A happy city is an accomplishment. Former Mayor Lily Mei on leading the way in Fremont, CA

 

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Transcription

David Martin: This is the good government show.

Lily Mei: In the past, people may have said things, but now with social media and the advent of such, people are more emboldened. And I think it’s the cowardice of the keyboard in our cities. I’m a 70 year history. I’m honored to be our first woman and first minority to ever be mayor. The important thing is that I ran to do something, not to be something.

Leadership is not, just because you put a title on yourself. But for me, it’s been being a public servant. And I take that responsibility extremely seriously and with great honor. I will tell people that I’ve never believed that you have to be elected to make a difference in your community, because there’s so many people who do it every day.

From my public safety officers to my teachers, to my community volunteers, to the students themselves. If you don’t speak up for yourself, no one else will. And I think telling your story is important. That’s why I’m glad to be here with you today.

David Martin: Willie Mae recently left the mayor’s office after two terms. That’s eight years as mayor of Fremont, California, and 16 years in city government. She was the first woman and the first minority person elected mayor of her Northern California Bay area city. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m your host, Dave Martin. First, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky.

Please share a show with your friends and don’t forget to review us! Let’s get everyone excited about good government. Well, I got to meet mayor Lily Mae toward the end of her second term in her eighth year as mayor. She had a lot to talk about as she look back on what she did and how she let her city before term limits prevented her from running for mayor again.

Being in Silicon Valley brings lots of benefits, but lots of challenges. She said good government means building a city able to support businesses who both move into Fremont, but also grow and stay in Fremont. What’s also impressive is her own story. The child of Chinese immigrants, she actually started taking college classes when she was only 12. Tagging along with her mother as her mother was in college.

Lily Mae is an excellent example of an immigrant success story. As you’re about to hear as mayor, she started the Asian American Pacific Islanders Mayors Alliance. She also talked about the help she provided refugees from Afghanistan. We discussed what was in some ways just irresponsible smears. She talked about how as mayor, she dealt with that. Listen to how she’s reached out to other mayors and supports the work that needs to be done to deliver good government, not just in her city, but across the nation.

My conversation with former mayor Lily Mae is coming up right after this.

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Welcome to the Good Government Show. I’m happy to have with me Lily Mei, the mayor of Fremont, California. Welcome to the show.

Lily Mei: Thank you so much. I’m delighted to be here. And I believe in good government.

David Martin: Good. We like to hear that I pronounce your name correctly. So good for me. We met, and the first thing you told me was you. You live in and preside over the happiest city in California or America. Yes.

Lily Mei: That is what we’ve been told for a six out of the eight years that I’ve been mayor. And I’m delighted to be leading the city in some very tough, challenging times. But to maintain the happiness that is required for our community to thrive.

David Martin: Now, every time I see you, you’ve been smiling. What makes your town so happy?

Lily Mei: I think what makes our town happy is the people and the programs. And I’m an optimist.

David Martin: For those folks who don’t know, tell me where Fremont is.

Lily Mei: Fremont is located in the Bay area. It’s the fourth largest city in terms of population in the San Francisco Bay Area and California, and it’s the second largest in land size and bigger inland than in every city except for San Jose.

David Martin: Really? That’s a lot of people to make happy. How many residents?

Lily Mei: It’s about 235,000.

David Martin: Okay. And everybody’s in a good mood all the time.

Lily Mei: No, I can’t say that. I’m. I’m not Prozac, okay? But I’m happy to say that there are many factors that help us maintain the quality of life, which I think many people are seeking for right now.

David Martin: There are a lot of things that people love about the Bay area, but there are a lot of challenges in the Bay area. Certainly, we’ve all been reading about some of the problems in Oakland and in San Francisco. How have you managed to keep everyone’s expectations, high and happy?

Lily Mei: Well, I think some of the factors at WalletHub in conducting their study look at our metrics in terms of the quality of life, the job opportunities, and providing the flexibility to ensure that people have the connections. So, for example, a company may look at our city because the quality of the education that we have, which we have excellent schools.

And I served formerly on the school district and as a board trustee, and I chose it as a committee member many years ago. I moved to Fremont almost 30 years ago.

David Martin: Okay.

Lily Mei: And even though.

