Elect Club leader Vinnie Bacon to Fremont City Council

Help elect experienced Sierra Club activist Vinnie Bacon to the Fremont City Council.

Vinnie Bacon has been active in the Club's Southern Alameda County for over five years, serving on its Executive Committee and as its representative to the Bay Chapter's Political Committee. During these years Vinnie has been an extremely hard-working and effective leader and grassroots organizer for protecting Fremont's open spaces.

One of the things Vinnie learned on the Political Committee is that the best way to get environmentally friendly people elected to office is to get people you already know to run. Early this year a group of Fremont residents, discontented with the City Council's history of approving sprawling, auto-dependent development, formed an organization called Friends of Fremont. They felt the need for a changing of the guard, and were seeking a candidate to rally around. In March, Vinnie decided to give it a go.

Vinnie was very active in 2006's Measure K initiative that would have reduced the allowed density in an area directly in front of Coyote Hills Regional Park known as Patterson Ranch. This was a heartfelt issue for Vinnie, who frequents Coyote Hills for his favorite hobby of wildlife photography (see his web site

The Yodeler frequently uses his photos. Measure K lost, however, with the proponents outspent 16 - 1, largely by the Cargill Corporation.

Measure K did bring a number of environmentally friendly volunteers out of the woodwork into the realm of environmental activism. This was something that was sorely needed in Fremont. Vinnie's campaign has helped to re-activate a number of these volunteers, while also attracting new faces.

The campaign has worked to raise awareness of developers' influence on local elections. As a result the Fremont Argus has recently hosted discussions about this on its web site.

The campaign is also raising the issue of schools and how overcrowding relates to development. Voters easily understand how rapid development without adequate school money leads to overcrowding, which is already occurring in Fremont. (At a recent School Board meeting the Patterson Ranch developers proposed to pay $11 million of the $30 million required for a new school for the children who would live in their development. They suggested that the state could somehow pay for the rest.)

Vinnie is impressive for his tight integration of environmental issues with other local concerns.

WhatYouCanDo

Vinnie's campaign depends on volunteers to help reach out to voters face-to-face. Working on the campaign has proven to be a lot of fun. The campaign is getting out to the voters by tabling at grocery stores and other locations in Fremont, and will soon start phone-banking in the evenings.

To volunteer in Vinnie's campaign, contact Chapter conservation organizer or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 306

You can read more about Vinnie's campaign at his web site