New beginnings for Fremont, and the A's

This is a new beginning for Fremont. Many Fremont residents are now paying more attention about the issues in our communities. Please continue to follow up from these sites:

• Join Fremont Citizens Network (FremontCitizensNetwork.org)
  
• Tri-City Beat (http://www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat/)
  

This is also a new beginning for the A's. Once Fremont is out of the picture, the A's seem to have many options. You can follow the A's news from these sites:

• Baseball in the South Bay (http://www.mercurynews.com/southbaybaseball)
• Marine Layer: new A's Ballpark (http://newballpark.org/)
• Baseball San Jose (http://baseballsanjose.blogspot.com/)
• Facebook Group: (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65559831564)

Oakland A's officially withdraw from Fremont

The A's send an letter to the city and officially withdraw from Fremont. The planned "protest" was changed to "rally" a few days ago. Now it becomes a night for "celebration." About 600 people show up at city hall, and many residents speak in the council meeting to express concerns about how city handle the process. Although the real reason for A's withdraw is the economy and they have better options, Fremont residents are glad to be the catalyst for the A's timely decision. BTW, today is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).

Press Release: FCN welcome A's decision

Lew Wolff's letter to the city

[Mercury News] Oakland A's owner: Fremont is out

[Tri-City Beat] A's to Fremont Dead

[Tri-City Beat] Victory Rally

[Marine Layer blog] Lew's "Dear John" letter: 

[Oaklands A's examiner] Oakland A's officially withdraw from Fremont

A's plans for Fremont appear headed for doom

There have been many news recently. It's very critical now to have a PEACEFUL STRONG RALLY on TUESDAY 2/24 6:30pm at CITY HALL. This is the best chance to stop this ill-planned stadium proposal.



Although the Oakland A's ask the city to cancel the NOP for Warm Springs and "stop" the EIR process for Pacific Commons, the pro-stadium camps have not given up yet. The Chamber of Commerce and "A's to Fremont" group are moblizing their supporters now. The Mayor plans to have another talk with the A's next week to save the project. The A's can still resume the process at any time. 

[Mercury News] A's plans for Fremont stadium appear headed for doom
[San Francisco Chronicle] A's halt plans for ballpark village in Fremont

[Argus] A's fans not giving up fight for Fremont stadium

[Argus] Steward: A's should forget about Fremont

[KTVU news video] Fremont Mayor Says A's Stadium Plans Are On Hold

[Tri-City Beat] A’s supporters to “Step up to the Plate”

[Tri-City Beat] Nina Moore (Chamber of Commerce) email

[Tri-City Beat] Dirk Lorenze (Planning Commissioner) email

[Marine Layer blog] Now it's official

[Marine Layer blog] Fremont EIR work halted

[Oakland A's Examiner] A's ballpark project officially delayed

A's move to Fremont hits a snag

The A's cancel the lunch with Chamber of Commerce, and decide not to present at the city council meeting on February 24. The NOP is still on. The city is still going ahead with the 30-day public comments until March 12. "Clearly the A's are unwilling to engage the community, and are only interested in conducting deals behind closed doors where they can exert questionable practices and sales tactics without accountability."

A's New stadium plan halted (KTVU.com news video)

Oakland A's stadium plans delayed (ABC7 news video)

A's move to Fremont hits a snag (Mercury News)

A's decision to put stadium on hold is a ploy (Mercury News)

A's put Fremont plans on hold (Argus)

A's playing games, stadium opponents say (Argus)

A's delay Fremont meetings on new stadium (SJ Business Journal)

Athletics stadium meeting ‘postponed indefinitely’ (A's Examiner)

A’s call timeout (Tri-City Beat)

Wasserman is not optimistic (Tri-City Beat)

City still taking comments on A’s Project (Tri-City Beat)

NUMMI’s stadium opposition (Tri-City Beat)

NUMMI Letter to City 2/11/2009 (tinyurl.com/nummi-20090211)

A's will not attend 2/24 City Council session (Marine Layer blog)

A’s make Warm Springs preference official

On February 10, the A's submitted an amendment to change their stadium site to Warm Springs location, and the City promptly issued a new Notice of Preparation (NOP). You can read the full details of this on the Fremont City website. Please see detail at FCN.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, February 24, 2009. PLEASE JOIN THE PROTEST. The public has until 4 p.m. on March 12, 2009 to provide written comments regarding the environmental issues to be considered in the Draft EIR.

The A's now expect to open the ballpark in 2014, to be inlined with BART's opening date. They also pick a new location for the Pacific Commons alternate site (between Christy Street and 880).

Here are some news coverages:

Oakland A's owner decries Fremont stadium delays (Mercury News)

A’s make Warm Springs preference official (Tri-City Beat)

A’s now eye 2014 (Tri-City Beat)

Let's just be friends (yet another good analysis by Marine Layer)

A's shift preferred ballpark site to Warm Springs (SJ Business Journal)

Wolff ‘focused’ on Fremont despite protests (Oakland A's Examiner)

Despite Delays, A's Owner Set on Fremont Stadium (KCBS)

A’s cancel meeting but protestors turn out in force

The protest at Warm Springs Elementary continued despite the cancellation of several scheduled meetings at different elementary schools, hosted by the A’s for 25 pre-chosen residents. The cancellation comes on the heels of the last such meeting (2/5) being protested by nearly 1,000 residents.

There were ~500 people show up for tonight's protest along Warm Springs Blvd. While most people are from Warm Springs neighborhoods, there are many from other parts of Fremont. Opposition of the stadium is organized and growing, especially in light of the recession.