David Martin: Where did you move from?

Lily Mei: From? I was born in Chicago and grew up in Philadelphia. Okay.

David Martin: Oh.

Lily Mei: All right. Yeah. And so moving from the East Coast, I know that it cost more. But when I looked at the parks and the recreation and the close proximity to both, San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, but then providing some of the community family friendliness. And really, even though I didn’t have children at the time, I knew was a place that I wanted to live.

David Martin: Okay. And so you picked Fremont.

Lily Mei: I did.

David Martin: Okay. What industry where you.

Lily Mei: When I was in technology formerly.

David Martin: Then you’re the right place.

Lily Mei: It’s certainly.

David Martin: Yes. And does Fremont have a large technology hub center? Industry.

Lily Mei: Yes it does. It has a primary, base of over 1700 high tech companies and over 900 manufacturers. And I think that having that unique ecosystem allows for people to be able to explore different job opportunities, but also creates a lot of that, robustness in terms of an ecosystem that allows companies to thrive. So we discovered that during the pandemic.

David Martin: Yes. So what what are the good government projects that you’re working on?

Lily Mei: So some of the good government projects are ensuring that our businesses, whether small or large, are able to continue to do well, and that during the pandemic, for the residents, we were able to deliver 17 million in rental assistance working through Arpa and other programs, and that served over 1500 families in the moments of need to keep people housed.

I think that you were talking earlier about the challenges in the Bay area, and certainly not just in the Bay area, but throughout the United States, but in the Bay area, and more notably, is cost of housing. So the last couple of years were one of the five cities that helped build the residential housing needs goals, which means having different levels of affordability and different types of housing, whether it’s, transit oriented development, which we have added a Bart station in my tenure as mayor, or senior housing, which my children jokingly say, I get that I plan for my own retirement.

David Martin: They’ve already got a place. So you have picked out of that.

Lily Mei: I think that they’re just noting to me that as I term out, that I plan so well that I if I should choose to, I would qualify for something.

David Martin: You’ll be okay.

Lily Mei: I’d be eligible.

David Martin: From what I understand it, for a large part, housing has become almost unaffordable in San Francisco for most people. How is that affected your town?

Lily Mei: Well, I think again, this goes to our discussion earlier about the different types of housing. And so but whether it’s building affordable by design or building transit oriented development, I think, and also the fact that, for example, one of the things that in the Bay area, you see a lot of us ADUs, accessory dwelling units, and for us as a city, we’ve also provided, permitting, that’s, you know, a playbook so that people can get through the process more smoothly and expedite the, the, permanent.

Because time is money, as you know, in any project.

David Martin: Sure. And how do you how do you from the mayor’s office help people who are trying to do that?

Lily Mei: Well, I think is also encouraging people and providing the resources and our staff reaching out. So, for example, we’re going to have our, say, the city in a couple days. And so being able to, let people know about the tools and resources and accessibility to those in those times and meant during the pandemic, providing also things like, for example, our small businesses, we have a small business ombudsman to help out.

And so our economic development department doesn’t just want businesses to choose Fremont as a location to start your business, but we want them to continue to thrive and be able to expand and grow.

David Martin: And are you seeing people moving in and expanding business there?

Lily Mei: We are. We’re very fortunate. There’s some companies that I can personally say that I’ve been involved with over the years, and I’ve seen them not just do one startup, but even up to three startups with us. And then the flexibility of the office space not being traditional office space that you see in some of the other metropolitans you mentioned earlier, but having flexible, warehouse manufacturing space allows them the scalability.

So someone may come in and occupy the first floor of a building, but as they grow, they may, just because of the high ceilings in other areas, be able to have the flexible facility to add a second floor. So that creates efficiency and it creates the ability to stay put, and also to create those relationships that are critical when it comes to, building out your business so that you have a supply chain, you have the logistics, and that allows people to, again, as I said, be more productive.

And more importantly, you mentioned earlier about the quality of life, having a good quality educational system where one of the top five cities for women in Stem in the western United States, I myself, you said what? How can you get involved? I love being involved with some of our companies, whether it’s the community college and also involved the Society of Women Engineers, or are introduce a girl to Engineering Day or Mother’s Daughter Science Discovery day.

David Martin: Is that a program? Introduce girls to engineering.

