Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, State Senate candidate, texted topless photos to an East Bay official
Photos followed affair with same official; compromising incidents raise serious concerns about her fitness for office
ELECTION 2022
Days until Election Day: 61.
10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—EXCLUSIVE—Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, also a candidate for the 10th State Senate District this November, sent inappropriate sexts to at least one East Bay elected official while serving on the Fremont City Council. The sexts, which include topless photos of herself, were sent in an effort to rekindle a former, but brief romantic interlude. At the time, Mei was married. She is currently in the process of getting a divorce.
The sexts not only raise questions about Mei’s fitness for serving the East Bay’s one million-resident State Senate district, but also whether her actions not only put herself in a compromising position personally, but also the city of Fremont. In addition, Fremont’s proximity to Silicon Valley makes it a target for foreign operatives unfriendly to the U.S. to gain leverage over local politicians.
Knowledge of Mei’s sexts among East Bay politicos has grown over the years, but never reported. “It’s the worst-kept secret in the East Bay,” said a source who has seen some of the photos. In addition to topless photos, Mei also sent the official alluring shots of herself in a bathing suit. Mei did not respond yesterday to a request for comment.
The sexts followed a one-night stand sometime in either 2015 or 2016, according to those familiar with the providence of the photos, although the exact nature of the relationship is up for debate. “One person expected less and the other expected more,” said a source with knowledge of the encounter. “She was the more.” In an effort to recapture the spirit of that night, Mei sent a barrage of texts over a period of time. They went unanswered.
Provocative pictures of Mei followed and escalated to topless shots, including one in which she pulled up a University of Alabama t-shirt to reveal her bare chest. When this effort to woo the official appeared to go nowhere, Mei left voicemails dripping with desperation and audible sobbing, according to two people who listened to the message. “She was a mess,” said a political operative who listened to the voicemail. Still distraught over the failed relationship, Mei appeared unannounced one rainy night at the official’s residence.
On another occasion, Mei’s sexts were passed around at a party, and by chance, viewed by a Fremont city employee. It’s unclear what occurred after this incident, but it underscores how widespread knowledge of the sexts had become and the risk the compromising photos potentially posed to the city of Fremont.
Ray Bobbitt, the brother of deceased Fremont police officer Fred Bobbitt, cryptically accused Mei at a town hall last June of using city resources to reconcile one of her personal relationships. The Bobbitt family is suing the city over its role leading to Fred Bobbitt’s death.
Bobbitt later described Mei as “completely distracted as mayor” because of the personal relationships she was allegedly involved in, he added.
That Mei put herself in such a compromising position by sending the sexts along with the potential for them escaping into the wilderness of East Bay politics is alarming during a time when foreign interests are well-known to be lurking in Fremont and nearby Silicon Valley because of the region’s high-tech and defense industries.
Twice in the past decade, foreign operatives have surreptitiously entered Fremont’s political world. Once, when Chinese spy Fang Fang infiltrated Rep. Eric Swalwell’s congressional office, and less known, an incident in which Fremont Councilmember Teresa Keng unwittingly was duped a Communist Chinese group into creating an unauthorized city proclamation in support of China’s takeover of Taiwan.
Political chatter surrounding Mei’s sexts reignited after she announced her run for the 10th State Senate District last year. However, the photos were now lingering in a state of political purgatory after a long-time supporter of Mei struck a deal to keep them from being made public. “Are you asking if I’ve seen the pictures? Yes. They exist. I’ve seen them and I was told to suppress them,” a local political operative said.
It’s unclear what sort of deal was struck, but it is believed to stem from a longstanding agreement with real estate interests hoping to carry Mei to the State Senate this fall. During her campaign this year for the State Senate, Mei’s received large amounts of financial support from real estate interests through the use of Independent Expenditure Committees. The 10th State Senate primary race was one of the most expensive races in the entire state and is likely to attract millions more in IE activity this fall from real estate interests for Mei, and labor unions for her opponent, Aisha Wahab.
Although Mei advanced to the November General Election by winning the June primary, controversy has nagged her campaign for much of the past year. In addition to the Bobbitt case, the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee voted last fall to condemn votes she made as a Fremont school board member and labeling Mei as anti-LGBTQ.
A scandal, still unresolved, erupted last spring after Fremont City Manager Mark Danaj was given a $300,000 severance package before it became publicly known that he embezzled $18,000 from the city’s coffers.