Warm Springs Protest Pictures (Tri-City Beat)

A’s cancel meeting but protestors turn out in force (examiner.com)

Fremont Residents Protest A's Stadium Plan (ktvu.com with transcript)

Note: NBC came earlier and only got 100+ people. The A's cancel the meeting with 25 residents at Warm Springs Elementary School.

At the same time, a few folks spoke at city council:




Lisa Quan's appointment is delayed until next week.

Protest Tue Feb 10, 6:30pm at Warm Springs Elem.

[Distribute the flyer | Another flyer | Event on FCN | Tri-City Beat]

FREMONT FIRST, NO STADIUM

The Oakland’s A’s and the city want to build a 32,000+ people baseball stadium in Warm Springs. The Oakland A’s will meet with 25 people at Warm Springs Elementary at 7pm on Tuesday February 10, to sell their stadium proposal. Even though it is invitation only, use this opportunity to have your voice heard. 

JOIN US FOR A PEACEFUL PUBLIC PROTEST

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH @ 6:30PM

WARM SPRINGS ELEMENTARY SIDEWALK

(Bring poster/sign, flashlight, cameras/camcorders)

FREMONT RESIDENTS DESERVE THE TRUTH!

• Do you like the weekday late afternoon traffic on 880/680, Auto Mall Pkwy, Mission Blvd, Warm Springs Blvd and Dixon Landing Blvd? How about the extra 10,000+ cars during game days? Can citizens around the East Bay afford to have longer commute times?
  
• If police can’t respond to burglar alarms any more, how will they handle increased crime and activities with the new stadium?
  
• What impact will this stadium have on our house values, home insurance and car insurance?
  
• Will the Oakland A’s stadium in Fremont bring positive or negative economic impact? Should Fremont take the risk?
  
• How much will our taxes rise to support additional city services and road widening/maintenance a stadium requires?
  
• Who will benefit from the new stadium? (the Oakland A’s, commercial developers) Who will suffer? (the residents, taxpayers)
  

Please join http://www.FremontCitizensNetwork.org/ for more info.

Warm Springs turns out to protest A's stadium plans

Hundreds turn out to protest A's stadium plans (Argus)

Cold reception for A's in Warm Springs (Argus)

Hundreds turn out to protest A's stadium plans (Mercury News) 

Hundreds turn out to protest A's stadium plan (examiner.com) 

A few good blog posts from Tri-City Beat:

Weibel Protest (with pictures)

The A's (has a good summary of what happened)

One account of how Weibel Q&A session came to pass

An unofficial Fremont A’s Logo (LOL), previously the San JosA's

Also followed by Marine Layer: Warm Springs turns out in protest

How many people show up tonight? The A's ends up using the multi-purpose room (instead of the originally planned 25-people meetings). There are about 500-600 people inside the room. And there are at least as many people still on the side walk. So it's likely over 1,000. It's a very peaceful protest. The weather cooperates too.

One clarification. This protest was not initiated by Fremont Citizens Networks (FCN). It was started by a few concerned local citizens. FCN becomes a channel for people to get connected. Many volunteers just show up to facilitate the traffic, talk to the crowd and media, and make sure the whole protest is safe and peaceful.

Here is the video news report (02/05/09) from KTSF (Mostly in Chinese, but still worth a watch).

Videos from Q&A in multi-purpose room:

Protest at Weibel Feb 5th at 6:30pm

[Original flyer | Event on FCN | Tri-City Beat blog | Marine Layer blog]

We need a lot of people to show up even if it's raining.

Channels 4 and 7 are coming and many reporters are covering the news. So be there RAIN OR SHINE!

What: Peaceful public protest against the A's stadium at Warm Springs

Where: Weibel Elementary School sidewalk

When: Thursday Feb 5th from 6:30

What to bring:

• You, your kids and your family
  
• A sign (can be hand written, but bold and legible): "NO STADIUM"
  
• Flashlights, camcorder, warm clothes (umbrella, if raining)
  

---

FREMONT FIRST

NO STADIUM

DO YOU WANT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TO LOOK LIKE THE OAKLAND COLISEUM?

DO YOU VALUE YOUR HOME’S EQUITY?

DO YOU WANT TO BE A HOSTAGE TO YOUR HOME ON EVENT NIGHTS?

DO YOU WANT ARMED GUARDS CHECKING YOUR ID IN ORDER TO GO HOME?

DO YOU WANT 32,000 PEOPLE DRIVING THROUGH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD AFTER A DAY’S WORTH OF DRINKING?

DO YOU WANT TO INVOLUNTARILY SUBSIDIZE THE A’s?

THE A’S AND THE MAYOR WANT TO BUILD A STADIUM JUST DOWN THE STREET AT OSGOOD/WARM SPRINGS BLVD AND S. GRIMMER!

FREMONT RESIDENTS DESERVE THE TRUTH!

The Oakland A’s will meet with 25 hand-picked people at Weibel Elementary at 7pm on Thursday to sell their stadium project. Even though it is invitation only, use this opportunity to have your voice heard. Don’t just blog about it, bring the kids to show that residents of all ages oppose the stadium!

JOIN US FOR A PEACEFUL PUBLIC PROTEST

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH @ 6:30PM,

WEIBEL SIDEWALK

WE NEED TO VOICE & DISPLAY OUR OPPOSITION TO A WARM SPRINGS STADIUM!

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.