Alameda County Moves Ahead With Reparations Plan for Displaced Russell City Residents KQED

Samantha Lim

July 22, 2025

Márquez acknowledged the role county officials played in the destruction of the community, adding that the funds are a recognition of the pain they inflicted on former residents and the suffering that continues to the present day. In 2021, following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the national reckoning it sparked, Hayward issued a formal apology for its culpability in the takeover of Russell City. It launched the Russell City Reparative Justice Project the following year. “It signals to the community that the city of Hayward acknowledges what happened and is willing to take steps forward to apologize … and to make good on something that was so terribly wrong,” said Mayor Mark Salinas. While Hayward officials didn’t issue eviction notices themselves, the city still benefited from the acquisition of Russell City and helped secure investors and developers, Salinas said, adding that it’s time to acknowledge the harm they caused. “I hope cities begin to look at and evaluate their own histories in relation to families of color and neighborhoods of color,” he said. “Things don’t just happen out of thin air. People meet, people plan and people build. That’s where institutional racism and discrimination manifest.”

Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, who allocated $100,000 to the redress fund from his office, said he hopes that the money will allow families to “move forward.” “This doesn’t completely address and redress all of the harms which are long-lasting, which are traumatic, and yet at the same time, I think it is very symbolic in terms of going beyond the apology,” Haubert said. With the funds secured, the next step for officials is to determine eligibility requirements, identify which families lived in Russell City and figure out a process for disbursement, Salinas said. According to the Board of Supervisors’ proposal, direct payments will be provided to former residents who had their property seized by the county and annexed into Hayward. Do you have more questions about the Russell City reparations fund? Read KQED’s explainer here. KQED’s Brian Krans contributed to this report.