Richard Lainhart, American artist and composer, died from complications after surgery he was 58.

Richard Lainhart was an American composer, performer, and filmmaker died from complications after surgery he was 58.. He is best known as a composer of electronic music that combines analog and digital instrumentation with extended performance techniques^[1] derived from traditional acoustic instruments. Lainhart's music is particularly associated with the renaissance of modular analog synthesis,^[2] and frequently performed with a Buchla 200e modular synthesizer controlled by a Haken Audio Continuum multidimensional keyboard controller.


(February 14, 1953 – December 30, 2011)

Early influences

Originally from Vestal, New York, Lainhart studied electronic music at the State University of New York (Binghamton) from 1971-1973. In 1973 he worked with director Nicholas Ray on the soundtrack to one of Ray's final films, We Can't Go Home Again, although Lainhart's score was not used in the final version. Lainhart earned his bachelor's degree in music from the State University at New York at Albany, where he studied composition and electronic music with composer Joel Chadabe and worked extensively with the Coordinated Electronic Music Studio (CEMS), at the time the largest integrated Moog modular synthesizer system in the world.^[3]
While a student at Albany, Lainhart assisted and performed with many celebrated guest composers, including John Cage, David Tudor, Phill Niblock, David Behrman, Beth Anderson, Luis de Pablo, Harley Gaber, Daniel Goode, and Giuseppe Englert.
Throughout his early musical career, Lainhart mastered numerous traditional instruments in addition to his electronic explorations, playing bass in several rock bands and eventually heading the popular swing jazz ensemble, Doc Scanlon and The Rhythm Boys, performing on mallet instruments and keyboards.^[4]

As Composer

In 1987, Lainhart released his first solo recording of electronic music, These Last Days for the Periodic Music CD label.^[5] The music's characteristic blend of impressionist sonorities, minimalist structures and real-time performance techniques established an early reputation that spanned the worlds of ambient music, jazz, new age and the avant garde.^[6] A follow-up recording, Polychromatic Integers, was prepared but remained unreleased until 2011 on the Periphery label.
Numerous recordings for CD, vinyl and the Internet followed since then, establishing Lainhart's reputation as one of the seminal American composers working in the electronic medium.^[7] In all, Lainhart composed over 150 electronic and acoustic works, utilizing virtually every extension of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. In 2001, a retrospective of Lainhart's early works, 10,000 Shades Of Blue, was released on the XI label.

Later works

In 2008, Lainhart was commissioned by the Electronic Music Foundation to contribute a work to New York Soundscape. In 2009, he was one of 200 electric guitarists who performed in the US premiere of Rhys Chatham's "A Crimson Grail" at Lincoln Center in New York City. In July 2010, he performed as a featured electronic artist at Avantgarde Festival Schiphorst 2010 in Schiphorst, Germany.
As a synthesist, Lainhart has enjoyed a fruitful series of musical collaborations with celebrated Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess, including a DVD of duets entitled A Fistful Of Patchcords and several independent CDs.

Films And multimedia

Lainhart's animations and short films have been shown at festivals in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Korea, and online at Souvenirs From Earth, ResFest, The New Venue, The Bitscreen, and Streaming Cinema 2.0.
His film A Haiku Setting won awards in several categories at the 2002 International Festival of Cinema and Technology in Toronto. In 2009, he was awarded a Film & Media grant by the New York State Council on the Arts for No Other Time, a full-length intermedia performance designed for a large reverberant space, combining live analog electronics with four-channel playback, and high-definition computer-animated film projection.
In January 2010, he performed as a featured live media audio-visual artist at Netmage 2010 in Bologna, Italy. In December 2010, his year-long timescape film One Year won the Deffie award for Best Experimental Film at HDFEST 2010 in Portland, OR.^[8]

Discography

Solo Works

• "These Last Days" Periodic Music CD PE-1633, 1987
• "Ten Thousand Shades of Blue" XI Records CD XI 115, 2001
• "White Night" Ex Ovo CD EXO1974, 2008
• "The Luminous Air" (split with Hakobune)"Luminous Accidents", Tobira Records 10" vinyl EP, tbr 01, 2009
• "The Course of the River" VICMOD Records CD VMD07, 2010
• "Cranes Fly West - Limited Schiphorst Edition 2010" Ex Ovo CD, EXO004, 2010
• "Polychromatic Integers" Periphery CD OTP2011, 2011

