Fremont City Council Candidate Forum Recap
By Matt Artz
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 at 2:20 pm in Uncategorized.
Seven of the 10 candidates participated in the debate: Bill Harrison, Fazlur Khan, Kathy McDonald, Vinnie Bacon, Anu Natarajan, Linda Susoev and John T. Herndon.
Kristin Briggs, Vladimir Rodriguez and Carl “The Ghost” Flynn were absent. I’m going to try to track Flynn down tonight at Outback Steakhouse, where I’m told he works. If that fails, he’s dead to me.
First question: What’s the biggest issue facing Fremont?
Harrison: The economy. He says that when people have quality jobs things are better.
Natarajan: Says city needs to talk to residents about services they want and how much they’re prepared to pay for them.
Fazlur Khan: Proposes federal green technology bank that will create 30,000 jobs in Fremont.
Fazlur won this debate before it started. He brought a gigantic nameplate so everyone on TV would know it was him speaking, even if they couldn’t always understand what he was saying.
But the nameplate was so big that it crept into the space of Kathy McDonald who was sitting to his left. So when the camera was on Kathy, you could still read the nameplate, making it appear that Kathy’s name was actually “Khan.”
Linda Susoev battled Khan claim for claim, at one point saying that her grandfather sold 3 billion records.
Bacon and Natarajan both touted their urban planning master degrees as if it meant they could cure cancer and rescue cats from trees.
As the forum wound down they competed to see who could make the most obscure city planning references. Natarajan set the bar high saying the city has made sure “that everyone gets the same info at the counter.” Huh? That would be the front counter in the city’s planning department to all you earthlings out there.
But Bacon can wonk out with any planner out there. A few minutes later talking about public art he referenced a book by “Jacobs.” Hmmn … I don’t think he meant Brandon Jacobs or Glenn Jacobs. And I certainly don’t think he meant Jon Jacobs.
Oh, he must have meant Jane Jacobs. Of course, Jacobs The New Urbanist.
Bacon and Kathy McDonald were definitely a team with Kathy taking the high road and Vinnie unloading on the incumbents. When the topic went to NUMMI, Kathy said development will happen organically while Vinnie attacked the council for spending $150,000 on the A’s “fantasy,” and not trying to promote manufacturing on the site.
Meanwhile the incumbents took different approaches in defending their records. Bill Harrison argued that the council has been doing a good job and should stay intact.
Natarajan wasn’t as quick to throw her lot with the rest of the council and instead cast herself as an independent voice on the council at least when it came to development.
Back on the ranch, Fazlur said that the NUMMI site “is the best site available in the world.” He also said that Silicon Valley will die soon, and that green technology will be all that’s left.
And Linda Susoev said Fremont needs to build a baseball stadium. “If Alameda County looses the A’s or the Bay Area looses the Giants we won’t have any ballplayers.”
Meanwhile, John T. Herndon, who was wearing a purple shirt to match his campaign signs, repeatedly argued that the city needed to make itself more business friendly and market itself as a business friendly city. He also thought the city should be a little more open about allowing new nightclubs or, say, a sports bar, which he would like to open.
Herndon didn’t seem to have much hope for the residents of the Besaro Mobile Home Park, whose well-connected owners want to kick out all the tenants if they can’t get a major rent increase. Herndon said the city should let them know about available affordable housing. Fazlur, on the other hand, said three times that he would stand up and fight for them. He also called the owners greedy and asked if they had lost their morality.
The Bacon/McDonald tag-team entered the ring when the question involved Patterson Ranch. McDonald, who has has softened her public persona since her “heads will roll,” comment several months back said 520 homes in a liquefaction zone with no school was asking for trouble.
Vinnie said pretty much the same thing, but threw in a shot about how the Patterson family gives lots of money to council candidates, but that unlike Natarajan and Harrison, he won’t accept any development money.
Natarajan was clearly annoyed. She noted that the development is much smaller than it had been and that she hasn’t voted on it yet. She said she wants the development to be an eco-village, which sounds like she plans to oppose it, because 520 single-family homes far from transit ain’t no eco-village.
Herndon also opposed the Patterson development without money for a new school. That position might be music to the ears of the Patterson’s lawyers.
Kathy McDonald came up with a great point about Fremont that should resonate with every East Coast transplant. How the heck does Fremont have 210,000 people and no legit public pool? I know those awful looking apartment complexes have pools, and a lot of people have pools in their backyard, but it’s totally odd to me that a city as big as Fremont has no public pool.
Kathy said city should have built one when it built the water park.
When the subject switched to helping small businesses, both Natarajan and Harrison say that the city has made great strides in the past few years. Harrison notes that Fremont got an award from the Chamber for being business friendly and that Solyndra likes Fremont just fine.
Bacon and McDonald say city still needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to making it easy for people to set up businesses around town.
The candidates closed in style
Fazlur said city schools should teach Arabic because the Arab countries are booming and we need more Arabic speaking FBI agents.
Kathy said “I don’t think our city can grow by ‘getting on the map.’”
Harrison noted that he’s lived his entire life in Fremont and says the council has done a fine job.
Vinnie says “We need politicians with integrity” who won’t play that game and can’t be bought.
Anu says she’s an independent voice who asks tough questions and says one more time that she in fact is an urban planner.
Susoev said again that she is the most powerful person in law and poltics.
Hernon wants more civic engagement and proposed a day in which the city flies the flag of every nation. You could almost here Steve Cho, who was at the forum and got hate mail for proposing a similar idea as part of the city’s Independence Day parade, mutter, “Not on July 4. Not on July 4.”
