CITY CLERK
JAN 0 5 2022
Fremont
Board and Commission Application CITY OF FREMONT
Board or Commission you wish to serve on: Planning Commission (Planning Commission applicants: Please attach supplemental questionnaire) Submit application to:
Office of the City Clerk
3300 Capitol Avenue, Building A
Fremont, CA 94537-5006
Personal Information:
Mr. 57
Mrs. O
Ms. 0
Name: Zhang Yonggang
Last First MI
Home Address:
Street City State Zip
Home Telephone:! Work Telephone: _
E-mail: Fax:
Resident of the City of Fremont: 12 _ years
Demographic Information:
Ethnicity:
• American Indian or Alaskan Native • Chinese
• Black or African American • White
• Afghan • Vietnamese
• Mexican • Filipino
• Indian • Pakistani
• Other Asian origin: (write-in optional)
• Other African origin: (write-in optional)
• Other Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin: _ (write-in optional) - 1-
Gender:
Ix Male • Prefer to self-identify
• Female • Prefer not to say
Language(s) Spoken: English, Mandarin
Background Information:
Why do you wish to serve as a member of this Board or Commission: have witnessed the rapid growth of Fremont in the past decade and I would like to actively engage with this rocess and help bringing the city to the next level - a compassionate, technolog embraced, and environmentally conscious model city. I would like to serve the Fremont community, provide inputs from North Fremont residents, and help evaluate projects prior to be submitted to the City Council. I believe Fremont needs more forward-looking commissioners who are more friendly to high-tech companies. In the post-pandemic era, as the high-tech industry widens its reach to the broader bay area, the city of Fremont has the opportunities to become the home of more high-tech companies and workers. We should establish policies and utilize new technologies to help local startups, attract more "green' jobs, and make public amenities more accessible to residents. As a long time Fremont resident, active volunteer, and an immigrant working in the industry, I can represent the diverse interests of the community and bring this unique perspective to the board.
What would you bring by way of perspective or experience to this Board or Commission: First. I will bring the perspective of North Fremont development to the board. North Fremont faces many challenges such as lacking of public amenities, deteriorating road conditions and congested streets, crowed schools, environment protection vs. development, and business competition with nearby cities etc. I lived in the central to north part of Fremont for more than 12 years, and I am very familiar with the demographic and geographic characteristics of the area. My balanced perspectives would complement the current planning commissioners. Second, I will bring my expertise in data analysis and decades' experience as an engineering leader to the board. I have been working for major high-tech corporations in Bay. Area, closely with data scientists, engineers, project managers, and marketers to capture insights from massive data and bring-to-market valuable products. I have hands-on knowledge with various analysis tools and methodologies. I believe my professional experience and education background would be a valuable addition to the planning commission.
Employment/Volunteer Information:
Please list any qualifications you feel would provide positive input to the work of the commission:
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Organization: Better North Fremont Group Dates: July 2018 to present Location: Fremont Position(s): Community Organizer
2) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Collection and Donations - addressing the community impact of the pandemic, have led/participated the efforts of collecting donations, purchasing PPEs, and distributing PPEs to the communities. In particular: 1) donated community collected PEs to the Tri-city Health Center, senior nursing homes, Fremont Firefighters, and Kaiser Permanente; 2) distributed 20K PPEs to the Brookvale and Ardenwood communities: 3) delivered PPEs for more than 30 disabled/elderly residents in person.
3) Personal Protective Equipment for California Firefighters - participated the event organized by Councilmember Teresa Keng, packed thousands of PPEs from the community and donated to California firefighters.
4) Fremont Homeless Shelter Donations - led volunteers to collect donations from the community and donated goods worth of more than 1000 dollars to the 2020 Fremont Winter Homeless shelter.
5) Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) Election Mapping - led the community support of transforming FUSD from at-large election to district-based election. As the result, the map contributed by the Better North Fremont group was selected as the final FUSD election map.
6) Fremont Housing Navigation Center - Organized community outreach events and provided data analysis to the City Council for selecting the location of Fremont Housing Navigation Center.
7) Fremont DMV Parking restriction - collected community feedbacks, communicated with Fremont City Transportation Engineering Division, petitioned and established parking restriction in the residential areas around Fremont DMV Organization: Citizens for Better Community Dates: Nov 2021 to present Location: Fremont Position(s): Board of Director
Responsibilities/accomplishments: Lam serving as a board member of Citizens for Better Community (CBC). CBC is a long running non-profit organization in Fremont that advocates civic participation from Chinese community, and sponsors and initiates events in the areas of education, health business and community involvement. I have participated the community event for helping Afghanistan Refugees. - 3-
responsible for the visual presentation of CBC yearly retreat event and CBC 30-years celebration event.
Organization: Google Inc. _Dates: Feb 2016 to present
Location: Mountain View, CA Position(s): Engineering Manager Responsibilities/accomplishments: Working closely with data scientists, engineers, and groie managing an am in anale for auric to dau crane a co or Company) new features.
