Fremont mayor prioritizes affordable housing, hiring more cops and firefighters in final ‘State of the City’ address

FREMONT — In her last “State of the City” address, Fremont Mayor Lily Mei on Wednesday said building more affordable housing, hiring more police officers and firefighters and pursuing greater environmental sustainability are among her top priorities as she exits office.

Mei, who became mayor in 2016 and is termed out at the end of this year, said there are hundreds of affordable housing units in the pipeline and while homelessness in the city has declined by 21 percent, according to the city data, Mei acknowledged that “there is still work to be done.”

She expects 750 units to be ready by the end of 2026, including several properties on Osgood Road and others on Thorton Avenue, Fremont Boulevard and Bell Street.

The city had hoped to add another 156 affordable rooms at a former Motel 6 in South Fremont on Research Avenue, but Mei said the state quietly denied the city’s multiple requests for the estimated $35 million in funding needed to complete the project.

“I’m so frustrated,” the mayor told this newspaper regarding the denials. “I think compassion starts at home.”

Still, she claimed Fremont is on track to meet state-mandated housing goals by 2030 meant to ease the region’s housing crisis. The city needs 13,000 new homes in the next few years, compared to a previous estimate of 5,500 homes mandated by the state.

Mei said she and the City Council share a goal of having a public park within a 10-minute walk of every residents in the city of roughly 230,000 people so they can enjoy open space. Several new parks have opened over the past few years — and more park improvements are still in the works.

She called Fremont, which was recently named the “Happiest Place to Raise a Family,” “a shining example that other communities across the state will aspire to emulate,” noting it is home to 900 manufacturers and a burgeoning biomedical sector.

“As you councilmember I’ve had the immense joy of serving the Fremont community and taking action on the things that matter the most,” Mei said.

The city, she added, is facing a shortage of police officers and firefighters, which is becoming more of a problem in the police department with waves of retirements and the time it takes to train new cops.

“As fast as you’re filling them, people are also retiring and people move out of state,” Mei said. “We are really aggressively pursuing more people.”

But the city has made headway, making 121 new hires between police, fire and other city employees this year, according to Mei. She said the city is pursuing “lateral transfers, trying to recruit from other cities” to stay competitive with other cities who are also facing staffing issues.

“People are realizing how paramount public safety is to the quality of life, not just to the residents, but to the businesses too,” Mei said.

She said that the city is expecting a balanced and moderately growing operating budget of about $261 million currently, despite having to dip into reserve funding to cover $20 million the state last year told the city it would have to repay due to a miscalculation in sales tax funds paid to Fremont.

Mei noted in her speech a year ago that Fremont has in recent years steadily increased its “rainy day funds in case of a recession.” Over the past few years, the city also spent $58 million on its capital improvement projects, including replacing park restrooms throughout the city, and landscaping over 5 acres of the auto mall parkway median.

“We have been very fiscally sound,” Mei said.

Last year, the city’s priorities included bolstering Fremont’s commercial businesses, addressing homelessness and adding more public safety personnel — mirroring this year’s priorities. This included plans to hire more cops, firefighter recruits, a new community service officer, a new street maintenance crew and more personnel for the city’s landscaping and park maintenance crews.

And it previously allocated $18.8 million to the city’s top corporate partners, such as TESLA, Bloom Energy, Personalis, Amprius, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Lam research and others to create 560 new local jobs.

She told residents to not “just complain about an issue” but “do something.”

“Be part of a solution and make a difference,” Mei said, closing this year’s address. “As I deliver my final state of the city address, I am filled with optimism and I look forward to serving you all the way through December.”