Mayor and City Councilmembers, 

As we turn the page on a new year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the meaningful work our City completed in 2025.

The Year-End City Council Priorities Progress Report underscores the milestones we reached in alignment with the priorities set during the City Council Retreat in February 2025. Together, we focused on economic development and financial sustainability, public safety, environmental sustainability, and homelessness response.

While it is impossible to include all the instrumental work that took place this year, this report showcases our key accomplishments and details the comprehensive efforts to make Fremont a better place to live, work, and play. A few notable highlights include:

• Facilitating the development of several major industrial campuses, including the full lease-up of the Fremont 880 Technology Center

• Securing more than $1 billion in investments for expanded utility infrastructure to support economic development

• Completing five affordable housing properties, totaling 567 new affordable housing units

• Entering a new two-year service agreement with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) to operate the Housing Navigation Center and sharing a 5-year comprehensive outcome report

• Hiring 35 Police Officers and reducing sworn vacancies by approximately 60.9%

• Completing playground renovations at Booster and Azevada Parks

I’m pleased to share that this year’s document was redesigned to visually enhance data and improve engagement. This report not only bolsters transparency but also serves as a roadmap for where we started and how far we have come.

Fremont has firmly put itself on the map as a dynamic fusion of cultures and identities, a national epicenter for advanced manufacturing, and a thriving hub for startups, entrepreneurs, and families.

As always, these accomplishments would not be possible without our incredible City Council, City staff, and community, who continuously rise to the occasion and challenge us to think more innovatively about the way we serve. Your impact on our City is felt widely, and I look forward to our continued collaboration.

Sincerely,

Karena Shackelford
City Manager

The Groundwork for a Successful Year: Budgeting 
Our budget is the foundation we build all our activities on, and this fiscal year’s budget achieved the gold standard. In fact, the City’s FY 2025/26 Adopted Operating Budget received the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, marking 29 consecutive years of award-winning budgeting.

Securing Supplemental Funding 
To assist with projects not included in our annual budget, the City advocated for one-time funding through the legislative offices of our local, State, and Federal representatives. The City successfully secured $100,000 from the Office of Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez for the City’s SparkPoint program and Winter Relief program and $2,500 from the Office of Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert for the Age Well Center and its activities. Further, the City is slated to receive $850,000 from the Federal FY 2026 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill for the Auto Mall Parkway Median Project once approved.

Labor Union Updates 
In spring 2025, the City started labor negotiations with nine employee bargaining units, reaching agreements with most by year-end. The City recently finalized negotiations with those remaining, resulting in successor agreements with every unit. The negotiated 1.3% cost-of-living adjustment and other benefits must be incorporated into the current fiscal year budget. To address these changes, additional budget-balancing measures will be presented to the City Council in February 2026.

Enhancing Retail, Commercial, and Industrial Vibrancy Across Fremont 
In addition to supporting the growth of numerous Downtown restaurants, we also welcomed two new Michelin-listed eateries and facilitated the transformation of the former Kohl’s location into a high-end Asian grocery store and food hall, H Mart. Beyond retail and commercial businesses, we significantly expanded Fremont’s AI hardware manufacturing cluster, with seven of the world’s 10 largest companies now operating in Fremont, driving employment growth and strengthening our tax revenue base.

Coming Soon: More Industrial Campuses 
To sustain Fremont’s appeal as an advanced manufacturing hub, the City facilitated the development of several major industrial campuses, including the full lease-up of the Fremont 880 Technology Center, the groundbreakings of the Campus at Bayside and the Palisade Fremont Innovation Center, and the application submittals for Sobrato’s Tech Campus. Together, these projects are expected to generate more than $20 million in revenue through one-time impact fees and ongoing property, sales, and business tax contributions from advanced manufacturing tenants. In 2025, Fremont, for the first time in its history, led the entire Silicon Valley and greater Bay Area region in commercial real estate leasing by total square feet leased across all building asset classes. Fremont accounted for 75% of all advanced manufacturing leases for Silicon Valley in 2025, illustrating Fremont’s progress toward becoming an increasingly economic heavyweight and demonstrating leadership in manufacturing.

Powering Up Fremont 
Major electric grid upgrades are driving industry growth, strengthening resilience, and unlocking infill redevelopment. We installed two new 75 megavolt-ampere transformers in the Bayside and Warm Springs districts. We also secured 30 megawatts of Bloom Energy microgrid capacity, one gigawatt of regional capacity through LS Power’s Power the South Bay initiative, which will connect Central Valley solar farms to Fremont’s Bayside transmission station, and a 115-megawatt local grid expansion to support expanded manufacturing in Fremont. All together, these investments represent more than $1 billion in expanded utility infrastructure serving Fremont.

