Fremont needs to appoint a new council member following the surprising election of Lily Mei as mayor. One candidate for the appointment is Roman Reed, a Fremont planning commissioner with one of the most interesting back stories you will ever hear.

Reed sat down with me to discuss her plans for Fremont, along with his passion for finding cures for cancer, paralysis and other ailments that might one day be found using stem cells. He subsequently found the Roman Reed Foundation.

In 1994, Reed was paralyzed while playing football for Chabot College. As the school newspaper's sports editor, I witnessed Reed's injury and covered that fateful game.