After the debate, Natarajan and Harrison told me that Vinnie had been more aggressive the night before at the Tri-City Democratic Forum Debate. Vinnie told me that the Tri-City Dems had Natarajan and Harrison campaign signs posted at its debate. Fazlur told me that he’s been talking to Obama about something or other.
And Steve Cho told John Herndon that if Herndon needs foreign flags, Steve’s got plenty at home.
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September 21st, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I like Jane Jacobs. I was just re-reading one of her books this summer. I think she would have approved of my comments about fostering community through the creation of well-designed public spaces.
However, I was referring to Allan Jacobs of UC Berkeley and his book Great Streets. Jacobs looks at the physical characteristics of streets and how these impact the community.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=7060
September 21st, 2010 at 3:41 pm
It is an interesting mind-set that characterizes Fremont’s “greatest issue” as how to get taxpayers to part with more of their fewer dollars.
I couldn’t help but wonder, if you asked 1000 Fremont residents what THEY would characterize as our biggest issue, what percentage of them would offer this same response ?
September 21st, 2010 at 6:04 pm
What about lemon orchards vs major league baseball? Your comments please Vinnie? Good to hear the always dainty Ms. McDonald has softened her public persona. Does that mean no more riots Ms. E-i-E-i-O?
September 21st, 2010 at 6:27 pm
The BELL CITY arrest of the Mayor, Council Members and other officials is a wake call to the PEOPLE OF FREMONT. I know what is happening here, therefore when I put my Website in July and added my Video addressed to the People of Fremont, I said emphatically that I am going to create an ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION, which will take action against the corrupt. Fellow CITIZENS let us stand up and fight the corruption for better and progressive Fremont.
VICTORY TO PEOPLE. http://www.FazlurKhan.com
September 21st, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Hey Charlie C., I think you’re onto something.
While we’re at it, let’s examine the denial of a liquor license for a small business establishment under the pretense of . . . . (fill in the blank) . . . while simultaneously supporting the concept of the stadium, and all of its associated alcohol consumption.
I’ll bet Anu and Bill were asking all kinds of “tough” questions on this one . . .
September 21st, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Though I liked Herndon’s idea of a town square with flags from around the world, it is clear there are only four viable candidates. It’s a pretty easy choice too. Do you go with the establishment (Natarajan, Harrison) or the anti-establishment (McDonald, Bacon).
September 21st, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Natarajan: Says city needs to talk to residents about services they want and how much they’re prepared to pay for them
How did Anu Natarajan agree with City Staff spending tax payer money on the proposed A’s Ball Park in Fremont.
Did she question the City Manager in any of the City Council Meetings. Now that she needs votes, she will talk about schools, environment.
September 21st, 2010 at 10:30 pm
How did Anu Natarajan agree with City Staff spending tax payer money on the proposed A’s Ball Park in Fremont.
Did she question the City Manager in any of the City Council Meetings. Now that she needs votes, she will talk about schools, environment.
September 22nd, 2010 at 6:51 am
“the anti-establishment”
Depends where in Fremont you’re established.
September 22nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
I have emailed the city planning commissioners a while back asking why is there no audit department in Fremont, obviously to prevent situation like the City of Bell and recent spikes in public corruption ( http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april08/fraud_corruption041708.html ). Not only did I not receive the response, we nearly had our small business permit denied even though State law states that it “must” be granted. One of the planning commissioners with close tie to the establishment arrogant stated “I don’t care what the laws said” during the hearing, and openly defied the State law by voting against the permit. If officials openly defied the laws in public, who knows how many of these instances had happened in the past or behind closed door (didn’t we hear that a lot of those meeting)?
Conclusion: Fremont’s old timers had been getting away with their loot, while the city continues to build its fortress to the disservice of many small businesses and its citizens. There are those who of course benefit from the establishment, while the rest of us directly or indirectly subsidize projects such as the A’s or other large businesses with ties to the establishment. Like some say, it’s a legalized theft.
I’d like to challenge candidates to propose setting up an independent audit department (model similar to many cities such as Berkeley, Long Beach, etc.)for transparency sake, so public officials are held accountable for taxes that we pay. I expect to hear from the establishment that there is no money for the audit function, even though hundreds of thousands of dollar are paid to questionable pet projects and foreign travel with no tangible results. This is the same story as to how Oakland Police Department fought in court to keep public employee salary private or how PGE adamantly refused to release pipeline information until national pressure is applied.
Is transparency and accountability too much to ask by the voters?
September 22nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Fremont voter, I am aware of the problems small businesses are facing to get permits and lack of lending from banks to run their businesses.
I know what is happening in the city and I agree with you that there is no transparency and accountability.
Pl go to my website and here my video addressed to the people of Fremont that I am going to create:-
1. ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION to create an outside independent audit and look into all the operations of the city, including foreign pleasure trips.
2. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION :- to respect the people, to make permits and business licenses are issued according to the laws quickly. To co-ordinate with the business association, business men and bankers solve their problems, to lend money to businesses and stop foreclosure of homes
I assure you, I will get investigated the Planning commissioner and take action, if found guilty.
Thanks for your courage. We have to clean the corrupt system. When I precinct walk I carry a BROOM and banners attached to it ” CLEAN CORRUPT COUNCIL “.
http://www.FazlurKhan.com
September 22nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
FV, Sending an e-mail to the planning commission (citizens appointed to serve as an advisory to the council on matters of planning only) would most likely elicit no response. Your inquiry should have been sent to the city council, who set policy for the city.
