Quote of the Week

““Just in the last 10 years, $700 million were taken from low-income communities of color who predominantly are already over-policed at traffic stops. The only people who are being charged this fee are the people who can’t afford to pay on time, and those are the people who are funding to run the court systems.”

— Zal Shroff, the attorney representing the ACLU Foundation of Northern California who, alongside Bay Area Legal Aid, sued Fresno County Superior Court and won, ending a predatory late-fee practice that has been criticized for targeting poor, vulnerable communities.

This Week in Fresnoland

Unusually, the Fresno City Council voted unanimously to bail out a developer. 

The city’s lawyers will have to vet if the move was legal, but for now Ed Kashian, a prolific developer in Fresno, saw his request for $2.7 million in federal pandemic relief funds to secure water infrastructure for his Fancher Creek Town Center in southeast Fresno granted, Fresnoland’s Danielle Bergstrom reports with assistance from Omar Shaikh Rashad. 

While it’s standard practice for developers to foot these kinds of bills, Kashian’s been arguing for a while that affordable housing is an exception to the rule. Bakman Water Company has so far disagreed, winning the ensuing battle before the California Public Utilities Commission. 

The city can’t fund the endeavor without first circumventing its own policies and usual process, rewriting the regulation that says developers must prove the viability of their investment before they can receive more than $1 million in funding from the city. Councilmember Luis Chavez brought the item forward with just 24 hours notice. He said it was urgent given that the housing projects were already constructed, but final inspections are impossible until this issue is resolved. 

Councilmember Miguel Arias wondered why they’d bother with such an unprecedented move. “Why are we bailing out a developer from his due diligence process?” he said. City manager Georgeanne White pointed out how unusual it is for a developer to get this far into the process without securing water infrastructure. 

Council Vice President Annalisa Perea was disappointed with the process – specifically the short notice. But then, she voted yes too, along with Miguel Arias who likened the whole thing to a hostage situation. No one asked the developer why he can’t contribute any funding to securing the infrastructure.

Fresnoland also has further coverage about southeast Fresno, a part of town that is rapidly coming into its own.  

In a sudden reversal, the city of Fresno actually will approve $25 million in state funds to build and operate affordable housing for youth and families experiencing or on the cusp of experiencing homelessness.

What changed? Well, they ditched the nonprofit that had the community up in arms, Melissa Montalvo reports. 

Last week, we reported that the city council voted down the proposal to build a two-story modular housing project on North Polk Avenue in partnership with the ACTS Foundation. ACTS purports to provide food and housing to underserved communities, but critics – about 14 pages of them in public comment – allege that its head, Kevin Foster, is prone to financial mismanagement, misuse of funds, gender discrimination and staff turnover. 

ACTS is out and Valley Teen Ranch, a nonprofit with experience in operating transitional living homes, is in. 

Last week, the city council also approved the Travelodge motel in east central Fresno and the northeast Fresno Quality Inn’s conversion into affordable housing with state funds. The city council also approved a new interim homeless shelter project in central Fresno. 

The In-Home Support Services program helps 23,000 Fresno County residents – both the elderly and the disabled – with direct care; so why do they only make $16 an hour?

Melissa Montalvo’s story for the Fresno Bee/Fresnoland details the fight for $20 an hour between SEIU, the union that represents IHSS workers, and Fresno County. Fresno has an aging population and Medi-Cal eligibility has expanded over the years; the number of Fresno residents relying on IHSS workers is expected to grow as well in what is being called a “silver tsunami.” The program grew by 2% between 2020 and 2021, but grew another 5% the following year. 

Despite dire need, the program struggles to retain its workforce. Those same workers, along with union leaders and economists concur that higher wages are the key to attracting and retaining staff. Montalvo’s article profiles just one of these workers, along with the profound effect she has on her client; an elderly woman with failing eyesight who relies on her caregiver for everything from clean sheets to warm meals to showering and getting dressed.

Forty-seven percent of Fresno County IHSS recipients are elderly. Forty-three percent are disabled adults. Ten percent are minors.  

The Clovis Rodeo had $1.3 million in the bank when the pandemic began – then they received $200,000 in pandemic relief funds anyway.

How’d they get that extra million? Well the Clovis Rodeo is pretty profitable, it turns out. They generate about $1.56 million in revenue each year, which nets $277,165 in annual profits. That’s  a hell of a rainy day fund, but that didn’t stop the Fresno County Board of Supervisors from handing them pandemic relief funds, Omar Shaikh Rashad reports for Fresnoland. The rodeo lost a great deal of money in 2020 and 2021, but even after that the Clovis Horse Show and Festival Association still had more than $930,000. For what it’s worth, Alfreda Sebasto, the rodeo’s spokesman, says that the money doesn’t count as cash reserves because they’re used throughout the year for operational expenses. 

