What's at stake?
If Fresno tries to use parks and arts tax money for a new childcare pilot program, they could have a pretty big fight on their hands.
Even the critics of Tyler Maxwell’s effort to create affordable childcare in Fresno think it’s a pretty good idea.
They just want to know how he’s going to pay for it.
And though the funding remains in limbo, lines are already being drawn in the sand.
During the hectic rush of Fresno’s budget season at City Hall in June, Maxwell, the city council’s vice president, held a news conference to announce a one-year, multi-million-dollar pilot program aimed at addressing childcare issues in Fresno. Maxwell’s initial proposal of $3.5 million was scaled back to $2 million during budget talks in June.
In an interview with Fresnoland this week, Maxwell confirmed that the money remains in technical limbo for now until a contract is drawn up with First Five of California and a specific funding source is identified.
But he also said that an idea to fund the program with money from Fresno’s Measure P remains a possibility.
“Nothing is off the table,” Maxwell said in a phone interview.
On Wednesday afternoon, after this story had published, Fresno spokesperson Sontaya Rose said the pilot program’s $2 million is all coming out of general fund dollars during the current fiscal year, which began July 1. Rose also confirmed that no Measure P dollars have allocated for the pilot in the current budget.
She noted the mayor had allocated the $2 million from the general fund before hearing concerns from Fresno BHC.
But future funding questions after the current fiscal year remain.
And if City Hall tries to use Measure P funds, it’s going to have a fight on its hands.
“We still have pools that need to be renovated. We still have new parks that need to be created,” said Sandra Celedon, CEO of Fresno Building Healthy Communities, one of Measure P’s co-authors. “We have more trails and pedestrian trails that need to be created and connected to parks and other recreational opportunities. We know that there’s still a whole lot of programming that needs to be offered.”
Passed by voters in 2018, Measure P, formally dubbed “the Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Tax Ordinance,” is a 30-year sales tax measure created specifically for the city’s long-beleaguered public parks. The funding has strict parameters in place for spending the money.
It also sets aside funds for trails, after-school programs, and the arts.
And Fresno BHC isn’t the only community group eyeing the funding question with suspicion.
The Youth Leadership Institute has said they support the idea of improving affordable child care options, but also have expressed concern over the possibility of using Measure P.
Celedon said that while the city’s parks have improved slowly thanks to Measure P, the work is far from complete. She also said none of the voter-approved uses for Measure P dollars include childcare programs.
“I think it’s really important for politicians not to use Measure P as a slush fund for anything and everything that their hearts desire,” Celedon said.
In a June 26 letter to City Hall, attorneys for Fresno BHC noted that, if the city wants to make material changes to Measure P funding, they have to put the issue before the voters first.
If the city tries to use the funding outside those lanes, Fresno BHC is willing to take the fight to court, Celedon confirmed.
For his part, Maxwell said he was “not surprised” by the pushback from Celedon and others who were involved in the early days of the Measure P fight.
“I understand why they’re probably feeling very defensive and territorial,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell, the District 4 councilmember whose area includes east central Fresno and the airport, said Fresno should be able to study options. He also noted that “people’s needs and desires might change” over the course of the tax’s 30-year life and signaled a willingness to consider such changes.
“I mean it isn’t the Constitution. It isn’t the Bible,” Maxwell said of Measure P. “It’s not infallible.”
And while Maxwell said he thinks changing Measure P might be — or at least should be — possible, he also acknowledged that there have been no serious discussions.
Maxwell said the city is still working to identify funding sources. In the meantime, Maxwell is leading an effort to put together a commission of childcare experts within the next few weeks. He said the experts would develop feedback on the real needs of the community and help gameplan strategies to meet those needs.
“We know child care is a top priority for a lot of folks who know that early child care learning is something that people are very eager to sign their children up for, but it is very cost prohibitive,” Maxwell said, “and so we need to look into all different sorts of things to see what’s the best candidate to meet these needs, and I would say nothing is off the table.”
Maxwell further argued that Measure P already funds a lot of after-school programming in the city and wondered aloud if there could be a way to bridge those concepts.
And while Celedon acknowledged the Measure P benefit to after-school programs, she noted that such programs are not the same as childcare.
“I think if Councilmember Maxwell were to speak to any licensed child care or daycare provider, he would have a very clear understanding (that) those two things are very different,” Celedon noted
Maxwell acknowledged differences and emphasized that the idea is to find solutions.
“It’s not like daycare, but it is providing some educational components, some sports programming, some arts programming … until their parents get off of work.”
Maxwell says he has “no preconceived notions about what a solution might look like.”
“Which is why I’m putting together this commission to try to get as much feedback as possible.”
Maxwell said he hopes to begin forming the childcare commission within the next two weeks.