But, you ought to know that there is an annual audit of the city’s financial dealings performed by an independent accounting firm hired by, and responsible to, the city council. The annual financial report is a public document, as is the budget, and is available at the library or at the city’s finance department. I haven’t checked on-line, but it might be there also, probably in the finance department pages.
As for your problem with the planning commission, without knowing the specifics of the issue, I am hard pressed to understand why a matter would be referred to the planning commission at all if they had no jurisdiction. Many planning actions are simply approved by staff because they conform to state law and city ordinances and, if the applicant has met all the conditions, it never goes to the commission. Things like zoning changes or conditional use permits require planning commission review and approval and I don’t know of any law that mandates the commission approve them without question.
I’ll probably never know because to know the issue would remove your anonimity. If you can figure out how to provide more information, I would be glad to review your situation.
September 22nd, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I checked for the Annual Financial Report and here is the link
http://fremont.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2886
September 22nd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
http://www.tricityvoice.com/articlefiledisplay.php?issue=2010-09-21&file=Housekeeping++Editorial.txt
September 22nd, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Thank you Mr. Mayor for the info. After reading your post, it reinforced my opinion that the candidates running for Council, barring the incumbents, are not very knowledgable on issues. It would serve them well to get upto speed on these issues.
The TCV editorial failed to focus on the issue of misinformation from these candidates. Instead they just focussed on the incumbents. I would hope that TCV would exhibit a greater sense of responsiblity and move beyond “street fighter” journalism. Suffice to point out to TCV editor that voters prefer their elected reps work together to progress the city, state and the nation. We do not want the type of gridlock we see in Sacramento and DC. This Council has displayed commendable approach in resolving their differences on issues. And seeing some 4 to 1 votes is pretty healthy also.
And lastly, I thought Obama had more pressing issues to address than talk to one of the candidates as per the candidate’s claim
I wonder if Obama would have the time to return Mayor Wasserman’s call.
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:34 pm
OOps, Chinmoy. Are you the same person who ranted about the transparency issues with the Washington Hospital System during the 2008 election. Didn’t you complain about the Hospital Board that is not accountable to the public but only to the Director of the Washington Hospital. Don’t take your blinders off and pretend to say that unanimous City Council on every major decision is good for the Fremont resident.
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:44 am
Chinmoy, if you prefer Argus with your morning coffee, they, too, have been openly critical of this council –
http://www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat/2010/09/15/fremont-news-of-the-day-62/#comment-14284
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:15 am
Chinmoy, you are obviously one of the insiders that feel threatened!
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
Lam Research who is headquartered in Fremont, has announced that they are moving 350 jobs to Livermore, the reason being, they needed more room to grow.
What, there is no room in Fremont to grow or are they moving to a more progressive city.
Where was the Mayor, the City Council to step in and try to help them stay. Ask yourself the qustion WHY.
We need a change in City Hall
September 23rd, 2010 at 11:05 am
Since thread seems to be a link deposit, the chronicle has a list of city manager salaries. Fremont is not on the list (Fremont’s existence probably slipped the authors mind). I think Diaz would fall somewhere around Palo Alto and Hayweird.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/22/BAEP1FI33V.DTL&tsp=1
September 23rd, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Yes Matt, I am that same person. THe Hospital Board and City Council operate on different wavelengths. I have not heard anybody accuse the Council of not having transparency. I went and re read my post to verify that I did say there have been some 4-1 votes similar to what Artz reported in today’s ARGUS:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_16145573?IADID=Search-
http://www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com
September 23rd, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Marty, I looked at the link and saw it was restricted to Charter Cities (those which have their own written charter) as opposed to most cities in California which are General Law cities, with all of their rules and limitations listed in California state law. Fremont is the largest general law city in the state.
The League of California Cities just did a survey of City Manager compensation using W-2 income, so it is consitent across the sample. Fremont’s manager is listed at $268,054.
I found the list on the companion blog to this one run by the CC Times, Political Blotter (they have more reporters covering politics than we have covering the tri-cities.) The URL for the League report is
http://www.cacities.org/resource_files/29179.FinalSurveyResults9.10.10.pdf
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Lisa Vorderbrueggen did some nice work on this topic recently. I’m surprised niether of you picked up on it or referenced it. . .
Her’s included TOTAL comp – as opposed to just W-2 earnings . . . AND she attempts she an “efficiency” number. Which is in the right direction, but also which needs to consider that very small and very large cities will yield drastically different “efficiencies”.
That said – if you group City Managers for those communities with greater than 100k population, using the numbers Lisa provides – Fred costs each resident of Fremont about $1.26 – in a city of 215k residents.
Compared to the next two larger cities of San Jose and Oakland, Fremont taxpayers are getting hosed as residents in those cities each contribute $.30 and $.60 per – BUT, for populations at least 2X ours . . . we are almost a push with Hayward (population 150k) . . . .
Palo Alto has a population of aprox 65k so making any comparison here seems off track.
You can see her original work here – which also ran in print -
http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2010/08/05/city-manager-salaries-read-it-here/
Just for comparisons’ sake – San Ramons infamous CM is costing each taxpayer $5.64/resident – - – in a city of 63k. Oh and here’s a great (possible) example of where W-2 earnings (which Gus was suggesting was a “consistent” basis) may not be the complete story.
Herb receives $285k in regular earnings – BUT another $71k in “other” (non-O.T.) income . . . . whether or not this “other” makes the W-2 can’t be confirmed from the data. Bottom line – as much as 25% of this individuals’ package may be non-taxed.
