FCN MAKES DOUBLE ENDORSEMENT FOR CITY COUNCIL: VINNIE BACON and KATHY MCDONALD

FREMONT, CA, June 15, 2010 - - The community awareness group, Fremont Citizens Network (FCN), best known for helping defeat the City Council's 2009 Oakland A's Stadium effort, announced a double endorsement of two Fremont City Council candidates, Kathy Rhyu McDonald and Vinnie Bacon.

FCN President, Jim Hunt explained, "Vinnie and Kathy have strong and complimentary abilities and interests, fresh ideas, and the proven judgment and values Fremont needs." He expanded, "These endorsements are the logical choice, after considering the City Council's history, the current slate of candidates, and the important decisions the people of Fremont have before them."

"Many busy Fremont-ers have come to accept that our City Council too often makes decisions that favor special interests, and don't reflect the values and needs of the people of Fremont - a diverse population that shares common reasons for living here. But that quiet acceptance is changing. Citizens are losing patience with how the City government has been operating. And their grumblings about the actions coming from City Hall are becoming a loud cry for change."

Mr. Hunt continued, "Kathy and Vinnie's decisions not to take campaign contributions from developers is in stark contrast to the long-standing political practices of our current leaders. We welcome more discussion about this and other important topics."

When asked about Vinnie Bacon's candidacy, Mr. Hunt spoke of Mr. Bacon's strong background and courage in "standing up for what's best for Fremont," referring to Mr. Bacon's fight against the "misguided Patterson Ranch development proposal that threatens the Coyote Hills parklands and nearby over-crowded schools."

Mr. Hunt further explained, "In a world where nature is threatened by such accidents as the recent BP oil disaster, it’s more important than ever to protect our extremely scarce natural resources. In an increasingly over-paved world, honoring our environment is not a tree-hugging luxury; it's a no-brainer. Mr. Bacon has demonstrated his commitment to preserving Fremont's natural spaces with his valiant fight to stop the unpopular and environmentally destructive Patterson Ranch development project - A fight that continues to this day!"

"Our City's leadership has proven it's out of step with both our fiscal crisis and our future development, spending precious dollars to promote projects that are clearly disliked by the people of Fremont, and are bad for our city. The City's own recent NUMMI land-use survey (http://www.fremont.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=3820) clearly shows, for example, a massive opposition to a stadium; a message that FCN, Kathy McDonald and Vinnie Bacon have been voicing for over a year.”

In response to FCN's endorsements, Mr. Bacon said, "I welcome the endorsement of FCN, and applaud their ability to spotlight our most critical issues, and help people have more voice about decisions that greatly affect our communities. I'm optimistic I can bring the true voice of our people back to City Hall with the help of groups like this. If both Kathy McDonald and I are elected, the positive impact will multiply."

Mr. Hunt described FCN's equally enthusiastic endorsement of Kathy McDonald.

Many credit her for the success of FCN's grass roots movement to educate the public about the true costs of hosting sports stadiums, and their drain on City resources. “Kathy was a tremendous force in galvanizing citizens' support for FCN, and in helping to defeat the City Council's 2009 stadium push. She’s also well-known for her experience and vision within the Fremont school district. Her active involvement in improving our schools through community building and fundraising is a good example of her ability to get things done,” Mr. Hunt noted. "We saw Kathy's impressive leadership as one of our founding members, and first President. She's a sharp thinker and quick problem solver. This City and our children need her now.”

"I'm delighted to be in the company of Vinnie Bacon in receiving FCN’s endorsement,” said Mrs. McDonald. Vinnie and I share values and goals, and we know we can be even more effective together. So we strongly support each other's campaigns in this crucial year." Mrs. McDonald said she and Mr. Bacon were both alarmed by the quiet manner in which some far reaching, highly controversial decisions have been made by current City leaders.

"The more people understand that this is the City's standard procedure, the better chance more people will tune in and speak up," she said. "FCN has been pivotal in promoting the core values of democracy, education and participation. They've helped educate and inspire our diverse population. Fremont is united in its desire for more transparency, equal treatment, fiscal responsibility, viable job growth, smarter development and better coordination between our schools and our City government."

To underscore the timing of these endorsements, Mr. Hunt pointed to recent trends. "While our country’s leadership has offered Fremont green incentives, encouragement, and national visibility, and our state’s leadership has helped usher in high quality green-tech jobs such as the Tesla/Toyota deal, our own City’s leadership squanders our time and our money - twice - trying to push a controversial stadium."

