(FREMONT, CA.) – In Fremont’s Charter Advisory Committee’s third meeting on April 6, city staff guides the committee through a set of questions regarding
This series of questions is meant to allow city staff and the committee to organize the opinions and preferences of the committee members, ultimately pushing them closer to drafting their final recommendation.
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh
The major topics brought up when answering each question seen above are the topics of accountability and transparency.
Almost every committee member brought up these topics when answering the first question, some explaining that residents are unclear on who exactly makes and executes decisions within Fremont’s government.
Fremont residents have also already expressed concerns regarding the lack of transparency from this committee and its goals.
Committee member Rick Jones cites the fact that the mayor of Fremont has already received negative attention from the public due to policies that were executed by city staff and not the mayor.
To combat this, Jones and other members agree that the responsibilities and functions of major roles within Fremont’s government such as the mayor, city council, city manager, and other staff should be more clearly defined to the public.
In addition to discussing transparency and accountability, some committee members express their wishes to alter Fremont’s process for hiring department heads and other city staff.
While listing issues a charter city should address, the committee discusses the possibility of giving more hiring authority to the mayor and city council.
Normally, this responsibility lies with the city manager or others who are more dedicated to hiring city staff.
Those in favor of granting more hiring power to the mayor and city council generally suggest keeping city staff involved in the process, allowing them to pick the best from a pool of candidates.
The mayor or the mayor and city council would then have the final decision of who to hire from the remaining candidates.
Jones, however, opposes this idea.
“There's a reason we have professional staff to make those recommendations [and] to do those interviews. I was a police officer for 29 years, but that doesn’t make me qualified to select a chief of police. That wasn’t my role.”
He also mentions the fact that the mayor and city council are more political than those already in charge of the hiring process, arguing that accepting the change in power could cause politics to interfere with hiring staff.
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh / Rick Jones
Committee member Sathya Sankaran also suggests assigning staff dedicated to aiding the mayor and city council. She believes that this would increase the efficiency of Fremont’s government.
These ideas are reiterated by some committee members when briefly explaining which form of government, referencing structures covered in a previous meeting, what appeals most to them, and why.
Jones, along with three other committee members, expresses that they are in favor of Fremont’s current structure of government, the council-manager structure.
Sankaran and one other committee member advocate for the adoption of the strong mayor structure of government.
Out of the six, half are leaning toward Fremont becoming a charter city.
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh
Though Jones and Sankaran hold different opinions regarding both who should have more hiring authority and what government structure is the best, Jones backs Sankaran's statement that the mayor and city council should have additional, dedicated staff.
“I think right now the issue is [that] the council will come up with a question or concern, and it’s not being passed along in a timely manner [...] This is where I kind of agree [that] it might be beneficial to have a staffing person for the city council.”
After further discussion of these topics, the opinions of the committee members remain mostly unchanged, though they generally agree that there should be additional staff to support the mayor and city council.
Further discussion and action, such as drafting the official recommendation for whether or not Fremont should become a charter city, is postponed for a later date.
If you have any questions, please email me at madison.v@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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