Good morning! It’s Wednesday, Oct. 7. This is Rob.
Measure S voter guide: A countywide half-cent sales tax replaces Measure C and emphasizes fixing old roads and safety projects near schools. Opponents say its fix-broken-roads-first approach is too strict, slowing down growth of building new and wider roads at the fringe of town. Fresnoland
Snooping candidate? State Center Community College District trustee candidate Marcos Osorio is accusing his rival, Terance Frazier, of snooping at his house Monday night, while his kids were home. Fresno Bee
Golden parachute much? Another severance payment under the microscope at Fresno Unified. This time the pay out landed in the hands of the superintendent’s cousin. GV Wire
No cause (again) The cause of the ongoing Dome Fire is officially undetermined — again — after federal authorities previously said the cause was an abandoned camping fire. The Fresno Bee
“Mobsters, Molls & Murder” Dinner theater takes you back to Prohibition Era Fresno with a five course meal, cocktails and a chance to solve the crime. The first show is set for Oct. 22. Fresno City & County Historical Society
“Come play around” Topgolf, the popular national driving range and restaurant, is coming soon to Madera. The Business Journal
1. Councilmember, mayor clash over water and sewer rate hike talks
Water and sewer rates are on the table Thursday at Fresno City Hall as the council weighs potential rate hikes — the first in a decade or more.
While rate hikes would look different for residential, commercial and industrial customers, the typical residential water bill would climb by about $1.77 per month, with incremental increases over the following four years. Those same residential users could see that hike offset with a .95-cent monthly cut to sewer bills.
Thursday’s talks come on the heels of the long-awaited SEDA mega-development finance plan that relies, at least in part, on city utility bill revenue. Councilmember Miguel Arias, who plans to host a news conference on the issue later this morning, told Fresnoland the utility hike proposal is nothing more than thinly disguised “code for SEDA.”
Mayor Jerry Dyer, the driving political force behind the southeast mega project, pushed back on Arias’ assertions.
Dyer: “These dollars are for the purpose of replacing infrastructure in neighborhoods, older neighborhoods that exist currently today and have existed for hundreds of years. This isn’t about providing any funding for the future growth of our city to include SEDA.”
Perhaps coincidentally, during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting, Chair Garry Bredefeld floated the idea that, if Dyer isn’t able to muscle SEDA through the City Council in the coming months, that perhaps Fresno County authorities could somehow step in.
👉 Read the full Fresnoland story here.
2. Numerous immigration-related arrests reported around Fresno
Numerous Fresno-watch groups reported immigration enforcement actions in and around Fresno and Madera this week, with additional California cities and communities, particularly in Southern California, reporting similar incidents.
Federal authorities, including ICE, have not commented on the reported actions this week.
“We have seen an uptick in immigration enforcement presence in the region,” Pam Nelson Hollis, director of development & communications with Faith in the Valley, told Fresnoland on Tuesday in an email. “This morning (Tuesday), farm workers in a transport van going from Selma to their jobs in Bakersfield were all detained.”
The United Farmworkers issued a public statement on the reports of federal immigration arrests and encouraged witnesses to contact the union.
UFW: “Chaotic, warrantless immigration raids and roving patrols spread fear and disrupt lives and livelihoods. They do not belong here; hard working immigrants do.”
👉 Check out the full Fresnoland story here.
3. Fresno County talks trash
Fresno city residents aren’t the only ones looking at potential changes to their monthly bills, either.
Fresno County has been in talks over a new 10-year trash hauling contract and includes changes to where and how trash and waste are collected.
The map and responsibilities divided up among seven hauling companies working under contract hasn’t been changed in about 20 years.
Steve White, director of the county’s department of public works & planning, said the problem is becoming untenable.
White: “We can’t keep going down this path. But if we can find a way to work with the industry that does this for a living, I think that’s the best solution for the county.”
👉 Read the full Fresnoland story here.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
