Fremont City Council’s new Charter City Plan

By Staff Writers Luna Bichon, Alex Duan & Mansi Mundada

In February, the Fremont city council voted 5-2 to place a measure on the November ballot for voters to determine whether a charter should be adopted by the city. This would allow Fremont to dictate some of its own governance structures. If a charter is approved, Fremont would gain greater control over local regulations, such as setting its own zoning and land-use rules. The proposal, proponents argue, will better support housing construction and business growth. 

Vice Mayor Yajing Zhang, proposed the motion because she received emails from the community and noticed the efficiency of other cities in the Bay Area. She noted that the City Council doesn’t have a say in the hiring of city officials such as the police chief, and currently, the city manager has the sole authority to approve many appointments leaving little room for the rest of the rest of the City Council to influence these decisions. That sits in contrast with San Diego, which uses its charter city structure to allow the mayor to directly appoint the police chief.  Zhang also mentioned the opportunity to explore and find out what works best for Fremont as a reason for considering transitioning to a charter city. “We never really look at stuff like this — is there room for improvement, can we execute it better?” Zhang said during the council meeting on February 17.

Fremont currently operates as a general law city, meaning it must follow standard rules and structures set by CA state law.  A charter city operates under its own written charter, which allows it to make laws and govern local matters —  such as setting procedures for how city projects are approved and carried out — while still following state laws. According to California League of Cities, a municipal government advocacy group, a key advantage of becoming a charter city is that it gives cities authority over municipal affairs. For example, the City of San Jose used this authority to adopt streamlined housing approval processes, allowing certain infill housing to receive ministerial approval without public hearings or review under the California Environmental Act. Cited problems with the traditional structure of California’s cities often center around the lack of city council authority to hire critical city staff, which slow down many city-commissioned projects. 

However, not all charter cities experience increased efficiency. While some charter cities, like San Jose, are able to streamline construction and other processes through ordinances some charter cities still struggle with meeting quotas, such as San Francisco. However, Fremont — being a general law city — has already generally performed relatively well in housing production compared to some major Bay Area cities, approving 1133 housing units in 2022. On the other hand, major construction projects like Tesla’s upcoming remodeling of its Fremont factory would require extensive coordination between companies and the city. Under a charter, Fremont could potentially establish structures in the city government to approve infrastructure projects more efficiently by gaining the authority to efficiently staff key management personnel, allowing for projects to be sped up. 

During the council meeting on February 17, City Manager Karena Shackelford expressed her concern about the cost of transiting to a charter city. Councilmembers Desrie Campbell and Kathy Kimberlin agreed while adding that the proposed four month timeline is short, which may potentially limit time for comprehensive public engagement. “I voted against the referral only because I thought the timing was not fair to our community [or] to our staff, because we have other things we’re looking at right now,” Kimberlin said. Opponents also argue that being a charter city could make policy adjustments more difficult and costly, since charter amendments typically require ballot measures, which require additional funds for campaigning.

As Fremont moves toward potentially becoming a Charter City, the decision ultimately rests with voters in the November election. “It’s not just the City Council deciding. It’s the voters weighing in and deciding, is this the government they want for their city?” Kimberlin said.