Lily Mei: I do it every way.

David Martin: My wife has an engineering degree.

Lily Mei: I work with, Tesla to do work with our local students. Okay, I work with Alumnae College and there’s some professors in different programs there doctor Rose, Margaret, Etta, and others who I think it creates a thank you. Sometimes you have to see it to be it. And as a mom of two engineers, as children, I have a daughter who is engineer, and I think that, you know, how you get people to be aware of these types of programs is to provide them exposure.

I myself was fortunate enough. My mother, just let people know. Also was immigrants. And we have almost 50% of our city being immigrants. When she came to the country, she had studied foreign languages and wasn’t able to secure a job in that area on the East Coast. And she went back to computer science. And much like many working moms today, didn’t have the resource of having child care.

And so I went with her to class and I picked some of it up. And so it’s a long story, but, when I was in seventh grade, I wrote a software my teacher actually failed me in it.

David Martin: Was that.

Lily Mei: There’s no way, as a 1212 year old wrote this, but my mother was kind enough in my university at that time, are now with Westchester University now. But to me, college was not aware enough to not let a 12 year old enroll. So I started college at 12.

David Martin: Really?

Lily Mei: But I didn’t go full time. But by the time I finished, high school, I had about 12, 13 credits, a semester of college under my belt. So I started working for, what’s now Siemens Healthcare Information Systems when I was 16.

David Martin: So did you and your mom get degrees at the same time?

Lily Mei: No, we did not. My mom did get a degree in that and unfortunately had struggles with sometimes interviewing and other things. But it’s a long story. This is where we have to build investment and outreach to our students. And that’s why I’m proud of these types of programs. Shared medical systems at that time, their executives. The CEO was a Boy Scout.

And so I am not just a lifetime Girl Scout. I’m also a Boy Scout. I was an explorer in the 80s.

David Martin: Wow.

Lily Mei: I was the only girl in my computer science club at that time. In that club.

David Martin: So you’re the you’re the you’re you’re the child of of Chinese immigrants?

Lily Mei: Yes, yes I am.

David Martin: Did your parents ever envision their daughter would become a bear?

Lily Mei: I don’t think that was necessarily the path that parents would have traditionally chosen. But I think what was something that my mom spoke to me on is that even as immigrants and not being familiar with the educational system as a child, my mother inspired me because she always helped out in the classroom and was there, and I carried that same vision when I joined as a PTA parent.

Yeah, oftentimes people will feel hindered by language skills or educational awareness of the systems, but all I told them is that you have to love your children. That’s all they need to know.

David Martin: But you are the the poster child really in some ways, for, you know, the American success story.

Lily Mei: I feel grateful to be able to represent our community. I didn’t mention earlier that in our cities, I’m a 70 year history. I’m honored to be our first woman and first minority to ever be mayor.

David Martin: They must like you.

Lily Mei: I feel they like me enough that I guess I was elected. Yeah. And, I was reelected with more votes than I was. I came into office on.

David Martin: All right.

Lily Mei: So I hold the record for, I think for first and second place. That’s good city history.

David Martin: We talked a little bit before we turn the mics on and, how shall I put this? It seems from what you’re telling me that you’ve been sort of the subject of some, you know, underhanded politics. How does that affect your ability to lead and what’s going on?

Lily Mei: I think the important thing is that I ran to do something, not to be something. And I think that the identity is something I take pride in, in terms of my heritage and my culture. But when you’re the first, you also learn to be resilient. And that’s one of things that I think that my city takes pride in, whether it’s our infrastructure or its mayor, is that when you’re faced with challenges, I jokingly have told people that I don’t run away from anything.

The only thing I ever run for is office.

David Martin: Okay, so but you’ve had from what you told me, I mean, you’ve had people just, you know, out now lying about what you’re doing and threatening it.

Lily Mei: I think that in this last couple of years and I’ve been in office, this is my 16th year in office, right? What I’ve seen, unfortunately, is that with Covid and also being, more on social media in the past, people may have said things, but now with social media and the advent of such, people are more emboldened. And I think it’s the cowardice of the keyboard.

But that’s why I’m privileged to serve. And I’m here with the Conference of Mayors. I feel inspired because I realized that this is our moment, to speak out and to speak up for others. And if we don’t do so, then it will never change.

