Fremont’s Proposed “Camping” Ban

What is the camping ban? 

The proposed ordinance was “introduced” in a 4-2 vote at the Dec 17, 2024 City Council meeting. The ban would criminalize sleeping outside, declares the possessions of the unhoused illegal, and even threatens those helping the unhoused with fines and jail! To great disappointment, at the Feb 11, 2025 City Council meeting. the ordinance was passed by a vote of 6-1.

However, in response to the backlash to the extreme cruelty of the ban’s aiding and abetting clause, in the March 5th city council meeting a referral was proposed to “eliminate” the aiding and abetting clause. However because the same aiding and abetting penalties are in both the City of Fremont’s municipal code AND state law, that change to the ordinance would effectively make NO difference.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Fremont City Council will revisit the homeless encampment ban (“camping” ordinance) at its meeting this Tuesday, March 18th, to consider removing the “aiding and abetting” provision, but this won’t decriminalize homelessness. We must continue pushing for a full repeal of the ordinance and we ask you to take the following actions:

Action Items

1. Written public comment: Email Public Comment to City Council (Due before 4:00 PM on Tuesday)

Recipients: councilmeetings@fremont.gov, rsalwan@fremont.gov, tkeng@fremont.gov, dcampbell@fremont.gov, kkimberlin@fremont.gov, yshao@fremont.gov, yazhang@fremont.gov, rliu@fremont.gov
Subject Line: REPEAL the Camping Ordinance, March 18, 2025, Agenda Item 6A
Body: see Email Template (linked)

Gmail Auto-Populate Link: tinyurl.com/march18email 
 Feel free to use this template as a starting point for your outreach.  You are highly encouraged to edit and customize it to use your own voice and include your own reasons why you care.

2. Email: Write directly to your councilmember (or all councilmembers) and to Mayor Salwan.

Their contact info is also available on https://www.fremont.gov/government/mayor-city-council.

3. Attend the Community Rally before the City Council Meeting

Time: 5:30 PM - 7 PM PST March 18, 2025

Location: Fremont City Council Chambers, 3300 Capitol Avenue, Fremont, CA

Hosted by: California Homeless Union, Fremont Homeless Union

4. Live public comment: Attend the City Council meeting on March 18, at 7 PM at the City Council Chambers, 3300 Capitol Avenue, Fremont.

Livestream: fremontca.viebit.com/livestream?hash=620ebd58-70c0-4a45-a624-456e63c23289
Meeting Details: Staff Report | Full Agenda (Agenda Item 6A) 

Fill out a “Request to Speak” card (Agenda Item 6A) and submit it to the City Clerk.

Public comment will be allowed when this item is discussed (likely towards the end of the meeting). A livestream of the city council meeting is available here (linked), but only in-person public comments will be accepted.

Talking Points 

  1. Repealing the "aiding and abetting" provision does nothing to decriminalize homelessness. The entire camping ban, passed on February 11, 2025, must be repealed. Why?

    • The ordinance criminalizes homelessness by making it illegal to camp, live in a vehicle, or possess survival gear on public property.

    • Sleeping and surviving should never be a crime.

    • Even if "aiding and abetting" is removed, providing a sleeping bag or a tent to an unhoused person remains illegal under other municipal and state laws.

    • Fremont’s service providers, faith groups, and volunteers will still face legal risks under Fremont Municipal Code (FMC) Section 1.10.040 and California Penal Code 31, which the City Council cannot override.

    • Removing "aiding and abetting" allows the Council to claim progress while continuing to enforce a law that punishes the unhoused.

    • The real solution is to decriminalize homelessness by fully repealing the camping ordinance.

    2. The Mayor and the Fremont Public Information Officer have issued contradictory statements about how the camping ban will be enforced. The public deserves transparency on the city’s intent.

    • On March 5, 2025, in an interview on Radio Zindagi (linked, timestamp 27:00), Mayor Raj Salwan claimed that the camping ban would be “surgically applied” and denied that there would be any camping sweeps. 

    • However, in a March 6, 2025, LA Times article (linked), the Fremont Public Information Officer Geneva Bosques directly contradicted this by stating: “…the city (Fremont) would prioritize the dismantling of large tent cities, as well as removing smaller encampments that pose immediate health and safety risks.”