Addressing Fremont’s Digital Divide 
This fall, we launched AccessFremont, a free public Wi-Fi network that will include a total of 125 access points across six business districts and the Ohlone College area to help close the digital divide, support small businesses, and promote a stronger local economy. This complements the steady progress on the project made possible through the Federal Funding Account (FFA) funding, which will expand reliable, high-speed internet services to underserved areas in Fremont. The City has approximately one-third of the FFA project completed, with plans to bring a term sheet and public-private partnership agreement to Council in Q1 2026 to secure the necessary framework to move into implementation.

Celebrating Our Industries and Businesses Through Local Events 
Whether boosting Fremont’s profile as a hub for innovation or energizing our Downtown business district, our Economic Development Department hosted several industry and community events aimed at promoting our businesses. Flagship events included Biocom, Restaurant Week, The Registry Bus Tour, Downtown Dog Days, the Silicon Valley Commercial Real Estate Outlook, and The Future of Fremont. The City also supported workforce development and small business growth through targeted community programs, including Manufacturing Week, the Engineering Expo, and a Small Business Marketing Workshop.

Affordable Housing Reaches New Heights 
In response to the need for affordable housing in our city, we facilitated the development and completion of five affordable housing properties across Fremont in 2025. This totaled 567 affordable housing units, of which 116 were dedicated to supporting our most vulnerable populations. The developments, including Osgood North and South, Bell Street Gardens, Fremont Family Apartments, and Serra Apartments, are located throughout Fremont, offering vital community connections and support resources to all residents.

Prioritizing Shelter—a Key Priority of Our Homelessness Response Plan 
In June, the City Council renewed BACS’s contract to operate the City’s Housing Navigation Center, which has helped 270 people since opening in 2020. A 5-year comprehensive report can be found on our website, which includes participant data and success stories (see infographic). The Safe Parking program expanded to six faith-based sites, and the Winter Relief program increased its capacity to serve 25% more people this year, opening a month early. This initiative supported those relocating from the Isherwood Park encampment, offering comprehensive services to aid their transition to permanent housing. Looking ahead, Alameda County’s approval of 100 new shelter rooms, funded by Measure W and managed by Cardea Health, promises crucial housing assistance for South County.

A Compassionate Response to Resolving Long Standing Encampments 
In November, the City, in collaboration with the City of Union City, East Bay Regional Park District, and the Alameda County Water District, humanely and effectively cleared the longstanding and heavily entrenched homeless encampment at Isherwood Park. The full scope of the effort took place over six months and involved staff from the City Manager’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, Police, Fire, Community Development, Human Services, Maintenance, and Community Services. Our Human Services Department began outreach in May and shelter assistance, primarily through the City’s Housing Navigation Center and Winter Relief program, which was scaled up this winter, was offered to everyone residing in the area, with 80% ultimately choosing to accept relocation services. The City estimates that about 800 cubic yards of debris weighing approximately 90 tons were removed from the Isherwood site. The park will remain temporarily closed into 2026 as environmental remediation work takes place.

Service Enhancements for Fremont’s At-Risk Communities 
In addition to the new affordable housing units, we furthered our commitment to uplifting our at-risk residents. Notably, the City Council appropriated $150,000 for Keep Fremont Housed, a program that provides Fremont families with rental assistance. Through this appropriation, an additional 15 families received up to six months of rental assistance. The City also hired a new Case Manager and Chef/Food Services Manager in the Aging and Family Services Division of the Human Services Department to bolster vital programs for older adults and vulnerable families.

Resources for Our Most Vulnerable 
Support for our residents experiencing homelessness also continued with the reactivation of our Winter Relief Program, opening a month early and expanding in scale, the program is offering five months of shelter through the utilization of 40 rooms at partnering motels. The City also entered a new two-year contract (with an option to extend contingent upon funding) with BACS to operate the City’s Housing Navigation Center and released a comprehensive 5-year report to share program outcomes. At the same time, we reestablished our partnership with Alameda County Behavioral Health (ACBH) to deploy Mobile Crisis Teams (MCTs) in Fremont, delivering emergency mental health care to community members.

Restoring Fremont’s Public Spaces 
Since January 1, there have been 146 days of cleanups across 1,187 encampment sites, which resulted in the removal of 480 tons of debris. The goal of these cleanups is to remove structural, fire, and environmental hazards and excessive debris accumulation while offering support services directly to those residing in the encampments. In addition, this year, the Fremont City Council adopted a new Camping Ordinance, which prohibits camping on any public property, restricts camping on private property not designated and equipped for such camping, and prohibits the storing of personal property on any public property.

Securing Fremont’s Homelessness Response Funding 
The City will continue to advocate for new funding in an effort to increase shelter resources to help resolve high priority entrenched encampments. Increasing the availability of shelter beds is a necessary step to humanely and effectively clear encampments. Transitional shelter programs like Winter Relief offer individuals a secure environment and access to supportive services. To ensure these resources continue, the City is advocating for an equitable Measure W funding framework through Alameda County, with the goal of advancing the City’s Homelessness Response Plan. While there is still more work to be done, Fremont is committed to addressing homelessness within our community.

