Ten people have applied to be appointed to the Fremont City Council. The applicants are:
John J Dutra – city council candidate (Nov ’12)& Economic Commissioner
Raj Salwan – Planning Commissioner & Chairman, Fremont Chamber
David Bonaccorsi – Planning Commissioner & local attorney
Christina Broadwin – leader of Save Kimber Park
Rick Jones – former police officer & city council candidate (Nov ’12) who almost tied John Dutra
Robert Brunton – former Ohlone trustee & Ohlone candidate (Nov ’12)
Rakesh Sharma – former plannimg commissioner & two time city council candidate (Nov ’12, Nov ’04)
Yogi Chugh – planning commissioner
Tariq Ali – technical guy who manages public pension funds
Robert Chavez – former NUMMI worker
Interviews are scheduled for January 14, 2014.
Stay tuned for more…
Fremont Politics 
Christina Broadwin is my choice, A great community organizer, Very Intelligent, shows She is reasonable. Fremont needs people like Christina.
As for John Dutra – can someone else please have a chance besides the Dutra family? First, it was Dominic Dutra who got the appointment, and now John is seeking it. Are appointments only for the Dutra family or those connected with them? Is that payback for something? I got nothing against the Dutras’ but it just seems they keep coming back every year to get on city council.
Junior boy had his chance and lost. The voters have spoken and decided that he should not be in city council right now. We can’thave a permanent Dutra seat – sorry. Maybe he should come back in two years?
I speculate that Anu, Susie and Bill are seriously considering Dutra, Bonaccorsi and Brunton.
Candidates with no history of civic activity have historically received nothing for their time and effort, so those who have not previously been appointed to commissions can forget about it. (Please dont misunderstand my point – personally I’d LOVE to see Christina fill this role, but, based on past decisions by these council members, she and the other “newbies” are not in the running).
The “aliance” of Harrison, Chan and Natarajan will cast the deciding vote(s). . . .
The few of these “appointment” processes I’ve seen in the past are very revealing if you have the time. Watch and listen to the description of the process which will be followed. Ask yourself if the process is clearly described from the outset and if it makes sense. Ask yourself if the process is consistant with past appointment selection processes. If there’s a difference, ask yourself why there would be.
Watch and listen to the interviews. Ask yourself – “Who can communicate effectively? ” and ” Who is willing to express critical thought?” Rank the candidates based on these two factors alone and then compare your ranking to that of your Council members.
Differences in process are indication of manipulation.
The significant differences in ranking are indications of possible political favoritism.
All pure speculation, of course .
Christina Broadwin is a non-starter for me. She has shown that she can be very divisive and unable to work with others. It’s her way or the highway. She also hasn’t served on any commission and hasn’t been involved for very long. A vote for her is a vote away from other viable candidates.
Same comments others said about Bacon as I recall. . .. . . . that he needed to learn to “compromise” some more. Anu did a nice job of “compromising” and “getting along” – – – wonder what that’s done for her political career and for the greater Fremont.
Probably a message that originates with the pro-status-quo faction that wants everything to remain just as it has . . . . for far too long.
A little divisiveness and inability to work with the kind of nonesense that has been running our city for far too long is just fine in my book. We would be well-served by a little less complacency and an ounce more sense of urgency.