Category Archives: Activism

Activism, Tobacco

Advocacy on Oakland Tobacco Ordinance

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I called into this committee about an ordinance that is being brought to Oakland (a historical leader in non-smoker rights) on both smoke-free bar patios and smoke-free multi-unit housing, which passed in Vallejo in 2022 unanimously, thanks to the hard work of our coalition.

Here are my comments, which I had to shorten to under ninety seconds:

“I’m Joseph Hayden with LGBTQ Minus Tobacco and the Alameda County Tobacco Control Coalition. Protecting bar staff should be a given.  Staff members often must walk into patio areas of their places of employment. It is also unfair to patrons who want to breathe fresh air to have to be subjected to an uncontrolled amount of passive smoke in a confined area.  We strongly support the passage of THIS aspect of the ordinance as written. I WANT to support the adoption of a Smokefree Multi-Unit Housing Ordinance, but the burden of proof to show the type of smoke that is being forced on should NOT fall on victims who may be wheelchair-bound or otherwise immune compromised from asthma, cancer, Covid, and any number of respiratory diseases.  Smoke (which could be the CO-USE of Tobacco and cannabis) permeates through balconies, windows, and even electric sockets.  Smokeless cannabis options abound. Oakland should prioritize the protection of its citizens rather than yielding to the cannabis industry’s talking points. Many California jurisdictions, including numerous cities in the Bay Area, have already implemented smoke-free multi-unit housing without a cannabis exception because that’s the only thing that makes sense. Thank you.”

This video has all the comments from our coalition and the cannabis lobby.

Activism, Fire, HSNB, Pets

HSNB Newsletter article on Bonnie

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Today the Humane Society of the North Bay newsletter had an article on my adoption of Bonnie and her surgery this year after the fire that took the lives of five of my dogs in January. I’ll cross-post it here.

On January 18, 2024, Joseph Hayden’s home (back patio pictured above) was devastated by a fire, resulting in the loss of five beloved rescue dogs of the seven pictured here. Hayden was away helping a neighbor take her two dogs to the vet at the time. Two of Hayden’s dogs survived the fire, including a foster dog that is back with her original family (pictured on the ottoman near his leg) and Snoopy, the black dog with the white chest. Two of the dogs that died were blind. Most of them were seniors. Not getting to say goodbye to these souls that were lost before their time was what made this tragedy all the more devastating to a dog lover and board member of HSNB, on top of the complete devastation to the home.  

Hayden could not imagine what the future would bring after this tragedy, particularly as he had only been out of a ten-year relationship for nine days at the time of the fire that left him with seven dogs. As the rebuild takes place, he focused on finding silver linings. During a Zoom board meeting for HSNB, Hayden overheard that there was a “difficult to place” blind dog that had been languishing in the shelter for over a year. He was immediately intrigued, as this seemed like a sign. She was even the same size and approximate color as the two blind dogs he had recently lost, but she was only about six years old and needed many drops a day in her eyes to address her constant pain caused by two types of permanent blindness. She was human-selective, meaning she growled at every stranger unless introduced in a very specific way. The fostering went well, and she immediately bonded with Snoopy, who surely was missing his many lost companions.

Just a few months after fostering and then adopting Bonnie, the recurring ophthalmologist appointments took a daunting turn. Bonnie’s extremely limited eyesight was suddenly no longer there at all. The glaucoma was so bad that she was in constant pain, which the eye drops could no longer manage to stay ahead of, even though they had increased to 22 drops a day over three intervals, together with an oral medication.  Unfortunately, it was determined that the only humane way to proceed was to do a bilateral enucleation, which means both eyes should be removed completely. Hayden had experienced this with one eye of a dog he had years prior, so he was familiar with the process, although that dog continued to be able to see with the one remaining eye, even if depth perception was lost. While the cost of the surgery was many thousands of dollars, over time the cost of the customized eye drops and other medications were going to add up as well.  

Bonnie had her sutures removed a month after the surgery and is now pain-free and medicine-free. She navigates amazingly well, even up and down the stairs in the rental house, jumps on the furniture, and has a higher quality of life without having to sit for eye drop after eye drop, although she was admittedly very patient with the process because it was probably soothing for her. She gets to do all the fun walks and car rides while using her other senses. Fortunately dogs “smell in color” so she’s living her best life and loving her new family.

Activism, GCCA, Nature, Pets, Street Fairs

End of Summer Glen Cove Waterfront Event 2024

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I attended as president of Glen Cove Community Association a second annual End of Summer event at Glen Cove Waterfront Park here in Vallejo. Our board worked very hard to put this together. The turnout was decent even though the weather was unusually hot for October. That may have affected turnout, but we had more to offer this year with the jumpy house for kids, lots of games, free wine for adults, a food truck, and live music courtesy of Mike and Tonya from Tara Hills. Under the shade of the eucalyptus trees, it was pleasant with a breeze, but still a hot one.

