A's Stadium

By Charles Bartlett

I'd rather see a field of cows grazing than a new mega-stadium. Let's support high school baseball or a minor league before trying to out-do the City of Oakland

Where the City of Fremont has gotten off track is getting caught in a circular formula of growth which goes like this: "Growth equals more tax revenue. More tax revenue equals more infrastructure. More infrastructure equals more growth"... and on-and-on we go with no apparent sight in end!

The A's stadium is predicated upon this same dismal logic. Somewhere in insane equation of permanent revenue growth we have lost a bigger picture of "What is government's purpose"? Does government exist for its own sake? Is it merely there to supplement and push economic growth? We need to step back and ask, "What has Fremont lost and gained in the last 35 years of perpetual growth?"

What Fremont has lost is our small town atmosphere and rural environment. Connected to this is the sense of family and community. Though smallness and intimacy cannot be recovered by simply rolling back the cl ock, it is still worthwhile to preserve the residue or `spirit' of that old small town. Though Fremont is nearly built-out, there are patches of grassroot community here and there. For example, we still have farmer markets, five district downtown areas, neighborhood parks, a stock of historical buildings & sites, as well as our city parades... There is a residue.

What we ought to do is (1) place a moratorium on large-scale, big project developments (2) reassess our priorities, not in light of city revenue but in terms of qualitative and intimate neighborhood life (i.e, romantic needs of the community). (3) Once our cultural, natural, ethnic, and architectural resources are identified, we should act quickly to guard this priceless reservoir; (4) and then expand and extend it--not bureaucratically (via a central agency) but organically thru less restrictions and letting neighborhoods control their own taxes. This is township government.

Anyway, please read about our Township Government-- a proposal for an autonomous landscape within Fremont, more old-fashioned than new, more memory than unsustainable fantasy.

In so many words, I am against an A's stadium. I'd rather see the Cisco property remain the pasture of cows and goats before an A's stadium is built. Or better, let's adopt a peculiar seriousness for high school baseball or our Jr. College, grounding the pavement for a future minor league--all local talent, accomplished at negligible volunteer costs. I would favor promoting and building toward a future minor league, but don't want to see another high maintainance big business come to Fremont with no particular loyalty.

Therefore, let's make Fremont famous for what it already possesses--the small, the local, the family, the provincial, the sleepy, and the quiet. ... Ever hear of the Ohlone Renegades???

http://www.charles4council.com