    3. Fremont’s Homeless Services Manager, responsible for overseeing the city’s homelessness response, admitted that the law enforcement approach in the camping ban is “incompatible” with the City’s 2024 Homelessness Response Plan.

    • Fremont’s Homeless Services Manager, Laurie Flores, worked alongside an external consultant to develop the May 2024 Homelessness Response Plan (HRP). This plan set forth three goals that the City is to achieve over a 5-year period to reduce homelessness.

    • However, during the February 11, 2025, Fremont City Council meeting, Ms. Flores openly acknowledged that the law enforcement approach embedded in the Camping Ban was “incompatible” with the HRP's recommendations. Before the Council voted to approve the camping ordinance, she stated: “When we talk about how the Homeless Response Plan and this ordinance relate, our consultants and policy experts who helped develop this did not recommend enforcement tools as a way to address it. I would say, in that respect, it is incompatible." Watch the full statement here (Timestamp 2:01:28)

    • This admission underscores a glaring contradiction: the City is pursuing a policy that directly opposes the expert-driven plan it adopted less than a year ago. If enforcement was never intended as a solution, why is the City doubling down on criminalization instead of investing in real, lasting solutions to homelessness?

See Something? Say something

If you witness a sweep, eviction, or any other action of harassment towards our unhoused neighbors, document it: take photos, take videos, get names, times, and locations. We must document the City’s actions and hold the City accountable. 

Thank you for your continued work in supporting our unhoused neighbors. 

4. Spread the news on social media!

FFE coalition partners opposing the camping ban

FFE coalition partners opposing the camping ban

  1. Fremont For Everyone

  2. Safe Alternative to Violent Environments (SAVE)

  3. NARIKA - Changing The Way We Live Violence Free (for South Asian women and families)

  4. Maitri

  5. Poverty Patchup’s Mission San Jose High School chapter, a Youth-led organization

  6. Tri-City Ecology Center (TCEC)

  7. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) - Alameda County

  8. Tri-City Interfaith Council (TCIC) and Compassionate Fremont

  9. Tri-City Muslims

  10. Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation

  11. The First United Methodist Church of Fremont

  12. Niles Discovery Church

  13. Saint James Episcopal Church

  14. Sisters of the Holy Family

  15. Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose

  16. Pax Christi Catholic Community

  17. Abode Services

  18. Bay Area Community Services (BACS)

  19. California Poor People’s Campaign

  20. Together We Stand - Breaking Down Walls & Building Community

  21. League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, and Union City (LWVFNUC)

  22. Alameda County Democratic Party (AC DEMS)

  23. Muslim Democrats & Friends Club

  24. Santa Clara Green Party

  25. All Home

  26. Asian Law Caucus

  27. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Northern California

  28. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Southern California

  29. National Homelessness Law Center

  30. Bay Area Legal Aid - Working Together For Justice

  31. Centro Legal de la Raza

  32. Californians for a Responsible Budget (CURB)

  33. Disability Rights California (DRC)

  34. HEPPAC - HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County

  35. East Bay Community Law Center

  36. East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO)

  37. Homeless Action Center

  38. Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

  39. Law Foundation of Silicon Valley

  40. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)

  41. The Public Interest Law Project

  42. Secure Justice

  43. Western Center on Law & Poverty

  44. Sacramento Homeless Union

  45. Where Do We Go?

  46. H.E.R.O. TENT - HERE FOR THE HEROES

  47. DJ Alex Reyes

  48. Heart@Work

LETTERS OF opposition to the camping ban

  1. The ACLU and groups of legal, civil, and social service organizations call Fremont's proposed camping ban unconstitutional and cruel! Click here to see the letter

  2. Click here to see the letter from League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark, and Union City (LWVFNUC)

  3. Click here to see the letter from Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation

  4. Click here to see the letter from Compassionate Fremont

  5. Click here to see the letter from the Tri-City Interfaith Council

  6. Click here to see the letter from Saint James Episcopal Church

  7. Click here to see the letter from Pax Christi Fremont

  8. Click here to see the letter from the Together We Stand

  9. Click here to see the letter from Alameda District 2 Supervisor

  10. Click here to see the letter from All Home


TOP talking points

  • The Dec 17 staff report notes: “The adoption of a camping ordinance … is not expected to reduce overall homelessness in the City of Fremont.”

