Quote of the Week
“We’re throwing a massive chunk of money at the developers for them to create fancy new homes for people that already probably have pretty good homes. That doesn’t do anything for real, systemic problems in Fresno that every single resident tells every single elected official we need to solve – which is better jobs, affordable housing, homelessness, and safe neighborhoods.”
– Dillon Savory, executive director of the Central Labor Council, rebukes SEDA, a proposed mega-development in southeast Fresno.
This Week in Fresnoland
Facing eviction, La Hacienda Mobile Estates residents have their hearing before the city council rescheduled
The Fresno City Council was expected to rule on whether the trailer park can be sold, Pablo Orihuela (Fresnoland) reports, but the hearing was suddenly rescheduled. Only three of La Hacienda’s 26 remaining residents could even attend last Thursday’s council meeting – many either couldn’t get the time off work or couldn’t afford to miss a shift. The residents are asking the city council to provide an eviction moratorium, shielding them from homelessness.
“I hope we get to stay, and I hope you guys vote the right way,” Kim Sands, one of the tenants’ nieces, said during public comment. Sands pointed out that some of the tenants are facing homelessness at 70 years old. Sands herself is 55 and has been homeless before. She doesn’t want to go back. Who would?
The new hearing is on Nov. 16.
SEDA – the second Clovis to be built at Fresno’s southeast edge – is supposed to create jobs. So why is the Central Labor Council against it?
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver interviewed Dillon Savory, the executive director of the council that represents 50 unions and 105,000 workers across the Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties. Savory said that SEDA is a poorly planned misallocation of resources: millions of dollars earmarked for developers to build homes for already wealthy families – money better spent on vital infrastructure and revitalization projects in downtown Fresno.
Moreover, Savory said that housing projects in Fresno are often built as quickly and cheaply as possible, so unionized workers will probably have little involvement in the project at all. Housing in Fresno is often built cheaply and quickly. A union worker will generally make $35 an hour more than nonunion workers, plus benefits. Many developers – even megadevelopers like Target and Wal-Mart – will cut costs by employing nonunion workers for just $25 an hour or less.
Fresno Council exposes city to potential lawsuit from ACLU, First Amendment Coalition
The Sept. 5 letter was unambiguous: open your budget committee to the public within 30 days or we will sue you. The deadline was last Thursday, Omar Shaikh Rashad writes. Angélica Salceda, an attorney for the ACLU said that they’re disappointed that the city has chosen to keep the budget committee secret, exposing itself to liability.
City Attorney Andrew Janz responded with his own letter on Sept. 18, maintaining that the council’s process was above board and also outside of their jurisdiction to change.
Fresno’s City Charter lays the responsibility of budget preparation at the mayor’s door. “The Fresno City Council does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the preparation of the City budget,” Janz wrote. Mayor Dyer confirmed the process was inherited from the previous city administration and includes city councilmembers.
Salceda wasn’t impressed, calling Janz’ response tone deaf. “The public needs to be able to see into that (budget) process and have an opportunity to engage and weigh in.”
Political fight heats up over election of Fresno County’s sheriff, district attorney
Janz is also at the center of a political fight between city and county officials that has statewide implications, Rob Parsons (Fresnoland) reports.
This week, Janz, a former prosecutor and Democratic politician, asked California Attorney General Rob Bonta to weigh in on county efforts to reverse a new law that attempts to change when sheriff’s and district attorneys are elected in the state.
Assembly Bill 759, signed into law late last year, moved the elections for sheriffs and district attorneys to the presidential election cycle. The move extended the current terms of District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp and Sheriff John Zanoni from four years to six; a one-time special circumstance owed to the transition from the gubernatorial election cycle to the general election cycle.
Smitttcamp and Zanoni criticized the term extensions, saying voters should have been informed of the extensions before the vote. Conservative critics call AB 759 a power grab to tip the scales against California Republicans.
In a letter to Bonta on Monday, Janz said that, regardless of Fresno County’s status as a charter county, they are still beholden to the new state law, which mandates that these elections be held when civic participation is at its peak.
Days after Fresno workers joined the largest ever health care strike, Kaiser Permanente employees remain without a contract.
Plans are already in the works for a second strike in early November that union leaders say will be larger – and longer – than last week’s three-day walkout.
The coalition has been pushing for a $26 minimum wage within Kaiser to combat staffing issues and contend with the rising cost of living across the country.
Kaiser’s latest counteroffer was a $23 minimum wage in California and $21 an hour at the rest of its locations across the country.
Roughly 60,000 of the workers who voted in favor of striking are based at facilities in California, where Kaiser is the largest private employer in the state, according to Kaiser Permanente’s site.
Outside Kaiser’s Fresno Medical Center on day one of the strike, workers told Fresnoland the staffing crisis creates “unsafe” situations for patients, whether they’re waiting over thirty minutes for a staff member to help them use the bathroom or months for a cancer diagnosis.
“We’re running like chickens with our heads cut off,” said Orlando Vega, an emergency room worker in Fresno. “We’re trying to be at five places at once, trying to take care of critical patients.”
Contract talks resume Thursday.
Outside the Lines
The last strike at Fresno Unified was 45 years ago, and the second strike was only narrowly averted in 2017. Now, teachers are closer to striking again than ever, Lasherica Thornton reports for EdSource.
The Fresno Bee has a guide about new sick-days legislation and what it means for the average worker.
Block Beat
FIGARDEN – A large repaving project kicked off this week along Van Ness Boulevard. The work has been shutting down traffic along portions of the busy city street. Fresno city and council officials teamed up for the project to repave Van Ness, which is expected to remain closed until Thursday from Shaw to Keats. The road is also expected to close next week from Bullard to Sierra. KSEE
CHAFFEE ZOO: The zoo is debuting a baby Masai giraffe named Muhimu. He’s very cute and tall despite being a baby. KFSN
TULARE: Frank’s Automotive Repair, Inc., a local shop, has been named one of America’s 70 top small businesses selected by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Business Journal
Department of New Construction
FIGARDEN – A conditional use permit was issued to Fresno Self Storage to construct a 228,989-square-foot single-story storage building and one four-story building, including a leasing office building, site improvements, fencing, trash enclosure, and landscaping are part of the scope of work in the 6300 block of North Figarden Drive.
BULLARD – La Hacienda Mobile Estates has applied for a lot line adjustment at their Harmony Communities mobile home part in northeast Fresno. Tenants have been locked in a dispute over the property since receiving eviction notices earlier this year.
JANE ADDAMS – The Fresno Rescue Mission applied for a development permit to develop about 3.41 acres of property in the 2300 block of North Parkway Drive. Plans include 49 units, open space and landscaping for the Fresno Rescue Mission.
Around Town
Los Amantes Perfectors is a new Spanish-language comedy play starring well-known telenovela actors. Get your tickets for the 8 p.m. Thursday show at the Saroyan. Downtown Fresno
The Fresno EOC LGBTQ+ center is hosting an October Family Paint Night with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme, tonight at 6 p.m. Supplies provided. Fresno EOC LGBTQ+ Center
Next Week in Public Meetings
- Thursday, Oct 12, 2023 at 8:45 a.m. | Fresno County Planning Commission
- Monday, Oct 16, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. | Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission
- Monday, Oct 16, 2023 at 7 p.m. | Visalia City Council
- Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 at 9 a.m. | Kings County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 at 10 a.m. | Madera County Board of Supervisors
- Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 at 6 p.m. | Tulare County Board of Supervisors
- Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023 at 6 p.m. | Fresno Planning Commission
