SOS Save Sky West
By Ronnie Amey, Arts and Entertainment Editor
“It’s the Golden Gate Park of Hayward. where you can see people of all ages enjoying the golf course. You see people with knee injuries and canes walking, people walking their dogs, children with their parents, you know, teenagers causing trouble as well, you know, just having fun.”
This is what Social Studies Department Chair Tyler Dragoni, who is an active voice advocate in the Save Open Space (SOS) Zave Skywest project, had to say about why he admires the open space this golf provides for the local community.
Luckily, Mr. Dragoni was happy to answer a few questions about how he works to save SkyWest and how anyone interested in environmental justice can contribute to the cause of the Save SkyWest project, but what is the SkyWest project about?
“It’s about saving a former golf course for future generations and the current ecosystem. We are saving Sky West from the city’s plan to develop the former golf course. into industrial use,” Dragoni explains.
As Dragoni approaches five years of dedicated work to this cause, he shares how the issue of saving Sky West was brought to his attention.
“During the pandemic, when the city announced plans, basically when everyone was locked down in their homes and didn’t have any place to actually go out and recreate, people went to Sky West to actually get fresh air, connect with nature, and whatnot.”
Mr Dragoni himself works as the community advocate within a small, tight-knit group of community leaders that works to save Skywest. Dragoni has been an advocate for a number of environmental justice causes before getting involved in SkyWest.
“When it comes to environmental justice, I have advocated for multi-modal transportation so people can walk and bike to places so they don’t have to get into their cars, because 75 to 80 percent of our pollution locally comes from cars… So, if we just didn’t drive, 80 percent of the toxins that we breathe in would go away.”
Mr. Dragoni also provided insight on what community members can do if they are interested in supporting the Save SkyWest mission.
“Anyone who wants to see Hayward be a beautiful city, whether they’re from Oakland, Berkeley, or Fremont, I encourage them to sign our petition so we can tell our elected officials that it’s not just people from Hayward. It’s people who want to see Hayward succeed.”
Dragoni also encourages students who want to help: “I would say first go visit Sky West. And then I would say contact your council members. Contact the mayor. And contact their East Bay Regional Park District board members, and say that Hayward is deserving of nice recreation and open spaces.”
In a final remark, Mr. Dragoni reiterated, “Save Sky West!”