Fremont Wants To Charter A New Course
Council advances an accelerated plan to overhaul city governance, even as the city manager urges caution and delay; San Leandro City Council offers praise, not condemnation of Bryan Azevedo
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Vol. VI, No. 1,201
—Fremont may be poised to abandon its general law form of government—an arrangement it has held since incorporation—after the City Council voted to advance a proposal to explore becoming a charter city.
The move stems from a referral by Councilmember Yajing Zhang, who is seeking to launch the creation of a charter advisory body and draft a governing document for the second-largest city in Alameda County.
The timeline is unusually aggressive, effectively compressing the process of forming an advisory committee, debating governance changes, and qualifying a measure for the November ballot into roughly four months.
Zhang argued a charter would give Fremont greater local control over governance, procurement, project delivery, and administrative authority—powers she said are constrained under state general law.
“This is the time to see if the [general law] structure still works for the city,” Zhang said, adding that while the current model may suit smaller cities, it may no longer align with Fremont’s size or complexity.
Among the options referenced is a variation of a strong-mayor system, a governance model currently under debate in Oakland.
—Zhang said conversations with officials in other cities informed her proposal, citing examples where councils lack authority over key decisions such as the hiring of a police chief or the implementation of policies like encampment enforcement.
“Council can direct policy, but not execute the plan,” Zhang said. “We can be a little bit bold.”
City staff, however, signaled clear opposition to both the timeline and the premise. City Manager Karena Shackleford cautioned that many of the issues raised could be addressed within Fremont’s existing general law framework, without embarking on a costly and compressed charter process.
She emphasized that the cost of a charter transition is unknown and comes as the city recently reduced its budget by $3.8 million due to new labor agreements and is preparing to pursue a revenue measure for the fall ballot.
“My immediate concern is how something like this would impact the pursuit of a revenue measure—and I still have that concern,” Shackleford said, urging the council to defer the discussion to its upcoming retreat.
Councilmembers Desrie Campbell and Kathy Kimberlin echoed those concerns, arguing the process should be slowed and potentially deferred until 2028.
Despite staff warnings and calls for delay, a majority of the council voted to move Zhang’s referral forward.
Zhang closed by framing the effort as an exercise in ambition. Fremont, she said, is doing well—but could aim higher. “I would like us to have a bold vision and truly do something bigger.”
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