New City Manager and Police Chief appointed in 2024
A year of transition and progress for the City of Hayward, 2024 opened with the appointment of a new Chief of Police and closed with the naming of a new City Manager.
Effective Jan. 3, 2024, Bryan Matthews, a career Hayward police officer, became Hayward’s 16th Chief of Police, taking command of a department he had led in a temporary and acting capacity since September 2022.
Over his career with Hayward Police Department, Matthews has served in a variety of assignments, including Patrol, Training, Gang Investigations, SWAT, Community Policing, Internal Affairs, Emergency Preparedness as the department’s liaison with the community for policy innovation and alternative response models. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from California State University, Hayward—now California State University, East Bay—and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Columbia Southern University.
On Dec. 17, 2024, the City Council announced the appointment of Dr. Ana Alvarez, a 30-year public sector professional, as the 14th City Manager of the City of Hayward, culminating a six-month executive recruitment and evaluation process that included public and employee surveys and multiple rounds of interviews with panels of Hayward City Council members, City executives and Hayward community members.
Alvarez most recently served as the first Deputy General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Director of Parks and Open Space for the City and County of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, Director of the City of Santa Fe Springs Community Services Department, Director of the City of Oceanside Parks and Recreation Department, Manager of the City of Burbank Cultural Arts Program and Teen Programs Supervisor for the City of Santa Barbara.
Alvarez holds a Doctor of Policy, Planning and Development degree from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Northridge. She was born in Mexico City and is bicultural and bilingual.
