Fremont Residents oppose to A’s Ballpark

Fremont Residents oppose to A’s Ballpark

[translated and edited from Chinese Word Journal]

Fremont (2/3) reported

With the proposal of Oakland A’s building a ballpark at the Fremont Warm Springs area gradually to surface on the table, opposition from local residents also increasingly more prominent.  A’s has planned hold a meeting with residents on the fifth at the local Weibel Elementary school.  However, only 25 residents can enter the meeting hall.  Local residents of various ethnicities plan to protest outside the assembly, declaring the opposition movement to A’s building the stadium.

One of the Founders of Fremont Citizens Network, Mrs. Bai expressed, City of Fremont and A’s have never directly answered to the request of the local residents, as well as hold public forum to communicate with the residents.  The meeting that is being held this Thursday only invited very few people to attend.

Mrs. Bai pointed out the actions of A’s holding only private meetings have already outraged many residents of different ethnic backgrounds.  If the city government does not provide public channels for residents to express their views, people can only take to the streets.  She anticipate that in the evening of the fifth, there will be many residents attending the rally to protest against the City and the Athletics’ practice of only closed doors negotiation, regardless of public opinion.

Fremont Citizens Network pointed out that there aer already more than 1,300 residents that have signed online petitions in opposition to the A’s building the stadium at Warm Springs.

Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) is also extremely concerned about the impact of the Athletics building stadium.  In a joint meeting of FUSD and Fremont City Council, school board member Ivy Wu raised two questions to the City Council:  Has the City conducted any survey to fully understand the true concerns and thinking of the Fremont residents?  What had happened to the comment letters from the Fremont residents that were delivered to the City before the end of the public comment period on 12/18/2008.

Regarding this first question, Fremont city employee replied that their main duty is to conduct research and analysis, and to submit a report to the City Council, thus allowing the Council to make decision under the circumstances of knowing the public comments.  Regarding the second question, city employee exclaimed that they have received more than 2,000 comments from the residents.  Until the project advances, there will be no action to address the comment letters.

Ivy Wu is worried that the City has already made a decision on this project, and is unwilling to listing to the voices of the residents.  She reminds the City Council that they should respect the comments of the residents.  Before making any decisions, the City should take into account to provide students with a safe and healthy educational environment.