FREMONT – Fremont City Councilwoman Jenny Kassan is resigning halfway through her second term because her personal ventures are taking on an excessive amount of time and she or he desires to support her husband's mayoral campaign.
Kassan's private law practice, her obligations as a prosecutor in Alameda County and her work constructing a middle for minority entrepreneurs in Baltimore left her little time to devote to city issues, she said this week.
“I just firmly believe that as a council member it is very important to respond to requests and requests from constituents,” Kassan said in an interview. “That can be quite time-consuming.”
Instead, she is going to spend the autumn campaigning for her husband, former city councilor Vinnie Bacon, who’s running alongside councilors Raj Salwan, Rohan Marfatia and Hiu M. Ng to succeed Mayor Lily Mei.
She will hold her seat until the council decides on her successor. The council will discuss opening an application process and conducting public candidate interviews when the board returns from summer recess on September 3.
Kassan was first elected in 2018 and was expected to serve until the tip of her second term in 2026.
She said one among her highlights on the council was repealing an animal welfare ordinance that prohibited residents from keeping certain pets. The laws she spearheaded reunited a family with two of their goats and in addition made it easier to maintain other animals, resembling bees and chickens.
Kassan said some residents have expressed unease about the opportunity of her serving on the council similtaneously her husband if he wins the mayoral post on Nov. 5. They previously served on the council together between 2018 and 2020, after which Bacon left the council. But to handle those concerns and since she was busy along with her day jobs, she decided to step down and make way for his campaign.
“I felt like I was having a harder time keeping up with all the things that were coming at me,” Kassan said. “And I just thought it was time to let someone else take over.”
Bacon said he supported her idea of resigning, adding: “She's doing a great job” and “she's definitely going to be missed.”
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