Compilations

• "Red Dust" (with Signs of Life) Vacant Lot LP, 1987
• "White Nights (Remix)""I, Mute Hummings" Ex Ovo CD EXO001, 2006
• "Lift-off" "Galactic Hits - Musique et Science-Fiction" Vibrations Magazine #122 CD, 2010
• "From Above" "Meditations on Light" Monochrome Vision 2-CD set, MV35, 2011
• "Forming" "Tobira Compilation Volume 1" Tobira Records C60 cassette, tbr09, 2011

DVDs

• A Fistful Of Patchcords (with Jordan Rudess) Airglow Music DVD AM-001, 2006

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Kim Geun-tae, South Korean politician, Minister of Health and Welfare (2004–2006), died from pneumonia and kidney failure he was 64.

Kim Geun-tae  was a democracy activist and politician of the Republic of Korea. He was born in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do died from pneumonia and kidney failure he was 64..

(14 February 1947 – 30 December 2011)

He studied in Gyeonggi High School and entered Seoul National University and majored economics. In his college time, he began his democracy activist career against the Yushin Regime of President Park Chung-hee. He was arrested several times and served several years in prison.
Although Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979, the military dictatorship was succeeded by General Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. After serving full sentence, he was released. But he began to struggle against Chun's regime and founded the democracy activist group, Democratic Youth Coalation (민청련, 民靑聯) in 1983. 1985, he was arrested for profiting North Korea (which was a frequent frame-up to the democracy movement by the military government) and tortured severely for 23 days by Lee Guen An,who was an inspector of the national police.
He remembered the detail of torture and the identity of torturer, and revealed it during his trial. The government denied it at that time, but it turned out true after the military regime surrendered to the democracy movement. And Lee Geun An, who tortured Kim was wanted by the reversed political situation.
Kim was regarded as one of the most important activists in the democracy movement of the Republic of Korea and he went to politics by the recommendation of Kim Dae-jung, 1995. After Kim Dae-jung was elected the president of the Republic of Korea in 1997, he was one of candidates who could succeed Kim's presidency in the ruling party. Because of low rating, he gave up the race for presidency halfway, and supported Roh Moo-hyun, who won the presidency election in 2002. During Roh's presidency, he was a former leader of the ruling Uri Party (Now Democratic United Party), and he served as Health and Welfare Minister from 2004 to 2006. He was also member of Parliament of the Republic of Korea from 1996 until 2008.
Although his political career seemed to go well, he suffered from severe PTSD. Because of this, he refused to go to doctor or dentist, which reminded him of being tortured. Since 2006, he suffered from Parkinson's Disease, which was estimated due to the torture.
His condition got worse after 2010 to the extent that he could not attend his daughter's wedding ceremony. He collapsed from complication (brain blood thrombus) in November 2011. Kim died on 30 December 2011. He was 64.^[1][2] He was buried in Moran Cemetery, Seongnam, where several notable democracy activists were buried. In 1987, he shared the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award with his wife In Jae-keun.^[2]
He was played by actor Park Won-sang in the film National Security (2012).


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Sir Robert Horton, British businessman,died he was 72.

Sir Robert Horton, FRSA was a British businessman died he was 72.. He was a Director of the European Advisory Council and of Emerson Electric Company.^[1] He spent 30 years working for BP, formerly British Petroleum. He became Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of BP in March 1990, but was forced out in 1992.

^{(18 August 1939 – 30 December 2011)}

Life

Sir Robert was the son of William Harold Horton and Dorothy Joan Horton née Baynes. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, University College, Dundee, then part of the University of St Andrews, but now the University of Dundee, and graduated the MIT Sloan School of Management as a Sloan Fellows in 1971.^[1]
He was Chairman of the Tate Gallery Foundation 1988-92 and Business in the Arts 1988-96. He was a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts. He was Chancellor of the University of Kent from 1990–1995 and a portrait of him hangs in the Senate Building there. He was also a Governor of King's School, Canterbury 1984-2005.^[1][3]