David Martin: You are one of the panels, I believe. What? What were you talking about?

Lily Mei: I will be on a panel later today.

David Martin: Okay. It’s today. I’m sorry. What is the what is your panel discussion?

Lily Mei: So I will tell you that being the first in our city as the woman and minority and Asian, I discovered that for many years here, like many conferences, I was the state president for Asian school board members for California. I was on school board before. Okay. And then for National League of Cities. I was also the president for Asian municipal elected officials, but here for many years and the Conference of Mayors has been around.

This is their 92nd year, right? They’ve had a Latino mayors alliance of black Mayors Alliance. And while I am honored to be our city’s first, I didn’t realize until I was elected and someone said, hey, have you seen yourself on Twitter and US history for big city Asian mayors, women mayors? I’m the third in U.S. history for big cities.

And so knowing that, I thank you. It’s like a great privilege. But it’s also a great responsibility. And I feel so humbled. I serve on the advisory board here at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And a year and a half ago, I asked my fellow leaders on the board, would you help me form the Asian American Pacific Islander Alliance for mayors?

And they joined me in that. And this is my third meeting. The first meeting we had Eric Matsuda speak with us, okay. The second one, I had Secretary Sue and Daniel Ko from the white House, and then this one, we’re going to try to build some more bridges with alliances that are out there. And already in organizations, because I feel that I’m so happy to be able to represent.

But I also I’m selfish as a mom and as a community member. Yeah. So think it’s more important to build a pipeline. And when I say that it’s an Asian American Pacific Islander Mayors alliance, it doesn’t mean yourself being that identity. It means that willingness to make sure that the voice of your community is being heard. I mentioned earlier that 50% of my community, almost 50% are immigrants.

But we have one of the largest Indian population is Asian Indian, a large Chinese. We also have one of the largest Afghan populations outside of Afghanistan. That’s why I take great pride that during the changes on the federal policies and people are pulling outside of Afghanistan and the the transition for so many of the immigrants, you know, our city rose up to raise an Afghan refugee help fund and with partnership with our staff and our community members, and raised over half a million, almost a half $1 million to help out not just the Afghan refugees in our city, but in surrounding cities.

And I mentioned earlier, you met once in my neighboring mayors that I said fun, Fremont, Union City, and you work so our three cities plus Hayward. So we helped raise money because we know how hard it is to transition. Having been through those experiences ourselves and seeing that we need to be a compassionate city that would stand up and help others.

David Martin: And while we’re talking, we’re here at the Conference of Mayors. The mayor of Santa Monica came by and gave you his full endorsement. So yes, I guess it you’re well known in California. Are you in touch with the mayor of Boston?

Lily Mei: I am.

David Martin: And what advice would you give her?

Lily Mei: Oh, well, I think that, you know, I it’s interesting.

David Martin: Michelle wu.

Lily Mei: Yes, mayor.

David Martin: Well, she’s my well and she is the first woman, and I think the first Asian woman to be elected mayor of Boston.

Lily Mei: She is. Yes. I think that we each come with our own, outreach and our own experiences. And just to let you know, it’s funny when you said mayor Will, because I don’t know if you earlier here at this conference, there also was mayor Lily Wu. Yeah. Wichita, Kansas. She’s also spoke.

David Martin: To her earlier, the.

Lily Mei: First. And so I’m privileged to see that this is a start of something that I.

David Martin: Believe she started a movement. I guess.

Lily Mei: Well, I think that, again, it’s that sisterhood. And I would say to her and any of my fellow mayors, be it Asian or just sister mayors or fellow mayors, I was sharing earlier today that as I was saying goodbye, because this is my last general meeting that I’ve had that for, for at this time, I may come back in the future.

David Martin: We’ll see.

Lily Mei: But, is that how important it is to build that allyship? Not all of cities are lucky enough. I am a general law city in California, which means I’m not the CEO or at the this the, strong mayor quote unquote, unquote form of government that you see in some of my surroundings.

David Martin: Is it a full time job?

Lily Mei: It is not supposed to be a full time job, but I’ve served this whole time job.

David Martin: And do you have another do you have an outside job as well?

Lily Mei: This is my full time position.

