Quote of the Week
“If this were up to (Mayor Jerry) Dyer alone, I suspect (Chief Paco) Balderrama would probably weather this storm with the four silver stars on his dress blues intact. In my experience, people who have been granted forgiveness for past personal transgressions, as Dyer has, are often the most willing to forgive the transgressions of others.”
—Fresno Bee columnist Marek Warszawski
This Week in Fresnoland
Fresno police chief dominates headlines
Fresno news has been particularly ugly in the last 10 or so days with dozens (and dozens) of screaming headlines that started the week with questions about an “inappropriate off-duty relationship with a non-city employee” and ended with police Chief Paco Balderrama on leave pending further investigation.
City leaders have released little information beyond that Balderrama informed the mayor back in February that the chief expected an “allegation” would soon be raised in connection with Balderrama’s “inappropriate relationship.” The Fresno Bee, citing two city sources, reported that the relationship involved the wife of another Fresno police officer.
And while Balderrama’s future at the Fresno Police Department remains unclear, some familiar with Fresno politics, including The Bee’s Marek Warszawski, say it “has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to see how Balderrama survives this scandal of his own making.”
“By allegedly carrying on with the spouse of one of his officers,” Warszawski wrote, “Balderrama showed a troubling lack of judgment while undermining his own leadership.”
Amid budget talks, advocates push for relief for renters
But while Fresno’s top cop scandal dominated local news attention, work quietly continued on next year’s city budget.
Fresno housing advocates rallied outside City Hall this week, urging the City Council to do more to help and protect the city’s thousands of apartment renters as city leaders hammer out next year’s $2 billion budget, Frensoland’s Pablo Orihuela and Omar Shaikh Rashad reported.
“Housing in Fresno feels like a series of unfulfilled work orders, extra fees and a race to see how soon my paycheck can go into another man’s hand,” said Anissa Andrade, an advocate with Power California Action.
Just hours before Wednesday’s rally, the Fresno City Council finalized motions on the city budget, one of which calls for $2 million toward the city’s Eviction Protection Program, however the budget won’t be finalized until later this month.
Fresno was recently ranked as one of the most competitive rental markets in the entire country.
‘A story in two acts’
Bob Nelson led Fresno Unified schools through multiple defining moments over the last seven years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, two narrowly averted teacher strikes, and multiple contentious elections.
In his final days as superintendent, Nelson sat down with Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano and opened up on many of the challenges, controversies and clashes that helped define his tenure at the helm of California’s third-largest school district.
“The number of kids that are proficient is not high enough,” Nelson told Fresnoland. “I would have loved to have changed that, because I think it would change public perception around Fresno Unified.”
Death investigation raises questions about Visalia care home
The death of a 56-year-old Visalia care home resident prompted an ongoing police investigation — and outrage from the man’s family. Marco Aurelio Corral’s family says he was “kicked to death” in December.
In a special report for Fresnoland, journalist Lewis Griswold spoke with Corral’s sister and revealed a troubling — and lengthy — pattern at the home of complaints and citations on everything from poor staff training and inadequate planning to lost money, missing medications and at least one lapsed criminal background check.
‘The code is the code’
A Fresno County code inspection policy is clashing with an effort in the city of Fresno to help roughly three dozen pollution-burdened homes.
Not much has been spent from the “unprecedented” $300,000 “community benefit” fund that came in a 2021 settlement with Amazon, Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver reported.
Critics blame Fresno County’s uncompromising stance on code inspections, which they say discourages eligible households from applying for the funds that could help them breathe easier.
Outside the Lines
“Illegal dog breeders in Fresno could soon face steep fines or even criminal charges as the Fresno City Council weighs a resolution to help address overcrowding at the Fresno Animal Shelter,” Fresnoland’s Julianna Morano reported.
“Stepping through the door of Chez Maryse in Fresno, one is transported to the heart of France, Fresnoland’s Ntsa Iab Vang reported. “Visitors are greeted by the scent of freshly baked sweet pastries as well as the cheerful voice of owner Xiamy Ly-Yang, who offers an enthusiastic “Bonjour!”
The renaming of a 10-mile stretch of road began this week as signs along Kings Canyon Road, Ventura and California avenues were replaced with the new “Cesar Chavez Boulevard,” KVPR reported.
Soreath Hok paused an award-winning journalism career to help her family’s “Sprinkles Donuts” shop in north Fresno. In this Fresno Business Journal profile, Hok reflects on her master baker father’s “perfected” recipes and the increasingly difficult, sometimes grueling, unappreciated work that has caused so many family-owned shops to close. “We want people to appreciate this while we are here,” Hok told the Journal, “because they are not going to be around forever.”
Fresno’s largest healthcare system and a physicians group announced a $1.2 million settlement this week over a 2020 doctor walkout that jeopardized the elite designation of the central San Joaquin Valley’s only Level I trauma center. Community Health System announced Monday in a news release that the Central California Faculty Medical Group, now known as “Inspire Health Medical Group,” agreed to pay $1.2 million in connection with the physician walkout at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Creek Fire, The Fresno Bee reported.
Block Beat
BREWERY DISTRICT: Alchemist Coffee Lab has a coffee cart opening at the Sun Stereo Warehouse starting at 7 a.m. June 18.
QUIGLEY PARK: The city would like residents’ feedback on the redesign and renovation of Quigley Park at a workshop at 6 p.m. on June 26.
Department of New Construction
BLACKSTONE CORRIDOR: A development permit, filed by Nrupen Patel of Kush Hospitality, is under review to build a fence surrounding the Motel 6 on Blackstone Avenue north of Ashlan. The filer says the fence is needed “on account of rising crime in the area and break-ins/vandalism to the property” and that it “may exceed regular height.”
BREWERY DISTRICT: Thalia Arenas, the owner of a property on Cesar Chavez Boulevard and R Street that houses a wedding chapel, has applied to add on a banquet hall and residential space to the existing building.
ROOSEVELT: A conditional use permit filed by Xang Xiong is under review to build a 51-unit apartment complex with multiple trash enclosures, a fire lane and driveway, parking, and common as well as private areas on Church Avenue just south of Terronez Middle School.
BREWERY DISTRICT: Angelica Manriquez filed a conditional use permit application to expand an existing hall to join an existing church, Iglesia Fortaleza Divina on South Hazelwood Boulevard, near East Alta Avenue, and attach new restrooms.
ROEDING: Mayra Merino with the City of Fresno has requested an environmental assessment related to the rehabilitation and conversion of the Travel Inn & Suites on White Avenue into 118 units of permanent affordable housing.
Around Town
Fresno County’s summer youth library program kicked off this week. The Summer at Your Library program offers reading challenges, events and other activities for children of all ages. Young readers can win prizes for completing reading challenges. Fresno County Public Library
Rainbow Family Day at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8.
June 22 is Diversity & Inclusion Night at Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno. Watch the Grizzlies take on the Stockton Ports at 6:50 p.m.