But the real story here is the holes in the application process itself. There was no effort to compare organizations resources during the time they applied, a useful metric for determining need. Anyone who’s ever applied for any kind of aid from food stamps to FAFSA can tell you that it normally involves proving that you need it first. 

Instead, organizations merely needed to explain how they would promote equitable growth for communities impacted by the pandemic. The Clovis Rodeo’s answer was that they don’t discriminate against anyone and strive to be family-friendly and affordable. They also signaled some of their community outreach efforts.    

In 2022, 47 applications were submitted to Fresno County for ARPA Funds, 22 of which were approved. The other 25, which included more funds for education on voting, digital literacy and broadband infrastructure for vulnerable communities, were rejected. 

The Clovis Rodeo joined the other 21 applications that were approved by the county’s Ad-Hoc Committee on ARPA. And by committee I do mean two guys: supervisors Nathan Magsig and Steve Brandau. 

Community asks for rent control; wonders if landlords on the dais are blocking it from a vote.

More than 40 Fresno renters gathered in front of City Hall to call for renter protections and rent control that would cap increases at 3%, Melissa Montalvo reports for Fresnoland.  Shar Thompson, Central Valley regional coordinator with Tenants Together, said she tried to meet with Councilmembers Annalisa Perea, Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza. “None of them have responded to emails … none of them have actually done anything to help with the situation,” she said. 

Thompson said that some of the city leaders may even have personal interest in preventing rent reform. “There are landlords on the dais,” as she put it. And Montalvo confirmed it – council members Arias, Bredefeld, Karbassi, and Perea are all landlords, along with Mayor Dyer.

Advocates are also asking for the creation of a rental mediation board, which would provide oversight in the relationship between landlords and their tenants, enforcing laws like AB-1482, which caps rent increases at 10%. During the pandemic, rent prices for one bedroom apartments increased by 28%, and Fresno topped national lists for having the highest rent increases in the nation. 

Sweating housing? Me too. Did you know that the interest list for the Housing Choice Voucher program – a sort of voucher lottery process – will open for the first time since 2019? We have a whole Documenters brief about it.

And also…

Don’t miss Ntsaib Vang’s recap of AsianFest at Fresno City College, kicking off Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage month. Fresnoland

Or Melissa Montalvo’s summary of May Day activities in Fresno – along with the coalition’s request that Fresno become a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. Fresnoland

Block Beat

DOWNTOWN FRESNO: New Class II bike lanes are coming to Divisadero and Tulare streets through the state Route 41 interchange according to a Caltrans representative who spoke at the Fresno Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Documenters

REEDLEY: The city is bracing for flood ahead of expected snowmelt – they will construct a block wall around the Reed Avenue Sewer Pump Station. Documenters 

KINGS COUNTY: The Kings County Board of Supervisors approved the establishment of the Kings County Health Equity Advisory Panel, who will address COVID-19 related health disparities and advance health equity with new infrastructure. Documenters

MADERA: The Madera City Council has revised their transit plan, which will remove 49 stops, while adding 60 more, along with a new bus route. Documenters 

REEDLEY: Construction on Guardian Village, a $25 million affordable housing community project, broke ground. The project is being funded mainly by grants from the State of California and UnitedHealth Group. The Business Journal

CLOVIS: The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted 5 – 0 to upend the decision to deny an application to create a two-acre parcel of land in an exclusively agricultural zone. The Planning Commission had previously denied the request from Bret Giannetta of Granville Homes. Documenters

WOODLAKE: A new cannabis distribution warehouse will bring 200 jobs to Tulare County. KMPH

Department of New Construction

SUNNYSIDE: A development permit was filed for a new multi-family apartment complex on North Clovis Ave, south of Belmont Ave. 

CARROZA PARK: A conditional use permit was filed for a shell building and drive-through off of North Peach Ave, north of East Olive Ave. 

SUNNYSIDE: A new IHOP is coming to Sunnyside. A development permit was filed for an IHOP with a covered patio on South Clovis Ave, north of East Kings Canyon Road. The site was formerly McCoy’s Coffee Shop, which burned down in a 2020 fire. 

Around Town

I might be at Latin Trap Night this Friday. It’s a Trap/Reggaeton party at Strummers which promises music and visuals from a variety of artists, you know it’s Bad Bunny, it’s Daddy Yankee – and it all starts at 10 p.m. I’m mainly going to celebrate my friend’s birthday. She’s also named Tommie so shout out to her. Strummers 

Next Week in Public Meetings

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Tommy is the author of Toplines, the Fresnoland newsletter curating the top stories in the Central Valley. He thinks he's very funny.