Fremont voted for Black History Month flag-raising last month. Mayor tried to add 19 dates, including Confucius’ birthday

San Leandro could be eyeing changes to its district-based election model and ranked choice voting. Another possible name in CA12

CITY NEWS

FREMONT

—FLAGGED—In recent years, the best way to stoke animosity among city councilmembers and members of the public is to start talking about ceremonial flag-raisings. Fremont joined the fray on Tuesday night.

—Last month, the Fremont City Council backed a referral by Councilmember Teresa Cox to raise a banner each February in recognition of Black History Month.

—On Tuesday, Fremont Mayor Lily Mei returned with a referral that included more 19 groups and individuals that she believes should be honored with a flag raising. Many of the suggested groups reflect Fremont’s uniquely diverse community.

—In addition, several of the names listed by Mei are Asian American leaders, such as Fred Korematsu, Larry Itliong, and March Fong Eu. Historical figure Confucious is also included in honor of his birthday.

—“Not that they’re not important. I’m not suggesting that they’re not, but we should be consistent,” Councilmember Desrie Campbell said. “Because I would like you to raise the flag for my birthday. I’m important,” she said in jest.

—Campbell said the policy would essentially open a can of worms that could led to other groups seeking to honor individuals.

—“Why don’t we do a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day right there?” said Campbell, who is Black. Cox could be heard adding, “That’s right.”

—Fremont Councilmember Yang Shao took a veiled swipe at flag-raisings, especially Cox’s referral last month for Black History Month.

—“The best flag that we can raise, and all the people in Fremont and beyond are proud to gather under, is the flag of the stars and stripes banner,” Shao said.

—Flag-raising could also lead to groups one-up each other. “Oh, wait a minute! Last month you raised a very big flag, I want to beat it and raise an even bigger flag,” Shao said. “Sure, I don’t want that to be a competition.”

—Fremont Councilmember Jenny Kassan added that some of the groups and individuals don’t have a flag associated with them. Kassan, who is Jewish, said, for example, there is no banner belonging to Jewish American Heritage Month, which is included in Mei’s referral.

—The council ultimately decided against moving Mei’s referral forward, citing staffing issues, cost, and the absence of a formal flag-raising policy, which city staff is already working on.

—It’s second time in recent months that a ill-conceived referral penned by Mei fell flat with the council and city staff.

—Last month, Mei pushed a referral that indicated a desire to punish unnamed councilmembers for violating the Brown Act. When pressed, Mei said the referral’s intent was to advocate for council training on the subject.

—FLAG ON THE PLAY—Citing her white privilege and a duty to call out injustices seen around her, Fremont Councilmember Jenny Kassan appeared to questioned the motives of Fremont Mayor Lily Mei’s flag-raising referral on Tuesday night.

—“There is an aspect about this that feels uncomfortable to me and I know there’s a lot of really good intentions for wanting to include people. But the fact that this is coming up right after we had the referral from Councilmember Cox to raise the flag for Black History Month, it honestly makes me uncomfortable,” Kassan said.

—“Because it’s very rare that anyone comes forward requesting that we do a flag raising and it feels a little bit disrespectful and possibly almost like a backlash against the effort Councilmember Cox made to bring that referral.

—“It doesn’t feel super comfortable to me that all of the sudden, out of the blue, right after a referral was made to raise the flag for Black Hisory Month, all of sudden there’s this long list of others that now we need to recognize.

—“It could be seen by some of the members of our community who are African American as a bit of a disrespectful act to all of sudden say we had two flag-raising, now we’re going to have 21. I’m not saying that was the intention. I’m not trying to impugn anyone. I just bring this up in case any members of our Black community feel that this isn’t the best timing for bringing this up.”

SAN LEANDRO

—ELECTION REFORMS?—The controversy involving the use of ranked choice voting in Alameda County may lead to reforms in San Leandro, one of four cities that uses the voting system in mayoral and city council races.

—During a discussion on the board’s state legislative platform on Monday night, San Leandro Councilmember Celina Reynes briefly raised the possibility of looking at ranked choice voting in the city, in tandem with reforming its at-large district elections.

—City council candidates in San Leandro must reside in one of six districts, but the entire city votes in each of the council races. It’s a strange mash-up that has faced criticism in the past, but previous councils have avoided making any changes to the format.

—Proponents for having voters in each district choose their representative say it will lower campaign costs and attract more candidates.

ELECTION 2024

CONGRESS

—ANOTHER CA12 NAME—The East Bay’s 12th Congressional District (formerly 13th) is blessed with an exceptional bench of candidates who would shine in higher office.

—In the day after Rep. Barbara Lee announced an intention to run for U.S. Senate, the list of potential candidates for her congressional seat in 2024 is exceptional. Here’s another name: BART Board Director Lateefah Simon.

—Simon would be a strong candidate for several reasons. She has state and federal connections and could very well be the only Black candidate in the potential field of candidates.

—Simon has an inspirational personal story to tell, and she is by far the best public speaker in the entire region. The only way to stop Simon is to hope she moves a few doors outside of her BART district, which already happened.