Mayor Wasserman was in Niles Thursday night where he took questions from about two-dozen residents for more than two hours.

Here’s some of the topics he addressed:

AC Transit Route 99:  Wassserman said AC Transit’s decision last year to divert the route into the California Terrace neighborhood, which better serves the nearby Sikh temple was “a bad government mistake that really should not have happened. It doesn’t take an engineer to tell they should not have sent buses through that route.” He added that Fremont would oppose AC Transit’s plan to increase bus frequencies through the neighborhood, which is slated to begin in June.

Future tax hikes: Wasserman didn’t say Fremont would again seek a new tax, but if it does, it will be one in which the tax revenues can be used only for police services, rather than the failed utility tax, which the city could have spent as it liked.

Employee salaries: When someone mentioned that 411 city employees made more than $100,000 last year, Wasserman responded that the city has been frugal by keeping overall staffing relatively low. “We’re never going to have the most employees, but we can try to have the best,” he said. He also defended the recent raise given to City Manager Fred Diaz. “What if we lose the city manager?,” he asked. When the response from attendees came back mixed, he proposed that Diaz, a Niles resident, be the next person to meet with residents.

Henkel Property:  Wasserman thinks Henkel, a German company, will sell the property at 37899 Niles Boulevard after it decontaminates it. As for what will eventually be developed there, Wasserman said a final decision probably won’t be in the cards for another three-to-four years. Although, he added, “There’s going to housing there, no question about it.”

The A’s:  Wasserman reiterated his support for bringing the team to Fremont. He implied Fremont wouldn’t have to worry about how it could afford the  police overtime needed to police the games, because the development would bring in enough revenues to increase staffing.

Dumbarton Rail:   Wasserman also reiterated his opposition to a proposed rail line that would connect Union City with Redwood City, and re-direct more freight trains through Niles. In his lone political salvo of the evening, albeit an indirect one, he said that his predecessor (Gus Morrison) didn’t fight to get Fremont a seat on the board that governs the rail line’s development. “When I became mayor, I demanded that I be on that board,” said Wasserman, who does sit on the board.

There was also a discussion about Niles Town Plaza project, but I arrived too late to hear it.