Robert "Bob" Wasserman (January 12, 1934 – December 29, 2011) was an American politician and retired police chief, who served as the Mayor of Fremont, California, from 2004 to 2011.
[3] Following his discharge, Wasserman joined the California National Guard, where he served as a military police inspector and rose to the rank of sergeant first class.
[1] Former Fremont Police Captain Mike Lanam noted in 2012 that Wasserman, "took a fledgling department and brought it to state and national prominence.
[3] Wasserman also served as the Deputy Commissioner of Interpol task force, during the United States involvement in Bosnia, and was directly reported to by the contingent commander overseeing operations there.
[1] During the 1990s and 2000s, Wasserman watched Fremont transition to an integral part of the Silicon Valley from a quiet, small East Bay city.
[1] Fifteen of top one hundred fastest growing companies in the San Francisco Bay Area were also located in Fremont by the same year.
Wasserman won the 2008 election with 42% of the vote, defeating city councilman Steve Cho, who took 32%, and former Mayor Gus Morrison, who garnered 21%.
[1] He also spearheaded efforts to build a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in the Warm Springs District of Fremont, which under construction, as of 2012.
[4] Other major projects attributed to Wasserman included the completion of the Pacific Commons shopping center, the Niles Town Plaza, the Aqua Adventure Water Park and the Washington Grade Separation.
[1] In 2006, Wasserman and Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty sent a joint letter to Oakland A's co-owner Lew Wolff asking him to move the team to a proposed stadium in Fremont, to be called Cisco Field.
[4] The mayor helped pass a city council resolution in opposition to California Proposition 8, a state ballot initiative which banned same sex marriage, in 2008.
[3][4] Dignitaries included state Sen. Ellen Corbett, law enforcement officers from throughout the region, mayors, business and political leaders, and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.