FCN member, Charlotte Allen noted wryly that, "While Mayor Wasserman and the Fremont City Council were saying that the A's Stadium was the best deal Fremont could get, FCN and its two endorsed candidates, McDonald and Bacon, were strongly advocating for green manufacturing at the NUMMI site. Now it looks as if their vision will become a reality." Ms. Allen noted that the cost of the City Council's recent marketing attempt to re-woo the spurned Oakland A's is over $158,000, in addition to the cost of City staff time.

"All that money could have paid for another desperately needed full-time Police officer, and those City staff hours could have gone towards solving reduced services problems or creating year-round jobs," said the incredulous Mr. Hunt.

"The time has come for Fremont to have a City Council that is courageous, insightful, visionary, and unbiased, instead of picking from the same old guard over and over again."

Mr. Hunt reiterated that "FCN wholeheartedly endorses candidates Vinnie Bacon and Kathy McDonald. Together they will lighten our footsteps, and brighten the future for Fremont."

It seems politics are about to get more interesting in this city.

To learn more about these candidates’ ideas, values, and recommendations, see their websites at:

Vinnie Bacon: http://www.Bacon2010.com; and

Kathy McDonald: http://www.mcdonald2010.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact:

Janet FitzGerald

Office: 510.252.1995

Cell: 203.253.1635

janet@fitzcominc.com

Tags: Bacon, FCN Press Release, Kathy, McDonald, News, Vinnie, city, council, election, endorsement

Attachments:

6-15-EndorsePress ReleaseFinal.pdf, 139 KB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by FCN Admin on June 16, 2010 at 9:53am

From Tri-City Beat: Fremont Citizens Network endorses “Dynamic Duo”

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Permalink Reply by Jo on July 27, 2010 at 1:49pm

Seems like more accountability is needed in various level of our government.

City manager making $800,000 --
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/bell-officials-to-ask...

Billions of unaccounted fund. -- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100727/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iraq

I am hopeful that Kathy and Vinnie will ask the tough questions.

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Permalink Reply by Jayesh Patel on September 18, 2010 at 8:24pm

Is FCN endorsing Anu Natrajan? Wasn't she in favor of Oakland stadium in Fremont. Do we need her services in City Council?

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Permalink Reply by bbox231 on September 19, 2010 at 8:17am

http://www.tricityvoice.com/articlefiledisplay.php?issue=2007-08-07...

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Permalink Reply by Jim Hunt on September 19, 2010 at 6:20pm

Hi Jayesh,

Anu was one of the most vocal supporters of building a stadium in Fremont. Therefore FCN is very clear that we do not endorse Anu.

Regards,

Jim

Jayesh Patel said:

Is FCN endorsing Anu Natrajan? Wasn't she in favor of Oakland stadium in Fremont. Do we need her services in City Council?

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Permalink Reply by Jo on September 22, 2010 at 10:50am

See recent blogs on candidate forum: http://www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat/2010/09/21/fremont-city-council-...

Let's hope Fremont don't ended up like the city hall of this Virginia city.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/virginia-town-puts-city-hall-loan-collater...

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Permalink Reply by Ram on September 22, 2010 at 11:30am

Hi Jayesh,

Anu is on track record of supporting developers at every turn at the expense of tax-payer residents. Same with Bill Harrison. In fact, any developer that comes up with a plan to build homes at the expense of school overcrowding is given a stamp of approval by Anu Natarajan. The excuse given by her was that School overcrowding should be addressed by School District and not City Council. The same developers who make a ton of money by advertising about Fremont schools do not contribute much for the Schools but make contributions for the political campaigns. Please think about the decisions that were made and how it affected our community at-large before casting your valuable vote.

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Vida Parsi on October 24, 2010 at 10:25am

I think Vinnie and Kathy need a mass snail mail flyers. How can we go about doing this? I am worried as I see more advertisement for Ishan Shah around Fremont than what is around for Kathy and Vinnie.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Singh on November 3, 2010 at 9:16am

karma comes to FCN for censor posts and using this sight for there own purpose when they claim it is for fremont citizens.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Singh on November 3, 2010 at 9:17am

Looks like vinne and kathy will not be asking any question.

Congrats bill and anu!

Jo said:

Seems like more accountability is needed in various level of our government.

City manager making $800,000 --
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/bell-officials-to-ask...

Billions of unaccounted fund. -- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100727/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iraq

I am hopeful that Kathy and Vinnie will ask the tough questions.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alex Singh on November 3, 2010 at 9:25am

which is why she won!

Jim Hunt said:

Hi Jayesh,

Anu was one of the most vocal supporters of building a stadium in Fremont. Therefore FCN is very clear that we do not endorse Anu.

Regards,

Jim

Jayesh Patel said:
Is FCN endorsing Anu Natrajan? Wasn't she in favor of Oakland stadium in Fremont. Do we need her services in City Council?