Career

Sir Robert joined BP in 1957, and from 1960 on held a series of positions in oil supply, marketing, finance, and planning. In 1980 he became Chief Executive officer of BP Chemicals International and held that position until December 1983 when he was elected to the BP Board as a Managing Director, with responsibility for finance, planning, and the Western Hemisphere.^[4] On his election as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Oil in April 1986, Horton resigned from BP. But following the merger of BP and Standard Oil in July 1987, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of BP America, Inc. As Chairman of British Petroleum in 1990, Sir Robert Horton aimed to reorganise the company in such a way as to attract and advance outstanding personnel.^[5]
He was Chairman of Railtrack from 1993–1999 and led the organisation through the early years of its existence including an industrial dispute from June to September 1994.^[6] He was non-executive Chairman of Betfair from 2004 to 2006.^[7]


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Dezső Garas, Hungarian actor, died he was 77.

Dezső Garas was a Hungarian actor, who appeared in over 145 films and television shows since 1956 died he was 77..
He starred in the 1993 film Whoops, which was entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.^[3] Garas died in Budapest on 30 December 2011, aged 77, following a long illness.^[2]

^{(9 September 1934 – 30 December 2011)}

Selected filmography

• Liliomfi (1954)
• Two Half Times in Hell (1962)
• Tales of a Long Journey (1963)
• Jacob the Liar (1975)
• A Strange Role (1976)
• My Father's Happy Years (1977)
• Anton the Magician (1978)
• Before the Bat's Flight Is Done (1989)
• When the Stars Were Red (1991)
• Whoops (1993)
• Perlasca, un Eroe Italiano (2002)
• A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda (2003)
• East Side Stories (2010)

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Muhammad Hamidullah Khan, Bangladeshi politician, died he was 74.

M. Hamidullah Khan (Bengali: এম হামিদুল্লাহ খান) (September 11, 1938 – December 30, 2011) was the Sector Commander of BDF Sector 11 Bangladesh Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan in 1971 died he was 74..^[1]
An Air Force officer by career, he successfully led 22,800 troops under his command of Sector 11 (Nov. 2nd 1971 to Feb. 14 1972). While Bangladesh Chief Representative at Chakulia Guerilla Training Camp, Bihar, he attended the Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference of 1971 as one of the principal participants during the creation of the Bangladesh Forces. He commanded Sector 11 and its largest Sub-Sector 1, at Mankachar under the leadership of C-in-C General M.A.G. Osmani and received a Bangladesh government award for gallantry. As subsector commander, Squadron Leader Hamidullah planned, commanded and fought the Chilmari ( চিলমারী ) Expedition/Raid at Chilmari Upazila, crossing the mighty Ganges river by Kurigram. Popularly known as Hamidullah, he served in the Bangladesh Air Force until his early retirement from service in early 1979. The Bangladesh Government named Road 23 in the town of Banani in Dhaka after him.^[2] Along with 55 other fighters, his biography was included in a CD released by the Bangladesh government.^[3] Until Dec 30th 2011 he was the Executive Secretary of the Central Committee of the BNP National Executive Committee on Liberation War and Veterans Affairs. Hamidullah Khan reorganised and gave life anew to a party unit of BNP for the post-independence generation of Bangladesh called Jatiotabadi Muktijuddher Projonmo.^[4] Khan was nominated four times and elected thrice as Member of Parliament in the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad. He was the 36th Bangladesh Representative in 1979-80 to the United Nations General Assembly and plenary session on UN Resolutions 242 and 439 on the question of Palestine and Namibia respectively. The government of Bangladesh appointed him as Special Envoy to the UN in granting recognition to the State of Palestine. He wrote books on the history of the creation of the Bangladesh Forces and the events leading to it, BDF Sector 11 and its war operations including surrounding complexities, related events and consequences. His second book is a two-volume set about the Bangladesh Liberation War along with two documentaries. Upon his death, Muhammad Hamidullah Khan was given a state funeral^[5] with a military guard of honor.^[6]