Strengthening Police Staffing and Leadership
This year brought significant progress in rebuilding our public safety capacity and strengthening leadership. Since January 2025, the Fremont Police Department (FPD) has hired 35 Police Officers, reducing sworn vacancies by approximately 60.9% (see infographic). As of November 1, FPD hired 15 Dispatchers, reducing vacancies by roughly 67% (see infographic). The City also launched a nationwide recruitment process to select the next Police Chief, who will continue to strengthen the Department’s readiness and capacity to serve the community. Building on this progress, work toward national law enforcement accreditation advanced significantly, with more than 75% of required standards now complete. Once finalized in 2026, accreditation will strengthen accountability, elevate service delivery, and formally embed best practices across all policing functions.

Reducing Crime 
In the spring of this year, FPD published its 2024 Annual Report, which highlighted major citywide achievements and significant progress the City has made toward crime reduction and prevention. Although crime data and information for 2025 are still being collected and finalized, we anticipate double-digit decreases in both violent and property crime. Homicides decreased from 7 in 2023 to 5 in 2024 and 2025, respectively (see infographic). In addition, the number of fatal traffic collisions that FPD responded to within City limits, declined from 15 in 2024 to 7 in 2025 (see infographic). Over the past few years, most crime categories have decreased in the City of Fremont. These statistics underscore the broader impact of the City’s efforts to keep our communities safe. FPD’s 2025 Annual Report, which will include an analysis of FPD’s public safety reports and data for 2025, will be available in the spring.

New Safety Services to Meet Growing Community Needs 
FPD must continue to evolve to meet our community’s needs, utilizing highly professional and talented staff. Significant progress has been made on the Real-Time Information Center (RTIC), supported by community camera improvements, Drone as First Responder (DFR), and the use of other technologies, which will further enhance crime prevention and public safety (see infographic). Additionally, FPD launched Code Joshua, a voluntary registry designed to assist families with autistic loved ones in partnering with first responders, with over 100 Fremont families registered to date.

Our Officers’ Well-Being Matters 
In 2024, 83% of police officers nationwide reported that mental health challenges impacted how they protect and serve. FPD confronted this reality head-on with new wellness programming to support officers. New initiatives include Sigma Tactical Wellness Health screenings, a restorative rest area, a wellness K9, and more.

New FEMA Funding for Critical Infrastructure Improvements 
To support emergency response and public safety, the City secured approximately $3 million in FEMA funding to repair storm-related damage along Morrison Canyon Road. The project will restore the full roadway width, supporting emergency vehicle access for Fremont Hills residents along Morrison Canyon Road and Vargas Road and improving safety throughout this high-risk corridor. Environmental clearance for the project has been secured, and construction is planned for Summer 2026.

Emergency Operations Center Readiness and Community Disaster Preparedness 
As part of broader emergency readiness efforts, 25 City and partner-agency personnel completed training for their Emergency Operations Center (EOC) roles. This training is the first in a series covering all EOC functions and strengthens coordination, response capability, and operational effectiveness during future emergency activations. Community resilience also grew through expanded Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) programming, with 44 new volunteers trained in disaster response, medical operations, and light search and rescue. Now, a total of 92 sworn CERT volunteers are equipped to assist during major emergencies.

Fire Department Operations and Equipment Upgrades 
Operational enhancements continued within our fire and emergency response services, including extensive staff training, EMS updates, and new fleet resources deployed citywide. Improvements included the opening of a new truck company at Station 6 staffed by 9 firefighters, the G2 fire-station alerting system, thermal imaging cameras, upgraded radio systems, a comprehensive hydrant inspection program, and new command and suppression vehicles, all of which strengthen reliability and elevate service quality.

Fire Prevention and Community Safety Programs 
We continue to advance our fire prevention and risk-reduction efforts through various initiatives, including updating the master fee schedule and municipal code and receiving approval for two new Defensible Space Inspectors. Further, we expanded youth education through the Firefighters in Safety Education program and coordinated Sound the Alarm events that provided smoke-alarm installations in high-risk mobile-home communities.

Fire-Related Incident and Emergency Response 
In 2025, the Fremont Fire Department (FFD) responded to 19,004 unique incidents, with emergency medical services accounting for over 60% of all calls received. These responses equated to 26,287 company runs. Compared to 2024, the total number of unique incidents declined by 1.9%, while the total number of company runs increased by 2.9% (see infographic). This demonstrates FFD’s diligent effort to keep pace with the rising demand for public safety and emergency services. In early 2026, FFD will publish its 2025 Annual Report with an update on department initiatives and priorities, as well as comprehensive statistics for 2025.