All of this is based on the original data Lisa provided at the above URL . . .
September 23rd, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Yes Matt, I am the same person who did express my opinion on the transparency of the Washington Hospital Board. I have not heard anyone say that the Council has the same issue of transparency that the Washington Board has. The Council meetings are held in public view for 90% of the time. The Washington hospital board, on the other hand, continues to conduct their meetings behind closed doors for 90% of the time.
I did go and review my earlier post and I did indicate that we have had some 4-1 votes and that is healthy. What I think people do not like is a “no” on every issue. It is unfortunate for some candidates to think that incessant criticism of the Council will get them elected. I would not like to vote for a candidate who attacks the Council for that indicates to me that the person will not be in a position to work with the other members on the Council. I am sure for every criticism there is an accolade that can also be showered and I hope some of these candidates will do so.
September 24th, 2010 at 12:01 am
I wish more people had attended the Tri City Democratic Forum debate on Sunday. The spectacle made me embarrassed to be a registered Democrat. It was actually Anu and Bill that tried to attack Vinnie (not the other way around as they apparently told Matt) by accusing him of all kinds of things like spreading conspiracy theories in Ardenwood and not wanting to participate in public-private partnerships (Anu apparently equates pledging not to take campaign contributions from developers with being unwilling to participate in public-private partnerships) and they also basically said that his Sierra Club endorsement was worthless because the Sierra Club didn’t bother to interview Anu and Bill before making their endorsement decision (unlike the Tri City Dems, the Sierra Club doesn’t believe in wasting time interviewing people that they know they are not going to endorse). Also, the mayor was sitting in the audience making loud rude noises every time Vinnie talked. And I was shocked that Anu’s and Bill’s signs were up everywhere before the vote was even taken on who to endorse. Why any of the non-incumbent candidates even bothered to participate in this farce is beyond me.
September 24th, 2010 at 12:04 am
And I have yet to hear the councilmembers who have taken thousands of dollars in donations from the Pattersons explain why they do not recuse themselves from voting on the Patterson Ranch development. How can they look at the public with a straight face and act they can be an independent voice of the people when they are bought and paid for by the Pattersons?
September 24th, 2010 at 4:59 am
I somewhat agree with Jenny that the endorsement process at the Tri City Dems has room for improvement. I decided to attend it after a long absence after I was told that the secrecy of the ballot would be a procedure that they would follow this time. In hers past that secrecy was compromised and In some instances I was asked why I voted a particular way. However, I am glad to say that it is. History now and they have done better. I would hope that the Sierra Club would take a cue and give every candidate a podium to make their endorsement worthwhile and repair their existing image of “professional left” or as some politico called it as the “Tea Party” of the left.
As a resident of Ardenwood and a political junkie of Fremont politics, I see there is a disinformation campaign going on about the Patterson ranch. This is a difficult situation for the residents of Ardenwood and the candidates would do well if. They cease taking advantage of the situation for their personal political gains. They could take a cue from the Parks and Recreation rep who spoke at the Planning Commission meeting last night in support of the development because in his opinion the development does not affect the Coyote Hills park in a manner that the opponents are making it out to be. As an independent voter, I would give greater weightage to his POV since he is a subject matter expert and has no political interest.
The development moving forward is a settled issue by virtue of the votes of the citizens of Fremont. It would do the candidates some good if like the incumbents they focus on how the development should proceed like the incumbents are doing. I was wondering why Vinnie Bacon was up at the Planning Commission meeting about whether we should build at the ranch or not? Is he not aware that it is a settled issue or did I miss something?
September 24th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Well stated on all points, Chinmoy Roy.
September 24th, 2010 at 9:04 am
Perhaps the residents of Fremont could take a cue from the new Superintendent of Schools who stated that there is no room in the Ardenwood schools for more students, no money to build a new school, and that the Pattersons are currently offering nothing to the schools except for the legally required school fees. Or perhaps we could all take a cue from the CIty’s own EIR on the project which states that the project will violate Bay Area Air Quality standards in three areas, and that “it is reasonably foreseeable that water supply for the Alameda County Water District may be inadequate in 2030. Consequently, this project…. may exceed identified water supplies. This constitutes a significant and unavoidable cumulative impact.”
Of course the fact that the USGS predicts this area will be underwater by 2030 doesn’t trouble Frisbee, the development planner, because he doesn’t believe in global warming. He doesn’t believe in the EIR concern about the water supply either. Let’s hope our planning commission is a bit more scientifically minded.
And how is this a settled issue since the planning commission and the City Council have yet to vote on it? Is there something going on behind the scenes that the rest of us don’t know?
September 24th, 2010 at 11:44 am
Jenny,
There seems to be a flaw in our campaign contributions. Developers can still buy councilmember’s vote, it is called campaign contributions.
It is sometimes done in a stealth manner by having employees and family members donate with developers money, to circumvents the maximum allowed by law..
Fremont Politics seems to be a messy business.
As far as out Mayor making mocking noises as Mr Bacon was speaking says a lot about our Mayor.
The same Mayor that when citizens get involved with the political process they are called a mob.
I am ashamed to have Mayor Wasserman as Fremont’s Mayor.