David Martin: All right.

Lily Mei: And so I dedicated my life for the past 16 years to our community.

David Martin: Okay. Are you looking forward to not being there?

Lily Mei: I’m looking forward to whatever is the next chapter of what it brings to me. I am so proud of my community and all the things that I’ve done. But not because of what I’ve done, but because what our community has done together. It means that in these toughest times, when we needed to in the pandemic to deliver food, to work with our nonprofit organizations, we have a Fremont Family Resource Center that brings together 32 nonprofit organizations.

And it just celebrated its 25th year. But it’s that type of willingness to get down and, get involved. I’m I’m proud of the fact you asked, what can we do about housing? Yeah. So we have a habitat for humanity project in our city. And I’m proud to say, I can literally say I helped build my city. I’ve dug trenches, tied rebar, kneel two by fours, climbed scaffolding, lifted drywall with the 40 niners, worked with our women’s leadership team, 40 niners.

Said yes, I did paint a trim with them.

David Martin: It’s nice because they’re bigger.

Lily Mei: Yes, they’re a little bit bigger than us. But I’ll tell you, I was chasing them while they were painting the trim. Their hands are probably a lot more valuable than ours, but we lifted 600 pounds of drywall together as well.

David Martin: Okay.

Lily Mei: All right. And so.

David Martin: Very nice. Very nice. All right. In just a minute we’re going to get your we’re going to get to the true heart of your philosophy of government.

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David Martin: We call this the Good Government. Show a questionnaire. We’re going to get to the heart of your philosophy of government. Are you ready?

Lily Mei: Yes I am.

David Martin: Define good government.

Lily Mei: Good government for me is one where we listen to the community members and that we provide the programs and resources that people need to ensure that their lives are, what they deserve. I think growing up in Philadelphia and looking at the Constitution and seeing governments also, I mentioned I was a worldwide sales controller in other countries. I feel privileged to live in the United States and to value the fact that we have committee members.

We just heard also from here at the conference from West Point, the fact that people are willing to sacrifice their lives and dedicate that integrity and responsibility and show proven results and accountability for the people that they serve.

David Martin: Okay. How do you judge your success? How do you know if you’re doing a good job other than being reelected? How do you how do you judge it?

Lily Mei: I think that, you know, that is one of the key measurements is whether or not you’re reelected. But it’s the little things that are perhaps motivated me over the years. It’s the fact that I feel so humbled. A couple months back, I had a college student come back and tell me, you know, I’ve traveled now to other places, and I finished my freshman year, but I wanted you to know that I come back home and I feel so fortunate to have grown up there because it’s the diversity of character, just cultures, the acceptance of others, and the fact that you care enough in these time periods to not just walk away.

I didn’t mention that one of the things I’m most proud of during my tenure, and even though it’s pretty controversial at that time, was our housing navigation center. We had over 3000 speakers at three different town halls, and the night of the vote, over 500 speakers. And while it was a challenge and controversial at that time, it passed our council unanimously.

And since then, we’ve had a six month report, one year report to your report, and we have a close to 70% placement success rate.

David Martin: That’s that’s impressive. If the people of Fremont, the happy people of Fremont, if they feel like maybe they’re a little bit unhappy, what should they do?

Lily Mei: I think what if they feel like they’re unhappy? There’s a lot of different things we have an app that’s created, but also we have town hall meetings and they should come to our council meetings. One of the things I’ve always told our community members, whether it’s residents, or businesses, is that I ran originally because I felt sometimes that our voices weren’t being heard.

And so we have town halls with our council members, we have public outreach. We have many different ways to be to have communications. In fact, when we did our active transportation plan, we actually did both biking and walking. And I believe in doing that alongside our committee members so we can get real time feedback. But if they weren’t able to walk or talk with us that day, they’re able to look at the maps and provide that feedback via surveys and other tools.

David Martin: Okay, so you said 16 years in government, what would you like people to know about government from the inside?

Lily Mei: I think what I’d like people to know about government is that, what the roles and responsibilities are may not be what you think it is. There’s no magic wand.

David Martin: You’re not Prozac? No.

Lily Mei: Not press act. Yes. And then also that I think it’s hard sometimes because the way government functions, there’s a delineation in roles and responsibilities between what’s run by local transit agencies, what’s run by local school districts and that, I think as mayor, sometimes the buck stops here.