Improving Pedestrian Safety and Mobility 
Safety is about more than just enhancing emergency services; it’s about enhancing our everyday activities, like transportation. We made significant progress here this year towards that objective. In 2025, the City Council approved construction contracts for the installation of flashing beacons at 11 additional crosswalks citywide, which will enhance visibility in the Irvington, Mission Valley, Centerville, and Downtown districts. We also reached major construction milestones on the Centerville Complete Streets and Walnut Avenue Bikeway projects, including new separated bikeways, enhanced pedestrian crossings, and the installation of a new traffic signal at Thornton and Oak. Together, these improvements make multimodal travel safer for residents, support walking and bicycling as reliable transportation options, and improve connectivity between key districts.

Our Legislative Impact
Throughout this year, our Legislative Affairs team actively engaged with the League of California Cities, government relations professionals, and elected officials to advocate for our priorities. Notably, the City monitored and took a position on various state legislative bills affecting local governments, including the Ralph M. Brown Act reform and the Cap-and-Invest reauthorization.

Meet the New Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan and First-Ever Transportation Plan
In 2025, the City Council approved a Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan and an Active Transportation Plan. The former allocates critical funding to public infrastructure, including traffic and transportation enhancements, public facility and road maintenance, continued funding for the highly anticipated Central Park Community Center, and various other park improvements. The latter, for the first time in the City's history, combines pedestrian and bicycle plans. The Active Transportation Plan focuses on policies that will encourage walkability and safe mobility and takes a holistic approach to ensure transportation access, safety, comfort, and convenience for all those who live, work, and visit Fremont. Prior to the adoption of the Active Transportation Plan, there were separate plans prepared for these transportation modes.

Park Updates and Upgrades!
Outside of our priorities, a key area of focus for the City has been improving our parks. Big milestones included opening the Rose Garden and Entry Plaza at California Nursery Historical Park, revitalizing Central Park with new restrooms and adult fitness equipment, and completing playground renovations at Booster and Azevada Parks. Playground surfaces were also replaced at Niles, Warm Springs, Irvington Tiny Tots, and Lone Tree Parks, and fiber surfacing was added to nine City parks. Looking forward, construction is underway at Vallejo Mill Historical Park to add new pickleball facilities, a dog park, and other improvements, with expected completion in 2026. In addition, the City successfully purchased parkland on St. Leonard’s Way off Fremont Boulevard, providing 3,519 residents with new access to a park within a 10-minute walk of their homes. 

Communications and Community Engagement
This year, the City strengthened its communications, conducted extensive outreach, and hosted a vibrant calendar of events that united our community together. We redesigned the Year-End City Council Priorities Report for better storytelling and transparency, grew subscribers for our weekly digital newsletter, The Fremont Connection, changed the format of the annual State of the City to an evening event, and re-launched our internal newsletter, The Employee Connection to celebrate City staff and foster appreciation. MyFremont, our digital community engagement platform, remained central to public engagement, gathering feedback on several topics through the year, including the Human Services Needs Assessment, Palm Avenue Community Park, Capital Improvement Plan, as well as the Police Department leveraged it for its annual community survey, helping us better understand public safety perceptions and community priorities. From the annual Trick or Treat event, Concerts in the Park, Fremont Fire Safety Fair, Pride Fair, Holidays in the Plaza, and Shop with a Cop, to the City’s special event sponsorship program, these community building efforts underscore our commitment to strengthen community relationships, transparency, innovation, and inclusive governance.

Improving Our Infrastructure and Public Spaces
Our Maintenance Operations Department was busy this year, completing 4,500 maintenance work orders, 37 asphalt street repairs, and 48 sidewalk upgrades, as well as filling 976 potholes. Parks and recreation areas also benefited from playground renovations, turf rehabilitation at eight soccer fields, irrigation and well upgrades, and significant ADA pathway and surfacing improvements.

Maintaining Strong Relationships With Our Schools
To support Fremont’s next generation, the City strengthened its partnership with Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) through several collaborative initiatives, including the annual STEAM Event, the Fremont Engineering Expo, the Student Job Fair, and the After School Academy (ASA), bolstering youth engagement and enhancing learning opportunities for Fremont students. FPD School Resource Officers also received school safety and violence prevention training from the Sandy Hook Promise Program, which includes a student awareness campaign and an anonymous tip reporting system. Since its launch, FUSD and FPD have received and investigated 12 anonymous tips through the system.

Looking to 2026 
In February 2026, the City Council will meet for its annual retreat to establish new priorities for the year. Until then, the City will continue working toward its priorities of economic development, financial sustainability, public safety, environmental sustainability, and homelessness response.

We look forward to sharing progress on these new initiatives throughout 2026.

Prior Years 

• Archive Documents