Barbara Halliday

Barbara Halliday is the mayor of Hayward, California, elected to the office by a plurality in the June 3, 2014 California primary election. Halliday was a city council member for 10 years prior to her election as mayor. She follows Michael Sweeney, who declined to seek the office in 2014. Halliday has a B.A. in American studies from Mary Washington College, then associated with the University of Virginia. She pursued graduate work in journalism and urban studies at the University of Maryland. She has worked as a writer/editor for the Cecil Whig in Maryland, and for a California insurance company, retiring from that position in 2008 after 29 years. Her term began in July 2014.