David Martin: Okay.

Lily Mei: Because we’re the people. And I think that that’s where it’s important, where the people sometimes being local, that people see the most that you see at the grocery store and that you are the one sitting next to you at a game, and that for the parades in your moments, you know, when I’m out there during the pandemic, where I was sitting out there delivering food boxes with masks on and, regular clothes and people know that you can be alongside them.

I think that’s what I think is important. It’s not, a leadership is not, just because you put a title on yourself. But for me, it’s been being a public servant. And I take that responsibility extremely seriously and with great honor and privilege of being able to serve my community.

David Martin: Okay. What’s the best part of being mayor?

Lily Mei: The best part of the me being mayor, I think, is that every day is a new day and that you never know what’s going to happen. And it could be a challenge. It could be, great blessings. But it’s the fact that you get to help shape your city and hopefully make it a better place than it was the day before.

David Martin: What’s the hardest part of the job?

Lily Mei: The hardest part of the job is sometimes is in this moment, knowing that you have a time limit and that you can only do so much in your time.

David Martin: Okay.

Lily Mei: But I would tell people that I’ve never believed that you have to be elected to make a difference in your community, because there’s so many people who do it every day, from my public safety officers to my teachers, to my community volunteers, to the students themselves, I have are you.

David Martin: Going to be sitting in the front row the first, the first week? You’re not there.

Lily Mei: I don’t know if I’ll be sitting in the front row, but I can guarantee you that after investing this many years of my life into the city. Yeah, I will not be, shy about sharing my feedback. I think there needs to be heard. But I realize also how important it is to have that rotation of different people because different leaders bring different experiences, expertise, and advice.

I’d be happy to advise and support anyone who’s in that role to ensure that they are best prepared.

David Martin: Okay, so, you make news in Fremont. Where do you get your news?

Lily Mei: Where do I get my news?

David Martin: Yes. What do you read? What do you what do you pay attention to?

Lily Mei: I read all different types of things. I read social media, but I also importantly read, news that are like, for example, are local news. I have the tri city voice, which is one that covers our local news. Who’s just actually their editor has just decided to retire, and I apologize. I’m here today, actually, because they’re having their going away party.

All right. But I also just.

David Martin: Said you regards. So what did. Good.

Lily Mei: But I also think that, you know, there’s local newspapers like Silicon Valley Business Journal. So I get different perspectives from different lenses. And I think that’s important. But I also think that I get the news from my community members themselves. They tell me how they feel, they reach out to me and they write emails. They come to our meetings.

David Martin: Do you read about yourself?

Lily Mei: I do, and sometimes it can be very hard. It’s very it’s it’s very humbling, I’m sure.

David Martin: Yeah. Okay. So who inspired you to get into government service? Who’s your political hero?

Lily Mei: Well, I think some of as I mentioned, my mother is my hero. But I also mentioned that I grew up in Philadelphia, and for me, I loved reading as a child, and I loved reading biographies.

David Martin: Okay.

Lily Mei: And I always wanted to know how people can make a difference in their world. And so I, one of my personal heroes is Ben Franklin, which is not a perfect man, but he’s somebody who made inventions, whether it’s bifocals, fire stations.

David Martin: Did you watch the, recent, series on him?

Lily Mei: I did not oh.

David Martin: That’s okay.

Lily Mei: But, so I think Michael.

David Martin: Douglas plays very good.

Lily Mei: Okay. Yeah. I think that being somebody who can make the world a better place, even after you leave and not have to take credit for it, is something that’s honorable. And I think that that’s something I would have loved to have done. And I feel like in this last couple years, it gave me a great opportunity to be at the forefront of that.

David Martin: Okay. Well, he was certainly a great Philadelphian. Was this was was running for office or public service something you thought about even as, a kid growing up in Philly, were you class senior class president?

Lily Mei: No, I was not. I was a very shy child. And actually.

David Martin: I don’t believe that.

Lily Mei: I was okay. I was very nerdy.

David Martin: And you got over it.

Lily Mei: No, I, I think that sometimes life forces you to come out of your shell. Yeah, because if you don’t speak up for yourself, no one else will. And I think telling your story is important. That’s why I’m glad to be here with you today.