September 24th, 2010 at 11:46 am
I was also a candidate for theendorsement in the forum. I reminded that both Anu and Bill demanded increase of their salaries by 10% in 2008. This has motivate the city staff to demand increase in their salaries and pension benefits I committed that I will reduce my salary by 20% and reduce staff salary by 15% and they have to contribute double the amount they are paying now towards their pension benefits. As well they can’t burden the residents and well qualified persons are working at low wages, while the city staff are enjoying un-proportionately high salaries with low performance and heavy burden to the people due the ineffective management of the City Council
I declared that, if we care for our school we should donate all the money the candidates receive from their developer masters to the School District. When they raise massive money for their campaigns, why they don’t
they raise money for the Schools
It was very surprising that Anu’s husband was standing at the ballot box. As a candidate, I find the Alameda County Democratic Party’s endorsement are much bigger FARCE. It is not a Democratic, but it is a tight fit Dictatorship run by Ms. Robin for several years. I think COFFEE PARTY may rise from Alameda county like TEA PARTY.
I was surprised with the behavior of the Mayor as a bad Cop and it reminded me of the very bad behavior of the San Jose, Oakland and Bart cops. So also Anu and Bill. It surprised me how mean and dirty the people can go. I feel very sorry for the people Fremont that our FATHERS AND MOTHERS are of very low character and credibility to serve. May God bless Fremont.
VICTORY TO PEOPLE. http://www.FazlurKhan.com
September 24th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Charlotte, I would say that the deal should be contingent on a larger contribution to build the school initially. Thereafter, if an elementary school can not be sustained by the estimated $3.5 M in yearly revenue generated by 500 new property tax bills (500 x$ 7K), then I don’t see how this in anyone’s problem but our own government’s (or should I say your government, since your party makes the decisions around here).
I think your pseudo environmental concerns are non-issues or suspect to say the least. 500 homes on this lot is a spectacularly high density for SFHs. I imagine that the lot’s are modest (<3000 ft). Water and energy usage will be very low on a per person basis. Compare this to the energy is takes for Kathy McDonald to heat and cool her 3023 sq ft superhome for reference. Vinnie obviously gets a pass.
And one question. If Coyote Hills and the surrounding meadows are going to be underwater in 30 years, then what's the use in having an opinion on this either way?
September 24th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Last Monday evening’s debate is being rebroadcast on cable channel 27
several
times over the next couple of weeks…
Comcast Channel 27 throughout September and October.
Monday: 9:00-10:15 am, 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Tuesday: 9:00-10:15 am
Wednesday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Thursday: 9:00-10:15 am
Friday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
September 24th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
In all fairness Chinmoy, aren’t you on Anu’s kitchen cabinet campaign team? You can hardly be trusted to give impartial advice or criticize others since you didn’t even disclose this simple fact.
September 24th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Charlotte, It appears the post I had written in response to you was eaten by Matt Artz, probably for the high cellulose content when consumed as a printed page. Oh well.
I’d like to ask if you really believe that the Coyote Hills meadows will be underwater in 20 years? And if you do, why do you care either way – it would be a sinking ship you’re trying to save, so to speak.
I think the Patterson deal should be contingent on more money for the initial building of a school. The ability to sustain that school going forward is nobody’s problem but the city and state. If Fremont can’t do it on the estimated 3.5M in prop tax revenue then there are structural problems that need to be dealt with, all having nothing to do with the Pattersons.
And this property is very high density for SFHs. Energy and water use on a per person basis will be as good as it gets for such a development. The only alternative is more apartments and people driving from far away locations to get to their bay area jobs. Calculate the actual carbon footprint that results from banning developments people actually want to live in, if you are really that concerned.
September 24th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Marty, you ask why I care whether or not the Patterson development will be underwater in 20 years? Because I plan to be living in Fremont and paying taxes in 20 years, and I don’t want to get stuck with the tab for a FEMA bailout of 500 homes that should never have been built. As for the carbon footprint, Fremont is not in the situation of having people live elsewhere and commute here for jobs. On the contrary, Fremont is a bedroom community where people commute away for work. Adding a new development that will exceed by 50% the Bay Area Air Quality Management standards for per capita greenhouse gas emissions before you take into account the extra driving people will have to do to take their kids to far away schools isn’t going to help.
September 24th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Folks, I may be sounding like a broken record when I keep harping on how this City Council campaign has degenerated into name calling, inaccurate accusations and in some cases some cheap shots.
I have known Mayor Wasserman as well as Mayor Morrison personally. They are not the type who will violate the decorum at any meeting and make noises as alleged. I was present at the meeting. Mayor Wasserman has a medical condition which requires him to carry a oxygen bottle at all times. Suffice to discuss his medical condition to this extent in order to point out that we do not need to cast aside our compassionate side for those with medical conditions. Many of us have that personal experience since we have a similar situation with someone in our family.
September 24th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Charlotte, I think you’re mistaken on a few points.
Fremont is not in the situation of having people live elsewhere and commute here for jobs
88% of NUMMI’s workforce commuted from outside of the city. I’m sure there’s a myriad of reasons why they chose to live elsewhere, but at the top of that list I’m sure was a desire to NOT dwell in a high density apartment in Fremont (of all places). Cities need either SFHs or a reason to live high-density metro. You pick which one of those F-mont has a chance of providing.
you ask why I care whether or not the Patterson development will be underwater in 20 years
I was asking why you are interested in “saving” an open space if you are convinced that space will be underwater in 20 years. This makes no sense. I think schools and traffic issues are legitimate concerns. But the rest, many of which you present, are manufactured to meet your agenda. Ends justify the means, etc.
I’ll have to take a look at BA air quality standards for new development. I estimate these homes are going to be on ~3000 sq ft lots, two stories with less than 1800 sq ft of living space. This is modest in size and high in density. The ultimate need for resources (water and power) will be modest by any standard (especially compared to Kathy’s 3023 sqft superhouse in the hills).
