Priorities: Public Safety

By Robert "Bob" Wieckowski

While Fremont has a history of being a safe place to live, work, raise a family and run a business. But our community's safety needs are changing, as we see the incidents of crimes like robbery. The source of this change is not solely driven by the people and activities within our city.

Although the City Council authorized the creation of 8 new police officer positions, those positions were not actually filled due to a lack of funds. A utility tax was proposed as a method of raising general city funds to pay for the additional officers. That measure was put on the ballot in 2004 and again on 2006. On both occasions, the voters rejected the utility tax funding solution. With this addition Fremont's ratio of police officers to residents would still be less than 0.9 officers for every 1,000 residents. This ratio is substantially lower than other cities the size of Fremont needs. Therefore, if reelected I will work with the police to advocate for an increase in the funding level for police related services so we can have a police force that is adequate to the needs of our people and businesses.

Right now, we are sacrificing our safety and quality of life by not adequately funding our public safety services. I don't think this sort of sacrifice of important values is wise for Fremont.