Update from Vinnie Bacon Fremont City Councilmember
Here's my latest email update. I've always believed that a more informed populace leads to a better city. Hence, I'm happy to provide these updates. I hope you find this useful and take the opportunity to get informed and involved!
I'm always happy to answer any questions you may have via email at
[email protected]. Sometimes it takes me a while to reply, but I do try to reply to all of the emails that I receive.
THANKS again to all of you for your support in making Fremont the best city it can be!!
Council Facebook Page
I finally lived up to my goal of posting regular updates on City Council meetings on my Facebook page. Whatever one may think of Facebook, I've found it the easiest way to reach a lot of people. It's generated some robust conversation. You can read all of my previous posts and 'like' the page here:
This is arguably the largest development decision EVER in the City of Fremont. Up for approval is a 2,214 unit development directly to the west of the future Warm Springs BART station. You can read about the study session on my Facebook page and on my blog. The full details of the proposal coming before the Council is below.
April 7 - Islamic Center of Fremont Appeal - This project was approved by the Planning Commission but appealed by opponents of the project. The proposed facility is on Albrae near the Marriot.
April 14 - CDBG Funding Allocation - The City distributes $700,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to various non-profit groups within the City. The City's Human Relations Commission does the initial interview and selection process which is then reviewed by the City Council.
April 14 - Presentation on Niles Canyon Trail Project - The Alameda County Board of Supervisors' office will present about the possibility of constructing a new Class I trail from Niles through the canyon to Sunol. The idea is exciting and I hope something can be done to help make it a reality. The link below is from Supervisor Valle's office. This was presented at a public meeting in Niles earlier this year which I attended.
Here are a few of the recent City Council decisions that have been made. Details of these and others can be found on my
Facebook page and on
my blog.
March 3 - Affordable Housing Ordinance Approved: In short, I would have liked the Council to adopt a much more aggressive policy towards providing more affordable housing. In my opinion, the current ordinance doesn't do that. The vote was 3-2 in favor with Councilmember Lily Mei and myself voting against.
March 3 - Henkel (Niles Gateway) Development Approved - This is a 98 unit development in Niles. There were many Niles residents that opposed this project. I felt there were too many homes and that there were a number of other unresolved issues. The vote was 3-2 in favor with Councilmember Lily Mei and myself voting against.
March 3 - Dias Development Approved - This is a 20 unit development on Mission Blvd. north of I-680. The final vote was 4-1 in favor with Councilmember Lily Mei voting against.
January 13 - Chick-fil-A Rezoning Approved -
The Chick-fil-A on Auto Mall was not permitted under existing zoning and therefore had to come before Council. In my opinion, the Chick-fil-A on Mowry (which did not require rezoning) is poorly designed so I voted against the rezoning to allow another Chick-fil-A in Fremont. The vote was 4-1 with myself casting the dissenting vote.
January 13 - Alder Development Approved - This is a 17 unit development near Olivera school. This passed unanimously.
December 16 - Beechwood Development Approved - This is a 19 unit development on Fremont Blvd. in the Brookvale area. The final vote was 3-2 in favor with Councilmember Lily Mei and myself voting against. .
Other Issues
Here are a few other items that may come before the Council in the near future.
Hiker Fees at the Stanford Avenue Trailhead to Mission Peak:
The City had planned to work with the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) to implement hiker fees at this trailhead. This generated a lot of negative feedback. However, the District is now saying they don't want to implement hiker fees. Thus, those that don't like the fees might get their wish. However, the issue of what will be done to lessen the burden on local residents is now very unclear.
Mission Blvd. Apartments in Front of Ohlone: This apartment development was approved by the Ohlone College Board which generated a lot of complaints by local residents. Recently, the developer has pulled out of the project. No explanation was given. So this project is on indefinite hold.
Hazardous Oil Train Cars Possibly Increasing through Fremont: I've been working with a local group called Californians Against Hazardous Oil Trains (CAHOT) and others to raise awareness about the possible increase in oil train car traffic through Fremont. I'll likely be bringing something to the Fremont City Council about this issue shortly.
Getting Notified About City Council and Other Key Meetings
The City does do an excellent job keeping people informed about upcoming meetings, etc. However, you have to ask for the information. You can also watch the City Council meetings live on Channel 27 and previous meetings are archived on the City's website.
eNews Subscriptions - The best way to keep up with the City's activities is to sign up for eNews subscriptions. You do this by going to the City'semail list management site. This site allows you to subscribe to many different mailing lists. Just like my emails, you can unsubscribe at any time. I would suggest at least subscribing to the City Council agendas list which only generates a few emails a month. You can take a quick look at the agenda for every City Council meeting and drill down into the full reports if desired. There are also categories for the Warm Springs Community Plan, Downtown development, and many others.
Open City Hall - This is an innovative section of the City's web page that staff has put together. They post various topics on which community members can post their opinions. I find it very helpful to read all of these comments to understand what the community's concerns are about a particular issue. You can read more about this here. The current open topic is "What kinds of acts of compassion best reflect your idea of a compassionate city?"
Facebook, Twitter, etc. - The City has a number of social media sites for various City departments. You can see a complete list of these here. I would particularly like to highlight the Nixle notifications. These are from the Police Department on various topics and are quite informative.
New City Website - The City of Fremont's website was updated a few months ago. You can read more about this here.
If you have questions or comments about any of these, or any other issues, please feel free to contact me. I can't promise to resolve all of the City's problems, but I will definitely listen to your concerns.