September 24th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I wonder if prospective homebuyers anywhere would shell out their hard earned cash to buy a house if they were told they would have to drive miles out for their kid’s school, that their house is built on land which is expected to be underwater by 2030 and the land beneath is contaminated due to pesticides. The pointed questions from planning commissioners at last night’s meeting suggested that these would be the disclosures for homebuyers. The school Superintendent was very eloquent on bringing us back to the real issues such as school overcrowding etc. Unfortunately we had speakers focussing on non issues such as one who came up to say that the Ardenwood residents such as yours truly, would be inhaling the “pesticide dust”. It seemed that the gentleman didn’t know that there are laws that the developer has to follow for dust abatement and mitigation during construction.
I hope that the development opponents channelize their energies to ensure we build a good and a large school, increase the capacity of the junior high and the high school, get on workshops to study and design the flow of traffic which is certainly a genuine concern. These were the same concerns expressed 25 years ago when Forest Park was being developed. Today everything worked out and things are not as bad as they were made out to be then.
September 24th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Jenny and I must have been at different meetings on Sunday. I watched the entire process and was asked to participate in the counting of the votes, in public at the same table where the speakers sat.
During the meeting, I sat behind Mayor Wasserman and, as I was listening carefully to the speakers, I heard him make no comments or inappropriate noises. He did have his breathing apparatus, but it too was pretty quiet.
As for the candidates, the only “hit” I heard was Harrison criticizing Bacon’s sole endorsement from the Sierra Club, which was more critical of the Sierra Club than of Vinnie.
All in all, the Democratic Forum endorsement process was open and fair and the candidates were generally respectful to each other and they stuck to the issues almost all the time.
September 24th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
And, as the discussion of schools and the Patterson property goes on, we must remember that, according to state law enacted by initiative a few years ago, cities cannot reject an application for development based on schools so long as the applicant pays the required school fees.
It is appropriate for the school district to set boundaries for development telling the buyers that their children will not go to the neighborhood schools. They did that when the Weibel vineyards were developed, telling the buyers that their children would not go to Weibel School.
But passing the buck to the city, when the whole issue is out of their hands, just isn’t fair to the city and it confuses the current residents.
BTW, I’m well past the point now, but if I had kids in the Fremont system, I would try as hard as I could to get them into Forest Park. I think it is the best K-6 school in the city. I am told there are people who buy a home in Mission, then rent an apartment in Ardenwood so their kids can go to Forest Park. Then when they get to junior high, they give up their apartment and the kids go to Hopkins and Mission. I can’t prove it, but it is an interesting story.
September 24th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
The guy was sitting in the 3rd row, while Mayor was in the first row.He has to please his council masters for his business benefits. He was the beneficiary $100,000 from the Peterson Ranch. It is like devil reciting the scriptures.
VICTORY TO PEOPLE. http://www.FazlurKhan.com
September 24th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Gus, it’s never too late to procreate.
September 24th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Seeing the acrimony develop, it seems that Linda Suseov is not going to place last in this race
September 24th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
The developer will not give $5 to Linda Suseov becusse she is a noble and respectable lady and they can’t benefit at the cost of the people. They like well dressed crooks like Bernie Madoff and the council gang like that of Bell City. People who prostitute for profit have no place in Fremont and now the people are capable of confronting them and exposing them. Now their time is over.
VICTORY TO PEOPLE
CORRUPTION FREE FREMONT. http://www.FazlurKHAN.com
September 24th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Wow, I am not a fan of anybody in particular but I can see the side that is receiving money… I meant contributions, Marty I agree with Charlotte, I will prefer to see an open area getting flooded(within 20 years) that 500 houses. Marty is your last name Patterson? Mr Morrison making up stories doesn’t look good for you credibility especially when you do not have any kids..
September 25th, 2010 at 8:30 am
. . . scary
September 25th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Mr. Morrsion,
But at what cost. Developers and Realtors are profiting at the cost of students and parents who have to deal with pathetic facilities throughout fremont school system. If only you could visit all the schools and understand the situation, you will talk differently. But anyways, you are in the business to make money and you would care less about schools if your kids are not attending currently.
It would have been good if City Council realized the importance of schools[A BIG PART OF COMMUNITY] and negotiated with developers to contribute their fair share other than legal limit[set in 1970s].
If Fremont keeps electing the same brand of politicians, nothing will change ie developer will build homes at every nook and corner. For ex: In Mission area, there is a proposal to build homes on an old cemetery by moving the burials to somewhere else. The planning commission already approved it overridimg the Historical Review Board. Expect the approval from City Council when it comes for hearing on OCT 12.
September 25th, 2010 at 11:05 am
…now THAT is scary
September 25th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Last Monday evening’s debate is being rebroadcast on cable channel 27
several
times over the next couple of weeks…
Comcast Channel 27 throughout September and October.
Monday: 9:00-10:15 am, 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Tuesday: 9:00-10:15 am
Wednesday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Thursday: 9:00-10:15 am
Friday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
September 25th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Matt, Unlike the movies, wishing will not make it so. I wish council could force developers to pay for or build schools. I wish we could tell applicants to just go away until the school issues are resolved. I also wish we could roll back the clock to 1964, when there were 75,000 people in Fremont and none of the area east of Mission had any homes on it. It was a wonderful place, except for after the harvest of the califlower when the plants began to rot and smell.
But, none of my wishes can come true. As I explained before, state law only permits a city to reject a development only when the school district declares an impact. A school district can only declare an impact if there are no classrooms available in the district. The school district has never ever declared an impact.
