FCN's First Involvement in Fremont Elections…How Did We Do?

In February of 2010, Kathy resigned as President of FCN as we decided to run for the Fremont City Council. We both earned the endorsement of FCN and ran very strong campaigns. We were the only credible challengers to the two incumbents. We ran as a team and had a large number of FCN members volunteer on the campaigns. We are very thankful for all of the support that we received from FCN.*

As you know, we did not win. However, we came in third and fourth place, coming within 1000 votes of putting an FCN-endorsed candidate in office. As difficult as the defeat was to accept, we should look back to the great accomplishment FCN achieved with our run for City Council. Here is a summary of our achievements in 2010:

In Alameda County where incumbents were re-elected with 70% of the vote, our City Council incumbents won only 44% of the vote, combined. The Fremont City Council candidates won by 1% and 2% respectively!
Together, we raised about $36,000 in campaign donations from supporters, most of whom had never donated to a political campaign before.
Unlike the incumbents, we stuck to our promise of not taking any donations from developers who could benefit financially from Council's decisions.
Between the two campaigns, we walked over 50% of all voting households in Fremont
We handed out a total of:
1. 70,000 brochures
2. 15,000 door hangers
3. 5,000 Chinese language brochures
4. We mailed 15,000 postcards
5. We produced and ran several different TV Commercials from Aug 13-Oct. 28
6. We ran a 1/2 page ad in the Tri City Voice from Oct. 12-26

Despite the fact that we were outspent nearly three to one by the incumbents, and did not have the additional support of mailings and posters from the fire department or other interested PAC’s, we were able to raise awareness of our city government workings to literally tens of thousands of Fremont residents, and make a very respectable showing…so, for our first time being seriously involved in an election, we did very well!

FCN is now recognized as an influential entity with some political clout in Fremont. Let’s keep up the pressure and make sure that all of this effort does not go to waste. We encourage all who have a little time, insight and ability to contribute their research toward a participatory government. We'll be meeting and discussing the best strategy going forward. Stay tuned for more details. If you're interested in helping build the next phase of FCN, please drop us an email or post your ideas and comments.

Best Regards,

Kathy & Vinnie

*Kathy’s announcement in March of 2010 can be found at: http://www.fremontcitizensnetwork.org/forum/topics/strategy-update-...

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vinnie Bacon on February 27, 2011 at 10:17pm

Kathy, I just want to say that it was a real pleasure campaigning with you. You made a difficult task fun.

And to all of those FCN members who helped our efforts, THANKS so much for your help!! FCN was a major factor in the election and I think it's the main reason we nearly won a seat on the Council.

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Permalink Reply by bbox231 on February 28, 2011 at 7:53am

Nice summary of accomplishments, thank you for sharing these observations.

In this same vein, I am hoping one of you might take a swing at the "lessons learned" bat - perhaps advice for those who choose to challenge Fremont incumbancy. A couple of questions for your consideration -

What would you do differently next time, if at all ?

What do you feel was your most significant "ah-hah" moment during the campaigning process ?

Thanks for taking on the climb.

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Permalink Reply by Michael on March 2, 2011 at 8:40am

Just what we need in Fremont, another PAC with a narrow agenda serving only it's tiny membership to whatever political end they want without regard to the truth or the will of the general population of the city.

I especially like the part where the FCN endorses you and Vinnie. You ran the FCN! That's like Haliburton endorsing Dick Cheney!

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Permalink Reply by Richard McGuire on March 3, 2011 at 11:22am

Vinnie Bacon, would of been the best thing to happen to the Fremont City Council and to our city. Imagine an educated voice of reason, but I fear with the current council, the continued building of senseless projects in a bloated market. The housing market is far from a rebound, and severe contractions in the market place (housing, especially) are in store, and Fremont will not be immune to it.

I would like to see some meet-ups and discussion in the future, in bringing productive business to our city, with plans to petition and gather support.

Typically, a PAC would endorse and support someone who share their values.

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Permalink Reply by bbox231 on March 3, 2011 at 4:10pm

IT is completely laughable to observe the kinds of brainless claims of current Council and policies.

What makes it so laughable is that those, like Michael, who claim to represent the broader interests of the "general population" - - - were, based on RESULTS, completely ineffectual in their attempts to rally support for THEIR respective causes.

Just where were all of these supporters, Michael ?? You should have brought them to the table to SUPPORT the A's and then maybe FCN wouldn't have upset your day.

It is amazing that these ardent pro-incumbancy supporters would have to so readily admit the vast disconnectedness of their approved leadership for their sweeping claims of FCN success to be true ! Wasserman and his minions must truly be wildly disconnected from the community if a few hundred special interests can derail city-wide plans.

If there is anything other than self-serving agendas directed by "small memberships" responsible for the actions of Fremont politics, someone point me in *that* direction. . . ..

let's see, now - - - what percentage of electorate filled the current council seats ??????????

LOL ! ! ! ! ! !

Michael said:

Just what we need in Fremont, another PAC with a narrow agenda serving only it's tiny membership to whatever political end they want without regard to the truth or the will of the general population of the city.

I especially like the part where the FCN endorses you and Vinnie. You ran the FCN! That's like Haliburton endorsing Dick Cheney!