David Martin: And you said one of the things you we talked about a little bit before we turned the bikes on is, one of the lessons you learned from, you know, some of the, barbs you took was to speak up.

Lily Mei: It is. I mean, as a child, I grew up at the end of the Vietnam War era. Yeah. And I’ve told people before, I was stuffed in lockers, I’ve had my mailbox blown up, my tires and my windows shot out as a kid. And so, it taught me resiliency. It taught me how important is to welcome people and to not accept hate, and to be able to counter those challenges.

David Martin: Currently, there seems to be a lot of, discussion about, you know, immigration and, you know, who are the real Americans. Well, you know, what would you say to those people, you know, being now in there and a child of immigrants?

Lily Mei: I think that we have a long history. And America, aside from the Native Americans, so many who have come from ships, from planes. Well, my journey. Yes. And so I’ve always told people that I hope to be a bridge. And I’m very proud of my culture and the heritage that that brings. But it’s hopefully bringing all the different, best aspects of our community, because in my city we have Interfaith Thanksgiving, we have interfaith culture, worship and other gatherings that allow us to celebrate the richness that brings us together, whether it’s the food, the family, education, and, you know, these are what makes our community special.

David Martin: Speaking of food, what is your favorite dish in your in Fremont? I do cook. Does your mother.

Lily Mei: Well, so I have to tell you that. Yes. I don’t know if I have time to cook sometimes. We have had two years now, the restaurant week in our city because. And supporting our small businesses. All right. And last year we had almost 50 restaurants. Okay. And I don’t know what it says about me, but I ate at 27 of.

David Martin: It says you’re a great, strong supporter of Fremont Restaurant. See, that’s what it says after Restaurant Week.

Lily Mei: We are fortunate to have a city that also has a lot of great bike infrastructure. Okay. And also, as I mentioned, walking or some of our community members really love the parks. And so that’s one of the things that we also believe in is that, maybe after Exit Restaurant Week, we need exercise money.

David Martin: Well, whatever you’re doing is your folks go to the government, show.com, and you will, you will, you will meet there by obviously whatever you’re doing, if you’re eating at 27 restaurants, you’re doing it right afterwards. Is there any cuisine that you love or do you always go back to Chinese?

Lily Mei: I jokingly say, I love seafood, I see it, I eat it, okay. So I mean, I, I have affinity for many different types of food, but I think it’s that ability to try different things and to experience the different cultures that, you know. They say if you share a meal, you bridge that distance between one another.

David Martin: Where’s the one place I have to go when I’m in your town.

Lily Mei: You have to come visit me at City Hall. Okay.

David Martin: Last question here. This is a good government show. We always bring it back to good government. Give me an example of good government in Fremont.

Lily Mei: I think good government. Fremont is our, ability to, like I said, in the Fremont Family Resource Center. And I’ll give another example real quick. I want to say that when I had a choice coming in as a mayor, I could have built our city hall, and we had funding only for one of two items at that time.

But we’ve been five small towns that came together 70 years to form a downtown, a city. And so I decided to build our downtown event center instead, because I knew that while some people would love to have a city hall and it’d be a place to sit, it’s not as important as it is to give back to the community a place to gather, and so that has turned out to be a true catalyst for us.

It’s a beautiful downtown event center, and we’ve had over 800 events there, and it’s been the best decision I made because I think it’s a catalyst that helps our community move forward.

David Martin: Mayor Lily Mei of Fremont, California, the happiest place on Earth. It was great to meet you. Thanks for talking to me. It was it was great to have you. Thank you.

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Building homes with habitat for humanity and the San Francisco 40 niners. That’s a mayor who rolls up his sleeves to get to work, and lifting up 600 pounds of drywall with help. But that’s getting the work done. And I have to point out one comment she made. She calls it, quote, the cowardice of the keyboard, unquote. It’s easy to criticize, but to make a change, as so many mayors and city leaders say, don’t hide behind social media.

Get involved. A good eight year run in one of the happiest cities in America, thanks to former mayor Lily May. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and of us right here where you’re listening, and check out our website. Good Government show.com for extra. Help us keep telling stories of good government in action everywhere.

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**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.