The problem is that the classrooms are located in a different part of town than where new development occurs. The district can only require a fee from developers and, once that fee is paid, the city cannot deny an application based on school issues. Remember, I said cannot, not may not.
Since the Patterson project began, FUSD has sold off at least four schools, two of which were replaced with housing, a third sold to the city as a park, with the school operating as a charter school, and the fourth became a mega church.
As for me, please don’t try to ascribe motivation to anything I do. I value the public school system highly, whether I have kids in school or not. The value of my most valuable investment, my home, is directly related to the quality of the schools. The total value of my life is the sum of a whole lot of things, but the most important element is the public education I received in the K-12 system, in the California Community College system, and in the State University system, coupled with a year of school in the navy.
I developed a theory of what makes a quality city. I described it as being like a table with four legs. The stronger each of those legs is, the stronger the city is, and, if any one leg isn’t there or is weak, the whole thing topples. The four legs consists of family, home, school, and church. Look at any city in the country and the good cities have strong families, homes, schools, and churches. The failing cities will fail in two or three of these elements.
As for my business, LOL, I am a retired guy who does some consulting, mostly with a management firm dealing with cities and council/staff relationships. In this environment, cities are just trying to keep providing services and have little money available for the kind of things I can do, so it has been a long time since I have been paid for anything.
Remember, all of our governmental agencies are bound by state and federal laws, court decisions, legal precendents, and, of course, common sense. Wishing generally doesn’t trump any of them.
But, the school district does have a options which may or may not have been already implemented. They could establish a seniority system for kids. Vacant seats go to the kids who have lived in the attendance area the longest, thereby new development generated students would not displace current kids. This should be fairly easy to do.
Another option, which the district tried when Weibel school was overcrowded (the Forest Park of its day) was to declare the new development to be in a different attendance area. They tried this in the Vineyard Hills development on the old Weibel Winery site. I don’t think the board was able to stand the pressure and changed the boundaries, but it is an option.
September 25th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Whatever happened to the seniority system for admittance? This was brought up a few years ago but vanished. I thought this was the most equitable solution.
Weibel amazes me. It is shocking to learn that a housing development can be banned from attendance as if it were a private school, owned wholly by the residents of the Mission Hills. This is exactly the reason why I rail so heavily against the political career of Kathy McDonald, as I believe every move she has made in the political arena had been targeted toward protecting what she thinks is her’s to own and profit from.
We’re talking about a public school for Christ’s sake, paid for by you and me. Every child who lives within a a reasonably set boundary should be able to attend. This is paramount what I consider fair, and unfortunately every move Kathy McDonald has made has been in the interest of her selfish desire to preserve her exclusivity and wealth.
After 4 months on the market, Kathy McDonald removed her home from the MLS where it was listed for $1.2 M. Regardless of having bought it at the peak of the bubble for 200K less, she was trying to make a hefty profit. I think it’s reasonable to ask what her actual motivation was with regards to the A’s ballpark. It certainly appears that she never intended to live at her residence. And after all, as I predicted, her motivation for opposing the A’s ballpark was driven purely by personal profit.
This is who you align yourself with Vinnie Bacon while you dwell in an apartment.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Was the forum video taped and available anywhere online?
September 25th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Could it be that Calguy, Box, Vinnie & Kathy are all the same person?
September 25th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
The LWV council candidate forum from Monday evening is available on the league web site at
http://www.lwvfnuc.org/public/2010CandForums.html
September 26th, 2010 at 7:53 am
Marty, self preservation is the first rule of every successful person involved in politics. I wonder if we need to single out Kathy for that “quality”. We see it happen in DC and it permeates all the way down right into our politics in City Council and school Boards.
Our Guv rode into town promising to “terminate” several ills and usher in prosperity in this state. I presume he was not successful in casting away his desire for self-preservation. And the way he is going out is flying over Alaska to validate if he can see Russia from there.
So let “politics be politics.” 18 years later, the people are on the hunt of a “Ross Perot”. That hunger has not died down. And many feel that they have found one in the “Tea Party”. I hope not but I remain hopeful that the people will clean up their act, cast aside their self preservation and serve the people who voted them into office in the first place.
September 26th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Chinmoy,
You still haven’t answered Wonton’s question whether you are on Anu Natrajan’s campaign Team or not. Please answer the question.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:09 am
The Fremont City Council candidates debate is being rebroadcast on cable channel 27
several times over the next couple of weeks…
Comcast Channel 27 throughout September and October.
Monday: 9:00-10:15 am, 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Tuesday: 9:00-10:15 am
Wednesday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
Thursday: 9:00-10:15 am
Friday: 6:00-7:15 pm, 8:00-9:15 pm
September 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Hey Roy, which candidates are you supporting for City Council. I thought you supported the incumbents. Are you supporting Kathy now? Or are from the Tea Party? Your posts are confusing.
September 26th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
. . . confusing.
. . . . a “mob”..
September 26th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Roy is supporting Anu Natarajan, one of the incumbents.
He just changed his stance about incumbents so that only Anu gets elected. Everyone belonging to the tribe is OK.
September 27th, 2010 at 8:13 am
You belong to a tribe? Is it Kenyan?
September 27th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Having dealt with city council on a couple of issues and having seen the debate and the campaign, the only thing that has happened so far is that Fremont has been littered with Campaign posters all over the city. None of the people issues at the ground level are being represented by any of the candidates. Yes, it is true that some of the incumbents display some knowledge about the issues, but where is the action to fix them? And the new comers? Oh please save me lord. Times are hard doesn’t mean we can show that as an excuse and sit on our comfy rears. It is time to show some spine and take actions.
