THE BENCH FOR FUTURE  LEGISLATORS IS THIN LOCALLY
Fremont Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski was sworn-in last Monday and quickly got to work. On the same day he replaced termed-out Alberto Torrico in Sacramento, Wieckowski already had his first piece of legislation in the pipeline. AB 14 hopes to coordinate redevelopment of the area surrounding the former NUMMI plant and the forthcoming Warm Springs BART station.

Asm. Bob Wieckowski

Wieckowski was honored by the Fremont City Council Tuesday night along with some requisite needling from Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty. Wieckowski beat Republican Adnad Shahab last month and showed electoral sour grapes are not limited to San Leandro. Shahab wrote on his campaign website last month, “I will not congratulate Bob Wieckowski. The way my opponent conducted himself during his entire bid for the Assembly District 20 seat was not honorable,” wrote Shahab, who also vowed to keep a close on eye on Wieckowski in Sacramento. Fremont now has an open council seat to fill with up to seven potential applicants for the job, including the runner-up from the November election.

Wieckowski’s elevation to the assembly raises the question of who, at the local level, is next to make the leap to Sacramento? The bench appears bare. Hayward Councilman Bill Quirk is a likely candidate even though he is taking a wait-see approach to how the district’s potential new borders will look like. That’s about it, but don’t take your eye off of San Leandro Councilman Jim Prola or even the Mayor-elect Stephen Cassidy. Prola is, by far, the hardest working member of the council and Cassidy looked into a run for assembly a few years ago before Democrats urged him to rise through the local ranks.