FREMONT — As the clock ticks on Fremont City Council Jenny Kassan’s days in office, she says the current members of the council have “gone off the rails.”
Kassan, who resigned last month, criticized her colleagues for considering just one candidate to replace her, instead of opening the process up to a wider field of contenders. She called the council’s actions at last Tuesday’s meeting “strange and “bizarre.”
“I don’t think it was the right decision,” Kassan said. “I thought they should have opened it up to more people, just like they’ve done in the past,” Kassan said.
Most of the council on Tuesday wondered aloud how quickly they could get Kassan out and Kathy Kimberlin in. Kimberlin, who works for Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, ran against Kassan in 2022 and lost by 279 votes.
Councilman Raj Salwan, who is currently running for mayor against Kassan’s hubsand, former councilman Vinnie Bacon, noted Kassan’s resignation was because she said she didn’t have enough time to do her council duties and manage her day jobs as a Alameda County prosecutor and independent lawyer.
“We really need a full time council member ready to hit the ground running. And if she doesn’t have adequate time, I definitely think we should expedite this appointment process,” Salwan said.
Councilman Yang Shao asked City Attorney Rafael Alvarado if Kassan could be replaced as early as that same night. Alvarado said yes, if Kimberlin was willing to accept the appointment and take the oath of office, though Alvarado noted the city has 60 days following Kassan’s resignation notice on Aug. 22 to make a final decision.
In response to a question from Vice Mayor Desrie Campbell, the city clerk indicated she could prepare an oath of office whenever council decided. Campbell had also questioned whether Kassan should be able to continue voting and participating on matters before the council because she resigned last month, but Alvarado advised she could up until a replacement is seated.
Councilmembers Teresa Cox and Teresa Keng pushed for opening the process to other applications, and said they would be interested in considering Kimberlin as a prime candidate. But the rest of the council had no interest in doing so, instead favoring a quick appointment of Kimberlin.
Kimberlin said in an interview that she is “very glad they chose that option.”
“It’s great that the door has reopened for me to be able to serve,” Kimberlin said. “When I ran, I made sure that everybody knew that I love Fremont.”
But Kassan had other thoughts on the matter.
“I don’t know what is going on with Fremont City Council,” Kassan said. “It’s kind of gone off the rails in my opinion. But that’s a big reason why I’m leaving.”
Salwan made the motion, seconded by Campbell, to interview only Kimberlin at the next council meeting on Sept. 10. The vote was 6-1, with Kassan dissenting.