Community Activities that you have been involved with (feel free to attach separate pages):
Please see the Employment/Volunteer section
Name of Organization Position/Responsibilities/ Accomplishments Dates Special awards or recognitions you have received:
2020 Paypal Unsung Hero Community Service Award
Education Information:
Concordia University, Canada Ph.D. Comouter Science. 2006 Educational Institution Degree/Diploma Year
ortheastern University, Chin B.S. Comouter Science 1997_ ducational Institutio Degree/Diploma Year
Additional Information (Please provide any other information which you feel would be useful to the City Council in reviewing your application.)
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Civic service is a privilege and responsibility of interested, qualified, sincere citizens. The value and importance of wide participation of a large number of citizens cannot be measured. Your interest in serving on a board or commission of the City of Fremont is greatly appreciated.
General Information: Your application is a public document and will be kept on file for one year.
If you would like additional information, please call the City Clerk's Office, at (510) 284-4060.
Please sign and date your application and submit to the Office of the City Clerk.
Thank you.
Jeer guy.
_01/05/2022
Signature Date
-5-
Fremont
ONLY APPLICANTS FOR THE OFFICE OF
PLANNING COMMISSIONER NEED RESPOND
You are requested to provide written answers in your own words to the following questions.
Please use 8-1/2x11 inch standard size paper and write legibly or type. Thank you.
1. What do you feel are some of the factors which go into making a residential neighborhood a "good place to live?" What factors contribute to a good commercial or industrial area? What are some of the negative factors to the above?
Factors make "good place to live": 1. Community Safety; 2. Education/Schools; 3. Affordability;
4. Parks and Recreations; 5. Grocery Shopping; 6. Street condition and traffic.
Factors make good commercial or industrial area: 1. Safe environment; 2. Parking and Transportation; 3. Environmentally conscious; 5. Aesthetic and Characters; 4. Maintenance.
2. What do you perceive to be the primary "planning" issues facing the community now and over the next three years? Have you any ideas of how the community should approach solutions to theses issues?
The Major planning issue facing Fremont is the overdevelopment of residential housing. This issue results under-developed public infrastructures such as parks, streets and schools. With the ever-increasing population, such issues will likely continue in the next a couple of years. I believe we need to seek a balance between housing and infrastructure development. We need to adopt a data-driven approach to determine the use of land and the developers' responsibilities, making sure every part of the city will benefit from the growth.
3. How do you perceive the correct role of the Planning Commission regarding site and architectural reviews of commercial and industrial buildings? Do you feel you can reflect the community's "aesthetic" values in reviewing the design of a building? Why? What are the rights of the property owner/developer that the Commission should respect? The correct role of the Planning Commission regarding commercial and industrial buildings is to provide balanced views between community interests and the goals of developers. Planning commissioners should evaluate the value added to the neighborhoods with respects to the rights of property owners, making sure the development fits the city code and zoning requirements, as well as the long-term vision of city growth. The "aesthetic" aspect of building is particularly important to community interests and I am a strong believer that a good aesthetic design brings value to the property, which often outweighs the cost associated. I also understand the look and feel of building design is often subjective, and the perspective of property owner should be respected. As a planning commissioner, I am confident that I can work with all parties, including communities/neighborhood, builder, and city staff, to ensure achieving the best result.
4. As land values continue to increase, so called "affordable housing" becomes more and more difficult to incorporate into the Planning concept. What are your thoughts on this aspect of future planning?
It is important to incorporate affordable housing to the future planning, because it helps maintain diversity and stability of our society. With the situation of inflation, construction cost raising, and housing price spike, we need to continue evaluating the developers' responsibility for affordable housing, properly/effectively use the in lieu fees, and in the meantime, encourage ADU construction to increase supply, particularly in the areas close to mass transit.
5. Planned Districts (PD's) have been used extensively in Fremont to provide the City with a means to negotiate conditions with developers pertaining to their projects. Please state your views, "pro" or "con."
Planned Districts allow the city to issue variances on setbacks, lot coverage, and open space requirements. When used properly, it is a valuable tool to negotiate with developers to make sure the development project precisely aligns with local community's interests. However, this flexibility must be provided by the city when negotiating from a position of strength. That is, developers must give back to the community in exchange for the exceptions and setbacks, while fulfilling the city-wide vision for future growth and development.
6. What do you believe is the responsibility of a Planning Commissioner to the community? To the developer? To the City Council!
A Planning Commissioner (PC) should ensure that the city's development reflects the values of the community and improve the quality of life of residents. A PC should always bear community interests in mind, collect community feedback, and actively engage in discussions when reviewing project proposals.
A Planning Commissioner is also responsible for protecting developer/property owner's rights, making sure the proposal is evaluated fairly and objectively, and in compliance with laws/ordinances at different levels.
A Planning Commissioner's responsibility to the City Council is to provide unbiased recommendations on development proposals, with the consideration that whether the projects follow the vision of General Plan.