers need to earn within a set percentage of the area median income, and there are other requirements. Once the program opens, Hello Housing will take pre-applications and hold a lottery; until then, its Newark page has an interest list.

What about the schools? A member who came here from Canada said schools are the first thing her buyers ask about in Newark. The Newark Unified School District has its own elected board, the mayor said, and he always speaks well of the schools because they are part of his community. The district has a new superintendent, Dr. Will Eger, who came from the Ravenswood district on the Peninsula and is looking at land left over from schools closed as enrollment declined, and at how to win Newark parents back to the public schools. Test scores are down, the mayor acknowledged, as they are statewide since the pandemic, and he expects a young, energetic superintendent to turn that around.

Can the city bring NewPark Mall back? A resident of 25 years remembered spending whole afternoons there with his children, and said it now feels empty next to the busy malls in San Jose. The city will sit down with Brookfield any time, the mayor said, and would look at investing in the right plan, but it does not own the property. With H&M and others gone, he hopes T&T and new tenants on the upper floors of the Macy's building will start to bring people back, and he said plainly that until Brookfield sells, the mall is likely to stay as it is. He hoped to see a sale within 60 to 90 days.

What was on for Newark Days? Everything, that weekend: $2 carnival rides on opening night, bands all weekend at MacGregor Playfields and the community center, a parade on Saturday morning down Newark Boulevard with more than a hundred entries and the council on a float, and a community information fair on Sunday.

Anthony asked whether the council could have a copy of the presentation, and the mayor said it would be his pleasure.

Watch it

The mayor covers more than fits here. This opens where Susan introduces him.

Guest speaker · September 17, 2026What's next for Newark0:0028:03Newark at 71HousingBusiness taxQuestions 28:03Pop outThe council recorded the meeting. This opens where Susan Munkner introduces the mayor, and runs through the questions at the end of his talk. watch it on YouTube.

The rest of the morning

First-timers were thin on the ground, Anthony said, because he keeps embarrassing them. The one he had was Shufrah Alam's husband. Shufrah, who runs the breakfast table with Marlyn Sylva and Betty Leyva, brought her parents the week before and her husband this week, and the two of them are ten years married this year, which set off a roll call of the long marriages in the room. Later, Lee Supnet of SKYE Residentials, licensed for more than 17 years and new to the room, or at least new in a long time, introduced herself as a grandmother of three, ages 3 to 19.

The committee got its thank-yous. Tom Bigley ran the camera for the Facebook Live and has done much of the work behind the scenes to set the council up as a 501(c)(6). Jim Lopez took payments at the door, which now includes tap to pay, set up with Susan's help. Luchie Grissom and Susan are the people to talk to about sponsorship: the Sapphire, Emerald and Ruby tiers, plus a coffee and breakfast sponsor, are all on the sponsorship page.

Two homes went on the Super Tour. 33483 Alvarado Niles Rd, Union City, presented by Fran Hoang and Elisa Chao of Legacy Real Estate & Associates, is a three-level townhome listed at $1,098,000, with a bedroom and bath on the first floor and a dining area and balcony that look out over a big oak the builder was required to keep. As they put it, you are not looking into a neighbor's bathroom. 34136 Finnigan Ter, Fremont, at $1,848,888, was presented first by Lee, standing in for the listing agent, Sirisha Sinha of SKYE Residentials. Sirisha arrived from traffic after the mayor's talk to add that the house has more than $300,000 in upgrades, and to offer $50 to the first agent who could name the two reasons she calls it a spa.

From out of the area came 2323 Kilkare Road in Sunol, a remodeled 1931 Craftsman in Kilkare Woods listed at $1,200,000: three bedrooms, one bath, about 1,700 square feet on an 8,000 square foot lot, with a Tesla Powerwall, a new roof and a new septic system. Its presenter promised hummingbirds, and Anthony declared them guaranteed.

Anthony also showed the room how to put a listing on the tour straight from the Super Tour page on TCMCBayArea.com, for anyone who would rather not make a phone call. Two homes means $100 in the raffle for anyone who saw both. This week's drawing paid out the $200 from the week before, and it went to Ruchi, whose smile is the last photo at the top of this post.

Announcements. Dianna Novela of Novella Real Estate and Indira Báez of REALTY EXPERTS spoke for the Women's Council of REALTORS® Alameda County, whose annual Wine, Chocolate and Friends fundraiser is Wednesday, October 14, from 5:00 to 8:30 PM at 3 Steves Winery in Livermore, with sponsorships still open. Anthony, a Bay East Foundation trustee, sent everyone to Cheers to the Future, the foundation's fundraiser the next evening at 3 Steves: paella, a drink, an auction and a raffle, with Susan and Jackie among those who brought prizes. And Susan let the room know that Scott Capen, who photographs the meetings, had a mishap and will be out for a few weeks. Send him your good wishes, and until he is back, take pictures and tag the council.

Thank you

Thank you to Mayor Michael Hannon, David Benoun and Steven Turner for a clear and candid update on Newark, and to Susan Munkner for bringing them in.

Coming up on September 24: Roya Chaudhry, Chief MLS Officer at Bay East.

We meet Thursday mornings from 8:45 in Fremont. Guests are welcome, and the speaker calendar has who is coming next.

Photographs and words by Harv Balu. The meeting was recorded by Tom Bigley, who runs the camera and the Facebook Live every week.