Videos include the Faceboook Live Streams and personal video we took at the event:

These pictures are courtesy of Bill Yuen and Neal Zimmerman:

Activism, Nature, Politics, Tobacco

Bay Area Clean Air Talk

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Attended a Clean Air talk with various organizations and concerned citizens about the air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area. This one occurred at the JFK Library in Vallejo, where I was a few days ago for a mayoral candidate forum. While not specifically about tobacco, I introduced myself as someone who volunteers in the area of commercial tobacco control and indoor air quality, although outdoor public, tobacco use is a huge problem as well.

Activism, HSNB

Animal Shelter Talk at Saint Dominic’s School for Saint Francis of Assisi

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Linda, Carlene, Mr. Wiggles, and I got to speak at this school in Benicia, asking for volunteers, donations, and foster/adoptions of the local homeless cats and dogs from Humane Society of the North Bay where we volunteer on the Board.

Saint Francis of Assisi is the first Friday in October. Chihuahua-Frenchie mix Mister Wiggles was a big hit!

Activism, Gay, Street Fairs, Tobacco

Folsom Street Fair 2024

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I had fun in general at Folsom Street Fair, but there was ZERO San Francisco Department of Health enforcement present and only a few pathetic signs like this one near the end of a street that was an offshoot from the main fair. Why aren’t the street fair licenses at least threatened to be revoked for the overall discomfort and health of attendees?

For those who cherish consent, how about for those who are forced to inhale cigars and other combustible devices in crowds, not to mention people sucking on vapes with huge plumes all day long? I did not consent to polluted air, so I had to spend my day attempting to avoid it in public from discourteous people. I hope the world gets some sense knocked into it someday. I actually love crowds, but not if I have to fight the ignorance.

Pictures taken by others:

Activism, Tobacco

Vallejo Tobacco Retail License Revisited

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Together with many other advocates, I spoke at Vallejo City Council again last night. I stumbled a few times, but it’s all good. They have heard many of these talking points from me before in one fashion or another, including the many side meetings that we’ve had on the subject with the coalition comprised of Bay Area Community Resources, LGBTQ Minus Tobacco and Tobacco Free Solano.

We’re getting closer to getting a Tobacco Retail License for Vallejo approved, but we knew there would not be an on-the-spot vote on it. The City staff needed more guidance from the councilmembers as to some of the outstanding issues, even though there is agreement on a large part of the ordinance between the health advocates on my coalition and the retailers who are worried about making as much money off of selling poison as they can. Despite all the efforts to communicate the urgency, there was still plenty of push-back by retailers and acquiescence from some of the city council, despite the original request to make this as robust a policy as possible to save as many young lives from addiction and miserable health consequences.

In law school, we learned that a “successful” mediation is when both parties walk away from the table disappointed. I don’t think this will be any different, despite this subject matter being a passion of mine to save lives. As a reminder, 8 million people a year die worldwide from tobacco-related illnesses, thanks to the colonial marketing of commercial tobacco that has nothing to do with the use by indigenous Americans. The United States alone has 480,000 of those annual deaths, and in California, it’s 40,000 of those. That is every year, and this scourge has been pushing tobacco, which has no medicinal purpose, for over five hundred years, as I mentioned. That’s a lot of death and misery of untold humans.

My speech was basically this:

Good evening city council.  I’m Joseph Hayden, a Vallejo resident and volunteer with LGBTQ Minus Tobacco and Tobacco Free Solano. Last year, with our coalition and Vallejo youth activists, we presented the benefits of a Tobacco Retail License. I REMIND you all that immediately afterward from the dais, the mayor explicitly directed staff to develop a robust ordinance given Vallejo’s illegal underage sales being among the worst in the Bay Area. 

The model policy from the Public Health Law Center includes best practices to prevent youth addiction to tobacco, particularly in food deserts.  However, some of the policy terms are being challenged.  As compromises are considered, please remember not to lose sight of the fact that with the right enforcement this COULD and SHOULD be the last generation Big Tobacco targets with their poisonous, deadly products. Five hundred years of exploitation is enough.

Vallejo can lead by example, leveraging SB 793 and Proposition 31, which forbids the sale of most flavored tobacco. Our coalition provided to you the survey results after SB 793 implementation highlighting high violation rates,  as well as empirical evidence of higher smoking rates among marginalized groups, including LGBTQ people and people of color.

As another reminder, tobacco is a product that KILLS when used as intended.

Thank you for your time and attention.