  • The staff report further notes: “staff would seek to reallocate … resources as described in the HRP intended to prevent and reduce homelessness.”  Given the aforementioned acknowledgment that the camping ban will not reduce homelessness, using homelessness-reduction resources to do something that doesn’t help that goal is reducing our overall capacity to reduce the number of people living unhoused in Fremont.

  • Fremont is officially a “compassionate city,” and it should act with compassion.

  • We need solutions that help people get housing, and address the root causes of why they became unhoused. Taking people’s tents and criminalizing their having tents does none of that and is counter-productive. 

  • Criminalizing homelessness in effect gives the unhoused a criminal record, which will ultimately make it even harder for them to get housing later.

  • The original Email template to Councilmember or Mayor

    For background, the first message template opposing the ban.

    Dear [title and name] (e.g. Fremont Mayor Salwan and Fremont City Councilmembers...),

    I am writing with regards to the camping ban ordinance. I am wholeheartedly opposed to this proposed ban and oppose any Council action to enact this into law. Fremont has declared itself a “Compassionate City” and says that it “Stands United Against Hate” but this ordinance is not compassionate and fosters hate by criminalizing people who lack a permanent housing solution.

    The council has already received a lot of information regarding problems with the ban as written. A Dec 17 staff report noted: “The adoption of a camping ordinance … is not expected to reduce overall homelessness in the City of Fremont.” It further noted “staff would seek to reallocate … resources as described in the HRP intended to prevent and reduce homelessness.” Given the aforementioned acknowledgment that the camping ban will not reduce homelessness, using homelessness-reduction resources to do something that doesn’t help that goal is reducing our overall capacity to reduce the number of people living unhoused in Fremont. We need to prioritize city resources on solutions that help people get housed and stay housed.  

    In short, the ban will not work as the ban is not a plan.  We already have laws on the books to address truly criminal misconduct.  Sleeping must not become a crime! 

    Members of Fremont For Everyone (FFE) have shared with you a report published in 2022 by the United State Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), which includes 7 Principles for addressing encampments. The USICH identified and promoted best practices already being implemented nationwide. Significantly, these 7 Principles do not involve the police “driving the process.” Instead, the First Principle highlights collaboration among agencies, various departments, and community leaders including subject matter experts like Abode Services and Eden Housing, faith leaders like the Tri City Interfaith Council, and business leaders including the Fremont Chamber and local business associations all working together to house and provide supportive services for our neighbors experiencing homelessness in Fremont.

    I am particularly concerned about the impact that the vague language of this ban will have on our community partners and members who provide aid and assistance to the unhoused population in Fremont. According to CalMatters, although Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan “told [them] that police won’t target outreach workers handing out food and clothing, the ordinance doesn’t specify what qualifies as ‘aiding, abetting or concealing.’ Experts say the city could enforce the same ordinance against ordinary citizens in contact with what the ordinance defines as an illegal homeless encampment.”

    Fremont already has a track record of success in providing affordable housing for low income and very low income residents and has planned to do far more in the next five years under Fremont’s current housing element. Fremont’s Housing Navigation Center is also succeeding in transitioning our unhoused persons into permanent housing. In the last two years, Fremont has reduced our unhoused population by 21% compared to only 3% countywide.

    Fremont can do better - and we already are doing better! But if this City Council votes this camping ban into law, Fremont will do worse. In short, the ban will not be effective because the ban is not a plan. We already have laws on the books to address truly criminal misconduct. Moreover, criminalizing homelessness effectively gives the unhoused a criminal record, which will ultimately make it even harder for them to get housing later. Please oppose this ordinance that would criminalize the experience of living on the street.

    But if this City Council votes this camping ban into law, Fremont, without providing a place to sleep and shelter, will declare her and many of our 800 unhoused neighbors to be criminals.

    Vote No on the Camping Ban Ordinance!

    Thank you,

    [YOUR SIGNATURE]

MORE Reference materials

List of media articles on camping ban