(FREMONT, CA.) – Fremont residents are still unclear on why Fremont is considering becoming a charter city.
Residents of Fremont show up at the Charter Advisory Committee’s April 6 meeting in order to express their opinions and need for transparency.
Following a similar pattern to concerns expressed in this committee’s last meeting, this meeting’s first public speaker, Vipin Sharma, explains that there seems to be no reason for Fremont to consider becoming a charter city.
Citing the conversation taking place right before public comment, Sharma mentions how the committee was discussing increasing transparency and considering changing the city staff hiring process.
These, he argues, do not require becoming a charter city. He makes the same point regarding the council’s discussion of increasing accountability by clearly defining the roles of different government employees.
“If accountability is missing, why can’t we fix it? Why are we changing [to a charter city] just to have accountability? Those things can be fixed in the current law.”
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh / Vipin Sharma
Citing also the committee’s discussion before public comment, Sandra B. expresses her strong belief that Fremont should maintain a council-manager form of government rather than a previously suggested strong mayor structure.
“This form of government structure separates politics from administration. [...] A strong mayor or mayor-council system may be influenced by preliminary alliances, political career aspirations.”
She believes that the city council and city manager should also maintain their current responsibilities.
“Elected officials, our council members, should continue to set our city's policies and strategic goals. The day-to-day operations should continue to be handled by the city manager, who is hired based on their experience and not political popularity.”
Additionally, she believes that a ballot measure regarding whether or not Fremont should become a charter city should be placed on the 2028 ballot, not the 2026 ballot, as Fremont’s government has planned.
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh / Sandra B.
Stepping up to the podium is another student representing Fremont Youth Vote (FYV), an organization that attended this committee’s last meeting on Mar. 30.
As her peers did in the previous meeting, this student is advocating for the committee to lower the voting age for school board elections to 16.
She cites other cities, such as Albany and Berkeley, that have already implemented this change, further explaining that there are no significant challenges to implementing it.
“Expansion should only happen if it comes at no additional cost and the city system is fully prepared. [...] Conditions to meet the hurdles are far easier to navigate now than in the past.”
Photo Credit: https://fremontca.viebit.com/watch?hash=8NUoP7b9TNxdGwxh / FYV Representative
She ends her speech with a wish for the committee.
“We at Fremont Youth Vote hope that our suggestions can be included as [appropriate] in the initial draft of the proposed city charter.”
Though the committee somewhat acknowledges the two speakers concerned with the topic of the charter city, they once again fail to acknowledge or mention the speaker from FYV.
If you have any questions, please email me at madison.v@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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