Quote of the Week
“There’s a story in the Bible about how Jesus was going to feed the 5,000 (people) with two fish and five loaves of bread. And we were able to do it. So I want to say thank you to this council for making that work.”
— Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer speaking to media this week after the city adopted its new budget
This Week in Fresnoland
Fresno approves $2.3 billion spending plan
Despite falling revenues and financial uncertainty across the nation, the Fresno City Council adopted another record-breaking budget this week that includes Mayor Jerry Dyer’s $100 million bond for repaving roads and fixing sidewalks, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reported.
Fresno’s public budget process was relatively quiet this year, with 82 funding request changes from city councilmembers, of which, the mayor’s office funded 47 of the requests at least partially to the tune of $14.8 million in fund shuffling.
The full list of reconciliation items was released to the public Monday evening.
Once again this year, Dyer reconciled the budget during private, one-on-one meetings with individual councilmembers — a practice adopted following a 2023 Fresnoland investigation that questioned whether the city’s now-prior budget process violated California’s open meeting law.
Fresno changes rules around apartment conversions
A divided Fresno City Council approved a proposal streamlining the process of building homes in office zone spaces and vacant lots through a split 4-3 vote, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported.
Before voting, the council removed a provision that would have allowed for these developments to be approved ministerially, meaning projects would no longer be allowed to skip a public input process or city council review by completing a pre-approved checklist of requirements.
The move comes more than a year after the city rejected plans for an apartment complex in northwest Fresno, despite the project developers’ completion of the city’s preapproved checklist. Citing concerns from upset neighbors, the council ultimately denied the project, triggering an ongoing lawsuit from the developer.
The city’s approval takes it a step closer to regaining its “Prohousing Designation” — a coveted status granted by state housing regulators that provides cities with access to millions of dollars in grants, a critical designation the city lost just last month.
Wait, why was this the plan?
The contracts of nearly a dozen city labor unions recently expired, and now Fresno leaders are in talks with all 11 employee bargaining units simultaneously for the first time in recent memory, Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported.
Those simultaneous expiration dates across 11 city worker contracts are partly the product of last year’s bargaining cycle, when the city negotiated one-year contracts with several city workers’ unions.
Those uncharacteristically short-term contracts took many union leaders by surprise, and some wonder what could happen if not just the contract expiration dates but also impasse proceedings or even strikes could sync up down the line.
“It doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me because all it’s going to take is one unit to go out on strike,” said IUOE union rep Terri Hauschel, “and anybody who has the right to strike — obviously public safety does not — but anybody else that has the right to sympathy strike can.
“You can literally have the entire City of Fresno shut down.”
‘It was very aggressive’
On Sunday, June 15, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad captured footage of a group of masked men in plain clothes forcing two men into an unmarked vehicle outside of a downtown Fresno office that operates an immigration supervision program.
Immigration attorneys who spoke with Omar said such practices are becoming more and more routine nationwide.
“It was very aggressive,” said Jesús Ibañez, who is the director of immigration services at the Education and Leadership Foundation. “It was individuals wearing masks. They themselves look like bad faith actors. There’s nothing to identify them as government agents.”
Attorneys also shared that migrants across California with active immigration cases received extremely short notice to report for mandated check-ins over Father’s Day weekend.
Read Fresnoland’s full story here.
New Cal Fire maps expand hazard zone in Fresno, Clovis
For the first time in more than a decade, California fire officials have updated their local wildfire maps, revealing what many north Fresno residents never knew: Flames could race along the San Joaquin River, potentially threatening Valley Children’s Hospital and homes along the bluffs, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reported.
The new maps — mandated by 2021 state legislation — are the first to assess “high” and “moderate” fire hazards in areas under local fire department jurisdiction. Previously, Cal Fire only mapped “very high” severity zones in these areas.
This risk to north Fresno and Clovis renewed conversation earlier this month when the Fresno County Board of Supervisors convened the first of two mandatory hearings on Cal Fire’s updated hazard maps.
Outside the Lines
Richard Sloan has been all over the world, but the San Joaquin River keeps drawing him back home to Fresno. He’s the subject of this week’s Around Fresnoland, our ongoing series profiling the people fueling our neighborhoods and communities with heart, grit and creativity. Know a person with an interesting backstory? Tell us about them by emailing tips@fresnoland.org. Around Fresnoland
On this week’s Fresnolandia, Jordan and Danielle speak with Christine Barker, the executive director of FIRM — Fresno Immigrant and Refugee Ministries — a nonprofit group that has been working on refugee resettlement locally since the 1980s. Fresnolandia
Tiogaland, a Disney-inspired event by Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co., brought beer, food and community together downtown on Friday. Fresnoland
The immigration raids that Councilmember Miguel Arias warned the public about never materialized, but he says he doesn’t regret sharing information that he believes will help people stay safe. But if ICE and Border Patrol agents stayed away from the Cherry Avenue Auction on June 14, it might be because just about everyone else stayed home, too. Fresnoland
Thousands of Fresnans joined in the “No Kings” protests, which included hundreds of demonstrations nationwide on the same day the U.S. Army celebrated its 250th anniversary with a parade synchronized with President Donald Trump’s birthday. Fresnoland
“A new study by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and UC Merced says mass deportations could strip more than $275 billion from California’s economy and severely disrupt industries that rely on migrant labor.” The Merced Focus
At least 15 California counties — including Fresno County — could face power shut offs in the coming days as PG&E prepares for high winds up and down the Valley. The Fresno Bee
Speaking of fire dangers, many California fire leaders are worried about the coming months. The Los Angeles Times
“Officials at the California High-Speed Rail Authority defended the project from a scathing federal audit they say is ‘an inaccurate, often outright misleading, presentation of the evidence.’” The Fresno Bee
Block Beat
AIRPORT: The Fresno Yosemite International Airport is calling for artists to submit proposals for murals at the city’s airport. Artists may submit proposals for more than one mural. Each proposal will require a separate submission. More information
CLOVIS: “The Clovis Unified School District plans to run a $14.4 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year, budget documents show.” The Fresno Bee
MADERA: “An annual community-driven Oaxacan festival in Madera was canceled due to ICE raid concerns.” KSEE
PRATHER: “A fast-moving wildfire dubbed the Oak Fire forced Fresno County CAL FIRE crews to quickly set up a defense near Prather.” ABC30
DOWNTOWN: “A new interactive mural in Downtown Fresno is giving voice to undocumented immigrants through art and technology.” ABC30
