Good morning! It’s Friday, Sept. 12. This is Rob.
🏘️The City of Fresno is hosting a Mortgage Assistance Program Workshop to walk you through program features, eligibility, and how you can support families in accessing safe, stable, and affordable housing. The event is set for 4:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Ted C. Will Community Center, 770 N. San Pablo Ave. More info
😎More Reagan-era weather today! Mid-80s!
❎State Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Merced, announced her transnational repression bill passed out of the Legislature and is headed for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. “The measure creates a specialized law enforcement training program to help officers recognize and respond to transnational repression — the harassment, threats, and intimidation carried out in the U.S. by foreign governments against diaspora communities.
Earlier this summer, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina spoke with Fresno-area leaders about the need they see for such legislation. Check out that story here.
1. Fresno County budget crunch
Federal and state funding cuts are already taking a toll on Fresno County’s multi-billion-dollar budget, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reports this morning.
The county’s recommended budget for the next fiscal year comes in at $5.3 billion.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will hold budget hearings on Monday, Sept. 15 and Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The hearings will take place on the second floor of the Fresno County Hall of Records building, inside the board of supervisors’ chambers. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m.
This year’s hearings will also see a slight change in procedure, as eight of the 20 county departments are scheduled to give presentations on their budget in front of the board.
2. Fresno won’t restrict eviction protection program
The City of Fresno won’t restrict the Eviction Protection Program based on a specific household’s income or require income verification from applicants, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reports this morning.
The decision came during Thursday’s regular Fresno City Council meeting without discussion. Councilmember Tyler Maxwell brought forward a resolution that would ensure the Eviction Protection Program, which protects Fresno tenants from illegal evictions, would be exempt from program restrictions.
City Council President Mike Karbassi made a special note to register a “no” vote on the resolution. Consent agenda items are all approved with a single vote, and the council did so a little before breaking for lunch at noon on Thursday.
3. Fresno leaders mourn Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk
The day after Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk was killed at a Utah college event, city and county leaders in Fresno hosted a news conference denouncing the killing of the high-profile conservative.
Fresno-area leaders called for peace and respectful debate and decried social media posts that appeared to celebrate the killing, Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad reported.
“I also reached out to council president and the city and my colleagues because of the chatter that I’ve seen on social media,” said Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez. “We are now in the space where we are celebrating somebody being violently murdered in front of us, and we can’t have that.”
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer: “Yes, Charlie Kirk was controversial. There’s no question. He said things that ignited the emotions of other people, especially those who did not agree — but Charlie Kirk did not deserve to die.”
