FREMONT – As Fremont City Councilwoman Jenny Kassan’s term expires, she says the council’s current members have “gone off track.”
Kassan, who resigned last month, criticized her colleagues for considering only a single candidate to interchange her fairly than opening the method to a wider pool of applicants. She called the council's actions ultimately Tuesday's meeting “strange and bizarre.”
“I don't think that was the right decision,” Kassan said. “I thought they should have made it available to more people like they have in the past,” Kassan said.
Most council members wondered aloud Tuesday how quickly they may get Kassan out and Kathy Kimberlin in. Kimberlin, who works for Alameda County Executive David Haubert, ran against Kassan in 2022 and lost by 279 votes.
City Councilor Raj Salwan, who’s currently running for mayor against Kassan's husband, former City Councilor Vinnie Bacon, said Kassan resigned because she said she didn’t have enough time for her duties as a city councilor and her primary duties as Alameda County prosecutor and independent attorney.
“We really need a full-time council member who can start immediately. And if she doesn't have enough time, I think we should definitely speed up the appointment process,” Salwan said.
Councilman Yang Shao asked City Attorney Rafael Alvarado if Kassan may very well be replaced that evening. Alvarado said yes, if Kimberlin was willing to simply accept the appointment and take the oath of office. Alvarado noted, nevertheless, that town has 60 days to make a final decision after Kassan's resignation announcement on August 22.
In response to an issue from Vice Mayor Desrie Campbell, town clerk said she could prepare an oath of office each time the council decided to accomplish that. Campbell had also questioned whether Kassan would give you the option to proceed voting and participating in council business since she resigned last month, but Alvarado said she could accomplish that until a successor was appointed.
Council members Teresa Cox and Teresa Keng pushed for the method to be opened as much as more applications and said they’d consider Kimberlin as a primary candidate. However, the remaining of the council had little interest in doing so and as an alternative favored a fast appointment of Kimberlin.
Kimberlin said in an interview that she was “very happy that they chose this option.”
“It's great that the door has been opened again for me to run,” Kimberlin said. “When I ran, I made sure everyone knew that I love Fremont.”
But Kassan had a special opinion on this matter.
“I don't know what's going on with the Fremont City Council,” Kassan said. “In my opinion, it's kind of out of control. But that's a big reason why I'm leaving.”
Salwan made a motion, seconded by Campbell, to interview only Kimberlin at the following council meeting on September 10. The vote was 6-1, with Kassan voting against.
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