Fremont State Of The City 2018

FREMONT, CA — On March 28, Fremont Mayor Lily Mei delivered this year’s State of the City address at a luncheon hosted by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce at the Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley. Mayor Mei outlined the City’s achievements in 2017 and its goals for the year ahead.

Here are a few of the highlights:

• This November, residents will vote in the first district-based election in Fremont, moving away from at-large city elections. Information on districts and which seats are up for election in 2018 can be found at www.Fremont.gov/DistrictElections. Also, a new Council District locator tool was introduced for community members to plug in their address to determine which district they live in.
• Decreasing residential burglaries in neighborhoods remains a priority for the Fremont Police Department, and thanks to their efforts, Fremont has seen an overall reduction of 62 percent since 2011. In 2017, there was a 32 percent decrease.
• The Fremont Fire Department deployed first responders to the devastating fires throughout California and hurricane responses across the country and Puerto Rico. Locally, the newly created Office of Emergency Services educated over 2,600 residents about emergency best practices at community events.
• The City achieved a 70 to 90 percent traffic reduction in residential neighborhoods by implementing changes to signal timing, commute period turn restrictions, and other measures. Improvements are planned for Interstate 680 and 880 through Fremont and include Express Lanes to ease traffic congestion.
• Startup Grind is in its third year, and provides an opportunity to enhance Fremont’s entrepreneurship eco-system. Fireside chats are taking place on a monthly basis.
• The City’s sustainability efforts are well underway; by replacing 15,000 streetlights with energy-saving LEDS, and completing a host of other energy and water saving projects, the City will collectively save $13 million over the life of the new fixtures.
• Fremont’s new Rent Review Ordinance is now in effect, and the newly formed Rent Review Board will shepherd fair and equitable resolutions for both renters and landlords.
• Fremont joined the World Health Organization’s global network of Age Friendly cities to better meet the needs of our aging residents and launched a monthly online newsletter.
• Local activity by Lennar, Sobrato, Toll Brothers, Tesla, and Valley Oak Partners is anticipated to bring over 8,000 potential new jobs and 4,000 residential units to the Warm Springs District.
• This Spring, the City will activate the site at Town Fair Plaza in Downtown Fremont with flexible programming; the site will be managed by Public Space Authority. The City encourages community members to share thoughts on the type of programing and activities they’d like to see when it opens daily.

The full presentation from Mayor Mei’s State of the City address is available at www.Fremont.gov/StateoftheCity.

— Announcement and photo via City of Fremont