September 28th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
One Fremont Resident, very well said. Looks like it is the Tea Party talking. Yes indeed, we are fed up with partisan politics. These are supposed to be non-partisan positions and I wonder what the political parties and their operatives doing by endorsing only a few candidates and telling the other cadidates from their own party to go to hell.
I presume you do not belong to any political party to be speaking the way you did. Keep it up.
October 3rd, 2010 at 9:46 am
“I think that contributes to this layer of distrust from voters,” she said. “If I represented a district, (instead of the entire city) I could hold regular town hall meetings and be able to connect more with the community.”
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_16231550
– because there is some force or condition which prevents you from holding regular, albeit perhaps less frequent, town hall meetings and “connecting” more with the community under the current arrangement ?
October 9th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Its clear to see the most qualified candidate is Linda Susoev.As Ms Susoev has stated on multiple occasions she is “The most powerful person in law and politics.
On top of that her grandfather help Elvis sell “over two billion records”and( as if this was not more than enough to push her over the top )she is a homemaker and private eye!
And can also be found for conversation on most nights in the parking lot of Dinos Diner
Come on people!lets get this rolling
LINDA SUSOEV FOR COUNCILMEMBER !
At least she is interesting
October 9th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Kim Kee,
Linda has health problems which over the years has gotten worse. Linda is a very nice person, who has done no harm to anyone. If you are going to have fun with a candidate, how about Fazlur
October 13th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
RE: Audit
Thank Gus for the feedback (post # 13). However, I may not explained myself well on the topic of audit.
There are various types:
First, the one you alluded to above is the standard financial audit. For example, is $3M cash stated by the city real, so it is traced and matched to bank account, etc.. This type of audit generally provides no valuable in addressing today’s climate of whether the public funds are put in the best use.
The next level of audit addresses something deeper, such as what is the root cause for city asking for Measure L Utility tax to plug the deficit; only to have the money mysteriously appeared after the measure failed. The audit would recommend how such a significant discrepancy can be prevented, so government don’t keep crying wolf for more taxpayer bailout.
Another example would be weather expenditure on A’s project, foreign travel, or other significant projects have built-in accountability, so officials, rather than taxpayers, are on hook on future liabilities.
The third level of audit function is where most government agencies and departments would generally oppose because it made them sweat. This is where the watch dog really have teeth and where hotline (for example, http://www.cityauditorlauradoud.com/fraud.html), made it easy to report misdeed. Fremont is now just a fortress when taxpayers are shut out and silently peek through over the fence, while insiders have the benefit of behind the scene meetings.
Audit and investigation can help addressing fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. In other words, those who cried wolf, use scare tactic, misled the public, are subject to criminal prosecution.
I don’t see why a prudent elected official can refuse this function, especially if audit can also make the city run more efficient, benchmark against peers for excellence, and increased transparency to the citizens.
October 23rd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Hello! I’m new here… longtime Fremont resident (born at Washington, went to Irvington) and I’m just starting to get into local politics. Mostly just reading right now… but a post caught my interest and I was wondering if someone could elaborate for me.
Marty said earlier that a newer subdivision in the weibel area was discluded from the school. So, where do those kids go? We live in warm springs and my kids will (hopefully) attend leitch. I know that some of the weibel area is districted at leitch… is that the same subdivision? Well, leitch is overcrowded as it is!
Has anyone brought up the idea of open-attendance within the city? I know we have a LARGE city… but we do have plenty of classrooms and it seems the lower performing schools are mostly lacking the parental participation and interest that the higher-performing schools have. If we could make all the schools in fremont attractive (for possibly very different reasons) to parents, wouldn’t that draw more people too all the attendance areas, instead of focusing it on the outer edges as it is now?
Lastly, former Mayor Morrison mentioned one school being sold off as a park and charter school… what school might this be? I’ve looked, and the only charter’s I’m aware of in our city are the FAME charter (located in a business district) and the COIL charter (located on the adult school campus). I’d be VERY interested in any other charters located in Fremont. Even though we live in what I consider to be one of the best attendance areas of Fremont, I am more interested in a school that fits our ideals. I suspect many parents feel the same and would increase involvement if they had more options available to them within the city.
October 23rd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Marshall School is the one I referred to, I think on Omar south of Stevenson.
And could you imagine the crowds lining up at Forest Park, Weibel, Ardenwood, Chadbourne, etc. if there was open enrollment in the district. People would be camping out starting months before the enrollment date.
October 24th, 2010 at 9:31 am
Gus, I am with the concept of neighborhood schools at the primary and JH level. But at the high school level, the kids are close to adulthood. At that age they want to be on their own as far as decision making is concerned. Having said that, I wonder if we should open up our high schools across boundaries. That would require our high schoolers to compete. It would also prepare them to compete world wide in this day and age of global economy.
October 24th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
I figured that’s the school you were talking about! That’s a Stratford (private) School. They don’t have a charter that I know of. Thanks for the response!
And yea, the parents would line up… but they’d eventually have to choose a different school and the fact that they get to choose would help to improve whatever school their child eventually attended.
I do like the idea of opening up the high school boundaries. They were planning to do that a few years back, weren’t they? By making all the high schools Magnets so kids could choose their interest and pursue it. I thought it was a fabulous idea! You could even make them go through and an application and acceptance process based upon achievement. Fremont is ideal for that kind of program.