Robert "Bob" Wasserman was an
American politician and retired
police chief, who served as the
Mayor of
Fremont, California, from 2004 to 2011 died from respiratory complications he was 77.. He has been credited with integrating Fremont's
economy and
workforce with into the larger
Silicon Valley during his tenures as mayor and a
city councilman.
[1]
(January 12, 1934 – December 29, 2011)
Early life
Wasserman was born in
Gary, Indiana,
[1] on January 12, 1934, to Morris and Alice Wasserman.
[2] He moved with his family to
Los Angeles when he was three years old, and attended schools in the city.
[1][3] Wasserman served in the
U.S. Army National Guard in 1949 when he was just 16 years old.
[3] He falsely told the army recruiter that he was 18 years old at the time of his enlistment.
[3] He was honorably discharged in 1952 after serving in the
Korean War.
[3] Following his discharge, Wasserman joined the
California National Guard, where he served as a military police inspector and rose to the rank of sergeant first class.
[3]
Wasserman continued his education during the early 1950s.
[3] He obtained a
bachelor's degree in
political science and
administration from
California State University, Los Angeles.
[1] Wasserman also received a
master's degree in
public administration from the
University of Southern California.
[1]
Wasserman met his future wife, Linda, while working for the
Montebello, California,
police department. (She was also a Montebello municipal employee at the time).
[3] They married at a ceremony at the Montebello
city hall in 1958 and had two children: Daniel, born in 1963, and Jill, born in 1966.
[3]
Career
Wasserman began his career in
law enforcement when he joined the Montebello, California, Police Department as a
police officer in 1953.
[3] He held positions in police departments throughout
Southern California during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
[3]
Wasserman moved to
San Carlos, California in 1969 to became the chief of the San Carlos Police Department.
[3][2] He and his family returned to Southern California in 1972 to become
police chief of the Brea Police Department, which encompassed
Brea and
Yorba Linda.
[2]
Wasserman was hired as the
police chief of
Fremont, California, in 1976.
[1][3] He remained in the position until his retirement in 1992.
[1]
Former Fremont Police Captain Mike Lanam noted in 2012 that Wasserman,
"took a fledgling department and brought it to state and national
prominence."
[4]
Wasserman was named Law Enforcement Executive of the Year and served as
president of the California Peace Officers’ Association.
[4] In the 1980s, Wasserman was appointed to a national law enforcement task force by
U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
[3]
Wasserman launched a political career after his retirement from
police work. He was first elected to the Fremont city council in 1992.
[1] During the 1990s and 2000s, Wasserman watched Fremont transition to an integral part of the Silicon Valley from a quiet, small
East Bay city.
[1]
By 1999, 750 high tech companies were headquartered in Fremont,
including Lam Research, Cirrus Logic and Premisys Communications.
[1] Fifteen of top one hundred fastest growing companies in the
San Francisco Bay Area were also located in Fremont by the same year.
[1] Wasserman and other members of the city government were credited with attracting them to Fremont.
[1]
Mayor of Fremont
In 2004, incumbent Mayor
Gus Morrison was
term limited
from seeking re-election. Wasserman, a member of the city council,
announced his candidacy for mayor. Wasserman won the mayoral election on
November 2, 2004, with 26,763 votes, or 52.6 percent of the popular
vote, defeating fellow city councilman, Bill Pease.
[5] He was inaugurated in December 2004.
[1]
He was re-elected to a second, four-year term on November 4, 2008.
Wasserman won the 2008 election with 42% of the vote, defeating city
councilman Steve Cho, who took 32%, and former Mayor
Gus Morrison, who garnered just 21%.
[6]
Wasserman has been credited with developing a new
general plan for the city.
[4] He recruited technology corporations from
Silicon Valley, as well as companies from other industries, to move into Fremont.
[1] He also spearheaded efforts to build a
Bay Area Rapid Transit station in the
Warm Springs District of Fremont, which under construction, as of 2012.
[4]
Other major projects attributed to Wasserman included the completion of
the Pacific Commons shopping center, the Niles Town Plaza, the Aqua
Adventure Water Park and the Washington Grade Separation.
[3] A new skatepark, which Wasserman supported is also under construction near
Fremont Central Park.
[3]
In 2005, Wasserman, a Democrat, appointed
Republican Dirk Lorenz to the Fremont Planning Commission, despite Lorenz's past opposition to Wasserman's mayoral candidacy.
[4]
Wasserman was a strong proponent of moving the
Oakland A's Major League Baseball team from
Oakland to Fremont.
[1] In 2006, Wasserman and
Alameda County Supervisor
Scott Haggerty sent a joint letter to Oakland A's co-owner
Lew Wolff asking him to move the team to a proposed stadium in Fremont, to be called Cisco Field.
[7]
However, the proposal fell through in 2009 through a combination of
opposition from Fremont residents and business groups, as well as the
unfolding economic crisis.
[1] The proposed stadium's proximity to the
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and
San Francisco Bay also drew criticism from critics.
[6]
Under pressure, Wolff withdrew from the plans, which would have
included the construction of a new $1.8 billion dollar, 32,000 seat
baseball stadium, on February 24, 2009.
[4]
Wasserman lobbied to keep the
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc (
NUMMI) from closing in 2010.
[4] However, the NUMMI factory, a
joint venture between
General Motors and
Toyota, closed on April 1, 2010, leading to job losses.
[4] Wasserman facilitated efforts to find new owners for the plant. The city successfully recruited
Tesla Motors to open a production facility, called the
Tesla Factory, at the plant later in 2010. Tesla now uses a portion of the land at the Tesla Factory to manufacture the
Tesla Model S, an
electric vehicle sedan.
[4]
The mayor helped pass a city council resolution in opposition to
California Proposition 8, a state
ballot initiative which banned
same sex marriage, in 2008.
[1]
Final years
Wasserman had been hospitalized for
pneumonia in 2005 and 2008.
[1] After the 2008 hospitalization, he brought an oxygen tank with him to city council meetings.
[1]
Wasserman died of respiratory complications at the age of 77 on December 29, 2011, at Kaiser Hospital in Fremont.
[1] He had been in the hospital for the treatment of respiratory problems.
[1] He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Linda, and their two children, Jill and Dan.
[1] A funeral for the mayor, attended by 1,200 people, was held at the Harbor Light Church in Fremont on January 6, 2012.
[3][4] Dignitaries included state Sen.
Ellen Corbett,
law enforcement officers from throughout the region, mayors, business
and political leaders, and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.
[3]
Fremont
Vice Mayor Anu Natarajan became
interim Mayor until the city council could name a permanent replacement.
[8] Natarajan says she will run for a full term in the 2012 mayoral election.
[8]
To see more of who died in 2011
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