Early life

M. Hamidullah Khan was born to a political family in Medini Mondal village, Louhajong Ward, in the town of Bikrampur, (known to be the oldest capital of Bengal before Bhawal and Sonargaon) southern Dhaka, in then Bengal Province of the colonial British Empire in South Asia. He is the second of the nine children (one deceased in infancy) born to Muhammad Dabiruddin Khan and Jasimunnesa Khan. His father was a Forest Ranger in the British Imperial Forest Service under the Bengal Forest Department and later Assam Forest Department in South Asia.^[7] Hamidullah Khan's childhood was divided between living in the rural town of Bikrampur, Dhaka, and the city proper. After primary school at Silver Jubilee Anglo-Bengali Government English School, Guwahati, Assam, and secondary school at Louhajong A.T Institute, he moved out with his parents and settled in Mughaltully Ward of Dhaka located by the Buriganga River in 1954. With the departure of the British and official creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, Hamidullah Khan's father opted for service with the government of India rather than Pakistan. Though the family remained in Dhaka (East Pakistan), Dabiruddin Khan later joined them after retirement in 1957. Hamidullah spent his adolescent years in southern Dhaka until he joined the Pakistan Air Force. He married Rabeya Sultana Khan on August 1, 1965, at Dhaka, the third daughter of Mokbul Hossain Siddiqi, then Commissioner (East Pakistan) of Taxes and Excise. After Bangladesh became independent in 1971, Hamidullah continued service with the Bangladesh Air Force, and remaining family members permanently resettled in "Bikrampur House", Dhaka Cantonment. Their second son Ziad Hamid Khan (Ronny) drowned while boating when a small boat capsized. Hamidullah Khan is survived by two sons, Murad Hamid Khan (Sonny) and Tariq Hamid Khan (Konny).^[8]

Education

Hamidullah spent his adolescence in Dhaka and enrolled in the Jagannath College there in 1954. After completion of senior secondary school in 1956, he studied at the same college for the Bachelor of Arts in Commerce (General). In the year 1959, while preparations were finalised to study law, he accepted an appointment instead as a candidate in the Pakistan Air Force Academy, and reported to Risalpur in the 34th GD(P)as a flight cadet.^[8]

Early career

Pakistan Air Force - M. Hamidullah Khan was Commissioned a Pilot Officer in June 1962 in Administration and Special Duties (Br.). He served in the Pakistan Air Force at bases in Lahore, Chaklala, Sargodha, Karachi, Peshawar, and finally Dhaka, then East Pakistan. In late autumn of 1970, his last assignment in the PAF, Flight Lieutenant Hamidullah was transferred to Pakistan Eastern Zone as Assistant Provost Marshal and Commanding Officer No 5. P and S Unit (Independent) with additional responsibility as Director of Security, Tejgaon International Airport, Dhaka. He was selected for examination and board for promotion to Squadron Leader in July 1970. In August, during the Bangladesh war of independence, Hamidullah Khan received a Battlefield Promotion to Squadron Leader by order of the BDF C-in-C General M.A.G. Osmani, while serving as Sub-Sector Commander, Sub-Sector 1 at Mankachar of BDF Sector 11.

Bangladesh Liberation War (1971)

Reporting to Bangladesh Interim Government HQ 8 Theatre Rd, Calcutta.

Induction Bangladesh Forces

Colonel Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, C-in-C Bangladesh Forces

Chakulia Guerilla Training Camp

Major Ziaur Rahman

Creation and Establishment of Sector 11 and Z - Force at Teldhala

No.1 Sub Sector Commander (Mankarchar)

Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference 1971

Guerilla Expeditions I -

Landings, Assaults, Ambushes and Raids

Sub-Sector Commander Captain Abu Taher, later Major, Mahendraganj-Sector HQ

Banga Bir General M.A.G. Osmani - Inspection of Mankarchar and Secured Zones

Sector Commander

Guerilla Expeditions II -

Landings, Assaults, Ambushes and Raids

- Chilmari Expedition

Arrived at Dhaka 14th Dec

Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference 1972 -

Gallantry Award Committee

Sector Dissolvement

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Bangladesh government

Ministry of Defence - Bangladesh Air Force: In 1973 Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah khan received his final promotion to Wing Commander. In September 1978, while in LPR, he joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party answering the call to public service from his war colleague Ziaur Rahman. Hamiullah officially retired from Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) on January 10, 1979. While in BAF Directorates served in were BAF, Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment; Intelligence and Security; Air Education and Training. He also held the position of Chief of Air Force Security(Provost Marshall), Director Air Intelligence and also Director Recruiting, Air HQ. He was Officer Commanding Administration Branch at BAF Base Bashar.^{[citation needed]}

