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Fremont leaders pride themselves on the city’s well-managed finances that allow them to plan without having to scramble for funds.
As voters look to elect a new mayor and fill three other City Council seats this fall, they should prioritize candidates respectful of the prudent budget management of the Bay Area’s fourth-largest city.
Our recommendations are Raj Salwan for mayor, Teresa Keng in council District 1, Yajing Zhang in District 5 and Raymond Liu in District 6.
The city’s general fund budget, currently $276 million annually, shows solid reserves for this fiscal year and the next two. Unfortunately, some candidates are questioning that budget stability based on misinformation.
Those candidates focus on the state’s $20 million sales tax overpayment to Fremont that the city is now paying back. The candidates overlook that the overpayments were caught early on, and the City Council set aside more than enough to cover the refund amount.
The big challenge ahead, with most union salary negotiations scheduled for early next year, will be maintaining sufficient reserves while providing competitive compensation for employees, especially police.
Mayor – Raj Salwan
With current Mayor Lily Mei stepping down because of term limits, four candidates, including two with City Council experience, are rushing to fill the void.
Raj Salwan is the standout. Finishing his eighth consecutive year on the council, he must give up that seat because of the city’s term-limit rules. But he is free to run for mayor and is the best person to replace Mei, sharing her moderate, fiscally restrained politics.
A veterinarian in the city for 25 years, Salwan understands the city’s finances, the challenges of reducing homelessness and the realities of providing affordable and market-rate housing.
Salwan has attracted a long list of local, regional and statewide supporters from across the political spectrum that includes labor and business leaders. It’s a testament to his practical approach and hard work on the council.
His leading challenger is Vinnie Bacon, who served on the council from 2012 to 2020, when he mounted an unsuccessful bid for county supervisor. Bacon is smart but sometimes polarizing. His council tenure was notable for his opposition to development on the northeast side of the city.
Rohan Marfatia, the CEO of a tech consulting business who has lived in Fremont about six years, has no experience on city boards or commissions and struggled to answer questions about the city’s budget.
The fourth candidate in the race, Hiu Ng, ran unsuccessfully for the Fremont Unified School District board every two years from 2012-20. He declined to participate in our interview process.
District 1 – Teresa Keng
Restaurant owner Teresa Keng, who has served six years on the council, can seek reelection under the city’s term-limit rules.
She’s a booster of local business and supporter of the city’s prudent financial planning. Of the three candidates in the race, she’s the only one with knowledge of city operations and finances, although she can be fuzzy on details.
During our interview, Attorney Ranvir Singh Sandhu seemed lost in discussions of the city budget, which is not surprising considering he has never been to a Fremont City Council meeting.
Similarly, on the budget, Pravesh Kumar, a tech industry manager, said the city should “spend that money wisely.” Beyond that, he was short on specifics.
District 5 – Yajing Zhang
Three candidates are vying to replace Salwan as the District 5 councilmember. Only one is well-prepared with public office experience. That’s Yajing Zhang, who has served on the Fremont Unified School District board since 2020.
An engineer by training, Zhang has been a real estate investor for the past two decades. From the school board, she brings experience managing a public agency budget and an understanding of the competing interests when negotiating with labor unions.
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She faces two opponents: Chandra Wagh, a management executive for tech startups, and computer scientist Sterling Engle. Neither has served on any public committees or has experience with public agency budgets and labor relations.
District 6 – Raymond Liu
Raymond Liu, a 26-year-old software engineer, is concerned about the city he grew up in. He sees homelessness near the schools he attended as a kid and notes that a lot of young families cannot afford to move to Fremont.
We suspect that, if elected to the City Council, he will find the issues of affordable housing and homelessness challenging. But he will bring a smart Gen Z perspective to the discussion.
He’s mindful of the importance to maintaining the city’s fiscally cautious perspective, which he appreciates will help hold down debt for future generations.
Liu is running against incumbent Teresa Cox, who has had trouble getting along with some of her council colleagues. Cox, for the second election in a row, declined to participate in our interview process.