Overview:
The recently negotiated contract was the Fresno firefighters union’s first in three years. Its members earned a 3% raise, retroactive to July 2024, among a number of other changes, according to staff reports.
The Fresno City Council appropriated firefighter raises, stopped — for now — swimming lesson fees from doubling and approved cricket pitches at two parks at its Jan. 9 meeting.
While the morning was spent celebrating city officials elected into new terms, the council came back in the afternoon to discuss and approve a bevy of matters.
The council had more than 20 items on its consent calendar Thursday, all approved with a single vote. That included appropriations for firefighter salary raises per the latest union contract negotiated by the Fresno firefighters union on Dec. 9.
The recently negotiated contract was the Fresno firefighters union’s first in three years. Its members earned a 3% raise, retroactive to July 2024, among a number of other changes, according to staff reports.
Councilmembers also paused on approving a proposed fee increase for swim lessons provided by the city. While the first lesson for kids between 3 and 17 is free, subsequent lessons cost $50, according to city documents.
However, city staff recommended doubling the cost of subsequent lessons to $100. Back in December 2024, the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission voted against the increase.
At the Thursday council meeting, councilmembers Nick Richardson and Miguel Arias objected to increasing the swimming lesson fees.
“I think I’d need a little more explanation as to why we’re doubling that fee,” Richardson said. “If your kids are a little bit slower to learn — to say, ‘Hey, either foot $100 or send your kid out to the canal to go learn out there.’”
“I’m not in a position right now to be supportive of us doubling the fee for the second lesson,” Arias said. “We have a lot of kids with special needs, special conditions — we don’t all learn at the same pace.”
City Manager Georgeanne White clarified that changes to the city’s master fee schedule recommended by staff reflects tougher financial times ahead for the city.
“Because we know we are going to have a general fund shortfall, we’re looking at every single general fund department to figure out where we can start squeezing some dollars out,” White said on the dais Thursday.
Aaron Aguirre, the director of Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services, said his team would come back with a revised plan at the next council meeting on Jan. 30.
Cricket pitches greenlit and more office space
The Fresno City Council also approved a construction contract to build cricket pitches at two Fresno parks. Once complete, Fresno will have caught up to the City of Clovis and Central Unified, both of which established cricket pitches in recent years.
The City Council also approved a $3.4 million contract to turn a downtown parking garage into office space for staff members with the city’s Planning and Development Department. Nearly half of those funds are composed of federal pandemic relief funds.
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