Good morning! It’s Thursday, May 14. This is Rob.
Hot n’ sunny: Clear skies. 90 degrees. NOAA
Local ICE update: The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office will present its annual Truth Act forum at 9:30 a.m. May 19 at the Hall of Records. Fresno County
WalletHub likes us: Is Fresno one of America’s “best summer travel destinations”? NY Post
The mountains are calling: Yosemite gears up for the summer tourist season. ABC30
1. Fresno Unified opposes SEDA sprawl
In a dramatic switch, a deeply-divided Fresno Unified school board narrowly approved a resolution opposing City Hall’s signature urban-sprawl expansion plan.
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver was on hand late Wednesday, when Trustee Keshia Thomas, who is also running for a seat on the Fresno City Council, changed directions, throwing her support behind the resolution criticizing SEDA growth plan that will exacerbate FUSD’s already spiraling enrollment issues.
In February, Thomas was one of four trustees who declined to take a position on the opposition resolution, stalling the vote that came back around on Wednesday night.
Before voting to oppose SEDA, Thomas explained that she had listened to constituents on the issue.
Three other trustees — Claudia Carzares, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas and Susan Witrupp — refused to vote, abstaining from taking a position either way, arguing that sprawl developments that directly affect the future of FUSD school remain outside their authority.
2. Mayor unveils Fresno next budget crunch
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer gave reporters a sneak peak at his new budget proposal on Wednesday, a day ahead of the City Council’s first deep dive into the next year’s cash crunch as local governments wait for the state to release its latest budget revisions for the coming year.
Dyer’s record-breaking $2.55 billion budget closes a roughly $35 million deficit, the mayor says, without layoffs or cuts to core services.
If approved, City Hall would lean on hiring attrition and another year of departmental spending cuts of 5% to close the multi–million gap.
The mayor’s proposal includes funding the Fresno Advance Peace, one of the city’s most effective violence-prevention efforts and the Eviction Protection Program.
Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela will be on hand during the city’s budget presentation beginning at 9 a.m. today at City Hall.
3. Fresno pushes back against high-speed rail
Fresno pledged to join a legal battle against the state’s beleaguered high-speed rail project, where authorities recently pushed the idea of stripping local tax dollars from nearly a dozen California cities to fund the slow-moving bullet train, KMPH reports.
The proposal has frustrated many California leaders, including some, like Mayor Jerry Dyer, who have been relatively supportive of the project, at least compared with many of conservative GOP counterparts in the state.
The 10 mayors, which included Dyer and the mayors of Bakersfield, Merced and Gilroy, among others, urged the authority to pursue voter-approved bonds and argued that any effort to strip local communities of their own sale-tax dollars would likely violate the state Constitution.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
