City of Fremont, CA Official Website

Sincerely,

Karena Shackelford
City Manager

• In May, City Council adopted Fremont’s first Homelessness Response Plan
  prioritizing resources to prevent homelessness, increase housing solutions, and
  improving health and safety conditions.

• Affordable Housing:
  • Celebrated the grand opening of Doug Ford Senior Apartments, a 90-unit affordable housing property for seniors.
  • Approved close to $35 million in funding for three new affordable housing projects that will provide almost 500 new affordable housing units.
  • Helped facilitate the leasing process for Fremont Family Apartments, a 54-unit affordable housing property located in North Fremont.

• Conducted a multi-departmental effort to resolve the large encampment at Vallejo Mill Historical Park, with 80% moving into shelter programs.
• Doubled capacity of Winter Relief from 30 to 60 rooms (125 individuals). 51% transitioned into housing, longer-term shelter, or other appropriate programs.
• MET Team:
  • Hired a Crisis Intervention Specialist, with Mental Health focus.
  • Continued recruitment for second Crisis Intervention Specialist focused on Street Outreach.
  • January 2024, a Community Service Officer was assigned, full-time.

• The newly developed Homeless Response section of Fremont.gov continued to
  be updated and the site received an award of Distinction from the California
  Association of Public Information Officers (CAPIO) Association in May.
• With the help of 180 volunteers, participated in the 2024 Point in Time Count.

• Fremont Fire Department (FD) launched the Apparatus Deployment Analysis
  Module (ADAM) with Deccan International, to help improve response times,
  optimize resources, and defend budgets.
• Fremont Police Department’s (PD) Annual Report was published in May, The report includes information such as report and call for service data, personnel training hours, statistics, and more.
• Recruitment:
  • PD hired several key positions including, but not limited to, Police Lieutenant and 12 new police officers that began early this year.
  • FFD hired for several roles including Fire Marshall, Battalion Chief, and
    graduated 16 new firefighters. This was one of the most diverse classes in the history of FFD.
• Increased the size of the Reserve Police Officer Program in direct support of public
  safety objectives. 
• PD and FFD partnered to deploy the Drone as a First Responder Program (DFR) after completing a series of public outreach sessions and other administrative tasks.
• Purchased pursuit mitigation equipment; tire deflation devices are used to slow and stop fleeing vehicles, increasing safety for the public, etc.
• Completed clearance pruning on 2,000 street trees to improve street sweeper operations and storm water compliance.
• Extensive pathway new construction and replacements throughout Central Park to enhance ADA accessibility and safe walkways.
• Obtained grant funding for additional community cameras at potentially eight (8) new locations, therefore enhancing public safety objectives throughout our City.
• Traffic Safety:
  • Increased Traffic Saturation Patrols in areas impacted by frequent collisions.
  • Continued public messaging and education to improve traffic safety with regular messages on social media and Fremont Connection; such as the PD traffic safety public education video.
  • Implemented oversized vehicle parking restrictions near Hirsch Elementary School and Horner Middle School to support their "safe routes to schools" program.
  • No traffic fatalities in Fremont for 10 months straight (July 1, 2023 - May 2, 2024) the longest consecutive period of no traffic deaths on Fremont streets since the adoption of the Vision Zero traffic safety policy in 2015.
  • Adopted ordinance to improve traffic safety as facilitated by State legislation related to limiting the parking of oversized vehicles.
  • Implemented speed limit reductions by five miles per hour along 30 major street corridors using new State legislation allowing increased local authority; setting lower speed limits to improve traffic safety.
  • Traffic camera visibility improvement project, reducing or eliminating tree/camera conflicts in eight locations.
• Initiated the Private School Network, a system enhancing communication with private schools during emergencies.

• Facilitated the approval of two new development projects located within the Fremont Hub shopping center and the Gateway Plaza shopping center.
• Achieved the full leasing of all 11 spaces of Capitol Square, Downtown’s first mixed use project, including six eateries and an independent bookstore, and celebrated the grand opening of Fremont Bank’s new flagship branch and headquarters.
• Collaborated on a Community Block Party event to showcase Downtown development and celebrate the opening of the Fremont Bank flagship branch.
• Completed several tree-maintenance projects to improve aesthetics as well as sidewalk cleanliness and usability.
• Hosted Fremont’s 2nd Annual Restaurant Week, a 10-day celebration featuring over 45 restaurants. Enhanced the event webpage and launched a dynamic marketing campaign.
• Produced a multifaceted, year-long “shop small” marketing campaign. Highlighted business stories through a video series on the City’s social media and YouTube channels.
• Continued progress on “complete street” projects to improve mobility for people walking and bicycling along the Fremont Boulevard and Walnut Avenue corridors and supporting the Downtown, Irvington, and Centerville Districts.
• Established a new Environmental Services Administrator position in May 2024 to manage the environmental sustainability and climate protection programs within the Community Development Department’s Environmental Services Division.

• The City’s FY 2023/24 Adopted Operating Budget received the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
• Council augmented the General Fund Budget Uncertainty Reserve with a $10 million transfer from the accrued leave liquidation reserve in the Employee Benefits Fund during the FY 2023/24 Mid-Year Budget Report In March.
• FY 2024/25 Operating Budget:
  • Conducted enhanced community outreach, a survey on MyFremont and digital engagement to encourage participation in the public budget meetings.
  • The City’s recently adopted FY 2024/25 budget addresses a near-term revenue shortfall brought about by the overpayment of sales tax revenue by the State to the City during Fiscal Year 2022/23.
• Grants and Donations:
  • Received Federal Community Project Funding for unfunded initiatives: including $950,000 for the police camera replacement/upgrade, $850,000 for the Auto Mall Pkwy center median, and $500,000 for the Central Park Community Center.
  • Accepted 90 large trees donated by Google with an estimated value of $28,000 to help provide significant shading in parks.
  • Secured the commitment of two separate donations to support the California Nursery Historical Park Rose Garden.
• Amended the City’s Master Fee Schedule to update Building and Planning user fees to reflect updated hourly costs, State law changes, new fees for new services, and simplify fee descriptions and methodology.
• Implemented additional express building permits for Fremont property owners with minor home improvement projects to streamline the process.

• 2024 Mid-Year City Council Priority Update (current)
• 2023 Year-End Council Priority Report 
• 2023 Mid-Year City Council Priority Progress Report 
• 2022 Year End Council Priority Report