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In an effort to address disinformation related to a photograph showing an abatement notice posted to an abandoned wheelchair, the City of Fremont has prepared the following statement to provide factual information, including a timeline of recent routine clean-up activity.
The City conducted a scheduled cleanup on March 10, 2025, at the City’s parking lot on Bay Street in the Irvington District. Similar to City parks, a handful of parking lots throughout the City, including City Hall, are maintained for public usage during specified hours. The parking lot is posted with signage that provides a specific timeframe for public access. When an encampment begins to form at these locations, City staff regularly clear materials and debris based upon the authority set forth in Fremont Municipal Code section 10.05.600 (Public parking facilities and parking on city property). This abatement action is unrelated to the recently adopted Camping Ordinance.
Hazardous bio waste, trash and debris were all present at the site when visited in February 2025. An advance notice of the cleanup was posted 5 days prior to the March 10th cleanup to provide any owners time to move their belongings from the site. Multiple signs were posted on unaccompanied material and debris by City staff at that location. Service providers, including City of Fremont and Bay Area Community Health (BACH) provided joint outreach services which began in February 2025. Three unhoused residents were referred to Fremont’s Housing Navigation Center (HNC), for services to find stable housing while providing a clean, safe, and calm environment due to these efforts and partners, including Abode and Bay Area Community Services (BACS).
The City is aware of a photograph of an abatement notice placed on an abandoned wheelchair at this location. City staff posts notices on any abandoned property before it is removed, and the abandoned wheelchair was not in use when notices were posted. Additionally, the unattended wheelchair was not removed on the 10th and staff provided more time for retrieval. Any property removed from the site would be stored for 90 days in case the owner chose to retrieve it.
The City has a longstanding commitment to providing resources for unhoused community members in Fremont. In recent weeks there has been deliberate intent to manipulate public opinion through social media and traditional media outreach, which poses significant harm and seeks to undermine the trust of this Organization. Through City-owned or operated shelter programs, financial assistance to non-profit service providers, to funding preventative stay-housed initiatives and affordable housing developments, the City has, and will continue, to support the most vulnerable population in our community. Complex issues such as this include many perspectives, but it is concerning when there are attempts to degrade the integrity of the factual information being shared by the City in order to advocate a position. The City will continue to be transparent in its approach to homelessness under the guiding principles of our Homeless Response Plan and we encourage community members to seek verified facts and information through official City channels.
If you are interested in reading about the City’s encampment response, view locations serviced by month, review Encampment Condition Guidelines, or review clean-up and debris data, please use the website links below:
Encampment Response:
https://www.fremont.gov/residents/homeless-response/encampment-response/encampment-cleanup-schedule
Homeless Response Year-in-Review Data:
https://www.fremont.gov/residents/homeless-response/homeless-reports-data/homeless-response-year-in-review-report
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