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July 20, 2014
Update from Vinnie Bacon
Fremont Vice Mayor
Here's an update on some of the issues that will be coming before the Fremont City Council and a recap of some of our previous actions.  I've also provided information about how you can be notified about future meetings and many other activities within the City.

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!!
Future Council Activity

  • Warm Springs Community Plan to be Finalized Next Tuesday - The City Council meeting on July 22nd will consider approving the Warm Springs Community Plan.  Some significant changes were made to the document in the last couple of months. You can read the complete documentation on the plan here.  I encourage all interested residents to speak your mind on this issue.  This is a very important plan that will guide the large amount of development that will occur near the future Warm Springs BART station.  
  • Stanford Avenue parking issues - Not much has happened on this issue since I last wrote about it in March.  The local residents are rather upset with this lack of action.  Unfortunately, this is not an issue that is fully under control of the City.  We are having to work with the East Bay Regional Park District (EBPRD) to develop a plan that will resolve the overuse of the park.  I am committed to working with the City and EBPRD to mitigate the impacts the large number of hikers are having on the local neighborhood.
  • Apartments along Mission Boulevard - The Ohlone College Board of Trustees recently approved plans to develop nearly 300 apartments along Mission Boulevard.  A number of residents contacted me about this expressing their concerns.  I haven't heard anything recently on this.  I do believe it will be coming before the Planning Commission and City Council later this year.  See the section below for how to get updates from the City regarding future meetings so you can get notified when meetings are scheduled on this topic and others.
Getting Notified About City Council and Other Key Meetings

A number of people have asked me about how they can be notified when certain topics are coming before the City Council, Planning Commission, or other boards and commissions.  The City has actually done a lot to allow people to keep informed.
  • 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's email list management site.  This site allows you to subscribe to many different mailing lists.  Just like my emails, you can unsubscribe at any time.  It might be confusing which of the many lists to subscribe to.  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 feature that the City has put together.  They post various topics 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 about whether the City should ban e-cigarette retailers or not.
  • 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 that come from the Police Department.  These are quite informative.  
  • New City Website - The City of Fremont's website was just updated.  You can read more about this here. 
Previous City Council Actions

Here are a few of the recent City Council decisions that have been made.
  • Surveillance Cameras - This was a controversial topic that led to many comments on the City's Open City Hall site (see above).  The Police Department had requested funding to put cameras on some of the key exit and entrance points to the City.  They've found that criminals tend to leave the City quickly after committing a crime.  Thus, getting information on the vehicles getting on the freeway can help catch them.  The comments from the public were mainly in favor of the cameras, but there were some that felt it was an invasion of privacy.  I felt that the information on when someone is entering the freeway is not a private matter as one has no expectation of privacy when driving on a public roadway.  The motion to fund the cameras passed unanimously.  
  • Downtown Development - There have been a number of meetings on the residential/retail development that is planned along the future portion of Capitol Avenue, and the new City facilities that are being planned at Capitol and State.  While the Council is in general agreement on approving this development, I was the lone vote against a proposal to amend the General Plan for the future residential development.  I didn't want to see a reduction in the allowed densities.  The City does have a website that talks about all of the activities going on in the downtown area including the Fremont Underground Social Experience (FUSE), which showcases local artists, and the Street Eats events.    
  • General Plan Changes near Central Park - There are two parcels of about two acres each along Stevenson Boulevard that were proposed to be changed from commercial to residential.  One of these parcels was City-owned and I had no objection to that.  This can raise revenue for the City.  However, the second parcel was privately-owned and I saw no reason to approve that change.
  • Laguna Commons Development in Irvington - This was another controversial issue that generated much discussion.  A number of people spoke from both sides.  The proposal was for an affordable housing development in Irvington.  Fremont has historically provided much less affordable housing than called for in our Housing Element.  Denying this project would have delayed development of this project for a long time.  Also, the project will be used largely to house veterans which is highly needed.  The project was approved unanimously.  However, the Irvington residents do have a point that much of the City's affordable housing has been placed in Irvington.  We need to make sure that future affordable housing developments consider other areas within Fremont. 
  • Referral to Provide City Council with a Discretionary $100,000 Account- I made a referral to provide funding for the LEAF group earlier this year.  My attempt to get this funding didn't pass.  One of the objections was that other worthy non-profit groups were not considered.  I came up with the idea of creating a $100,000 fund that Council could distribute to various groups at their discretion.  These groups would apply for the funding and Council would develop a process of selecting which of these received funding.  This would allow many of the great volunteer groups in Fremont to get funding to help them continue with their activities.  Staff is currently researching the various ways in which this could be done.  It should come back to Council in September. 

Of course, there are many other Council actions that I've left out 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.

 

Sincerely,

 


Vinnie Bacon