Jatiyo Sangsad (National Assembly) - Member of Parliament

After retiring from military service he continued in public service in the legislative branch of Bangladesh government. He was elected Member of Parliament for

Dhaka - 5 (Bikrampur) in the Second Parliament: 2 years 11 months (2 April 1979 – 24 March 1982)

Munshigonj - 2 (Louhajong-Shiraj di Khan) Fifth Parliament: 4 years 9 months (5 March 1991 – 24 December 1995)

Munshigonj - 2 (Louhajong-Shiraj di Khan) Sixth Parliament: 12 days (19 March 1996 – 30 March 1996)

Dhaka - 15 (Mirpur-Kafrul) Nominated - Ninth Parliamentary Elections: 29 December 2008 (0 Days)

He represented Bangladesh during the 36th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. He served in different positions in Bangladesh government throughout his active life. Hamidullah served as chairman of Bangladesh Post Graduate Medical Research Centre (1979–1982), Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust (1993–1996), Janata Bank (1995–1996). He re-emerged from long absence from parliamentary politics and received nomination for the electoral seat of Dhaka-15 (Mirpur and Kafrul) for the 9th Parliamentary General Elections held on Dec 29th 2008.^[9]

Career service highlights

• India-Pakistan Conflict 1965^{[citation needed]}
• Independence War Bangladesh 1971
  • Chakulia Guerilla Training Camp - Chief Bangla Desh Government Representative and Training Coordinator^{[citation needed]}
  • Participant at the Sector Commanders Conference^{[citation needed]}
  • BDF Sector 11 - Mankarchar Sub-Sector Commander^{[citation needed]}
  • BDF Sector 11 - Commander^{[citation needed]}
• 1974 DGFI Chair - Screening and Interrogation Committee for Civil and Military Returnee Officers
• 1975 Soldier Uprising Crisis^{[citation needed]}
• 1977 JAL Flight 472^{[citation needed]}

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Mike Colalillo, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient,died he was 86.

Michael "Mike" Colalillo was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II died he was 86..^[1]

^{(December 2, 1925 – December 30, 2011)}

Biography

Colalillo joined the Army from Duluth, Minnesota in February 1944,^[2] and by April 7, 1945 was serving as a private first class in Company C, 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. On that day, near Untergriesheim, Germany, he encouraged his comrades to follow him into enemy fire, manned an exposed machine gun, and helped a wounded soldier back to friendly lines. For his actions during the battle, he was awarded the Medal of Honor on January 9, 1946.^[3]

Medal of Honor citation

Private Colalillo's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Private First Class Mike Colalillo, 2d Squad, 2d Platoon, Co. C, 1st Battalion, 398th Infantry, 100th Infantry Division was pinned down with other members of his company during an attack against strong enemy positions on 7 April 1945 in the vicinity of Untergriesheim, Germany. Heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire made any move hazardous when he stood up, shouted to his company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his machine pistol. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. When his weapon was struck by shrapnel and rendered useless, he climbed to the deck of a friendly tank, manned an exposed machine gun on the turret of the vehicle, and, while bullets rattled around him, fired at an enemy emplacement with such devastating accuracy that he killed or wounded at least 10 hostile soldiers and destroyed their machine gun. Maintaining his extremely dangerous post as the tank forged ahead, he blasted three more positions, destroyed another machine gun emplacement and silenced all resistance in this area, killing at least three and wounding an undetermined number of riflemen as they fled. His machine gun eventually jammed; so he secured a submachine gun from the tank crew to continue his attack on foot. When our armored forces exhausted their ammunition and the order to withdraw was given, he remained behind to help a seriously wounded comrade over several hundred yards of open terrain rocked by an intense enemy artillery and mortar barrage. By his intrepidity and inspiring courage Private First Class Colalillo gave tremendous impetus to his company's attack, killed or wounded 25 of the enemy in bitter fighting, and assisted a wounded soldier in reaching the American lines at great risk to his own life.^[3]

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Bob Wasserman, American police chief and politician, Mayor of Fremont, California (2004–2011), died from respiratory complications he was 77.

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]


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