The Fresno Documenters are a group of local residents who are trained and paid to attend and take notes at local public meetings where officials decide how to spend public money and make important decisions about your community. Each week we publish their full notes and create short, easy-to-read briefs analyzing the decisions that were made.
Documenters
Amid bureaucratic uncertainty, City of Fresno places citywide general tax on November ballot
The City of Fresno announced on Friday that it has filed to place their recently approved citywide general tax measure on the November ballot, amid uncertainty on how the county will follow through on the recently approved state bill that should allow the Better Roads countywide tax measure to go before voters later this year.…
Gavin Newsom signs bill to guarantee spot for Fresno County’s Measure C successor plan on November ballot
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed into law a bill to guarantee the proposed Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation tax measure a spot on the November ballot for Fresno County voters. Earlier on Thursday, AB 1923 — co-authored by Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria and state Sen. Anna Caballero — received the required two-thirds support in both…
Fresno council says ‘yes’ to tax measure – and ‘no’ on term-limit extension, redistricting and SEDA
A string of rushed ballot proposals received a chilly reception Thursday at Fresno City Hall, as three of the four just days-old ballot measures died on the vine, but not before a marathon 13-hour meeting where the proposals were criticized primarily as self-serving, hastily introduced and poorly planned. The four proposals were introduced by a…
Where’s the money? Fresno council clashes over SEDA mega-development, delaying the ballot measure
The Fresno City Council voted in a narrow 4-3 majority to remove a SEDA ballot initiative from their meeting agenda on Thursday. Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Annalisa Perea, Brandon Vang and Nick Richardson joined together as the voting bloc which gives the so-called “No Debt on Development” ballot initiative only one more week to be put…
Subsidies for SEDA? New Fresno ballot initiative could open door for city revenues to flow towards first phase of southeast mega-development
There’s an old adage in politics: never waste a good crisis. This week, Fresno’s financial rulebook is trying to be rewritten for its $4 billion mega-development plan, known as SEDA. The City Council will vote on Thursday on whether to put the “No Debt on Development” initiative on the November ballot. If approved, the initiative…
City of Fresno introduces tax plan to cover expected lost revenue once Measure C ends next year
The Fresno City Council will be asked at their next meeting to place a general sales tax proposal before voters on the November 2026 general election ballot to help cover a projected shortfall of tens of millions of dollars that will likely come after Measure C expires next summer, with no other replacement legislation in…
What one particularly stubborn vacancy in the Tower District tells Fresno about one of the city’s biggest economic challenges
Steve Wilburn studied theoretical physics in college. They don’t teach you in theoretical physics programs how to revitalize buildings in your Fresno neighborhood that have sat vacant for decades. But he tried anyway. Wilburn had been working remotely for a tech company from his home in Fresno’s Tower District when he started dreaming of putting…
Three Fresno supervisors shut down Better Roads tax measure after tense clash
A slim majority of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to delay placing the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation sales tax measure on the ballot until staff can complete a study of the measure’s impacts — a decision that will likely preclude the measure from appearing on ballots until 2028. Supervisors Buddy Mendes and…
It’s the final round of one of Fresno’s biggest political fights — and it’s not just red vs. blue
On the eve of a pivotal Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting, the local Better Roads, Safe Streets coalition made one final plea to the county board — home to some of the transportation sales tax campaign’s most vocal detractors — to respect the will of thousands of voters. The coalition learned last week that…
Fresno’s critical transportation tax has enough signatures for the November ballot — but there’s one more hurdle
It’s official: One plan to replace Fresno County’s 40-year transportation sales tax measure has met the minimum number of signatures to qualify for the ballot. Fresno County Clerk James Kus confirmed in an email that the Better Roads, Safe Streets campaign crossed that significant hurdle as of Wednesday afternoon. Now, it’s onto the July 14…
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