League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Alameda County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Councilmember; City of Fremont

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, Union City and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Affordable Housing Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What would you do to increase the supply of affordable housing in Fremont? Answer from Charles Bartlett: Unfortunately, Fremont is required by state law to allote a percentage of low income units with every large scale development. I am against affordable housing as it drives down property values of existing owners as well as negatively impacting city services by increasing criminality. Therefore, to reduce and eliminate all future affordable housing (and apartments), I would reject all large scale development of tracts, condos, etc. I am more compelled to leave discretion in development to small individuals, applauding private charities to provide below market priced housing or private individuals building upon small lots, etc.. I do not like state government quotas in housing. I think it ultimately harms the community and private ownership. Answer from Suzanne "Sue" Chan: There is a need to provide affordable housing for our community service providers, people like teachers, police offices, firefighters and those who work in our retail, restaurant and service industries. It strengthens a community to have people both work and live here. However, as with any potential development, it is important that we evaluate the impacts of these developments on surrounding properties as well as assure that certain neighborhoods not be impacted more than others. I believe that we should have housing available throughout the various districts and neighborhoods that appropriately reflects the unique qualities and character of the neighborhood. Answer from Fazlur Khan: I will develop a green, mixed-use commercial and affordable multi-storied apartments and condos for the seniors and low paid employees of the city (ownership / rental). The A's and Patterson Ranch should also have affordable housing units. Similarly, I will develop a Fremont Dream Marina on the coast of the bay. This is my passion and commitment to the residents of Fremont that this world class development will have beach front affordable housing with massive tree plantation, green landscaping with flower-beds irrigated with recycled water. Answer from Larry Dean Montgomery: Convert the cities mobile home parks into affordable housing areas. Make encentives available for the owners of the mobile home parks to convert them by 2012. Answer from Hou Leong: I would look into making sure there is a good balance of rental units available such as townhomes and apartments. I also believe that allowing some new construction in controlled and limited areas will help provide more affordable housing in the community. Adding new rentals and lease units would give residents an option instead of purchasing, which is many times not an affordable option. Answer from Robert "Bob" Wieckowski: I would increase the number of affordable housing in Fremont by making sure we meet our targets in the Housing Element. The Housing Element is our city's plan for residential development over a 5 year period. Its great to have a plan but you have to build the units. I would also consider temporarily freezing the mandatory construction of "for sale" units under our inclusionary housing ordinance. I would like to consider having some of our 15% affordable housing which is designated for sale, to move into a fund for construction of rental housing. I think we will be able to leverage funds in our downtown near BART to build more units. Some of the inclusionary affordable housing would continue to participate in the for sale lottery, but much less. I would like to continue to modify our zoning laws to allow for more construction of secondary units. By definition, secondary units are affordable. We need to provide incentives for green/solar modifications to our existing housing stock with the construction of a new secondary unit. Finally, I want to increase the density allowed at several parcels which may see redevelopment or "in fill" so that we produce more units. An increase in density will lower the price per unit. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.