Fresno City Hall file photo by Omar Rashad | Fresnoland

Quote of the Week

“I see so many more queer Latino people celebrating their Latino roots. Right before I play Mexican music … I always ask if the Latinos are there and it’s the biggest roar.”


Cara Coronado, lead host and Latina drag queen at Splash Fresno, talks about the intersections between Latine and queer communities in this Fresno Bee story.

This Week in Fresnoland

Fresnoland investigation sparks debate, calls for transparency.

In an interview aired Tuesday, KVPR’s Elizabeth Arakelian spoke with reporter Omar Shaikh Rashad about his recent Fresnoland investigation into the Fresno City Council’s budget subcommittee.

The report, published Aug. 16, spoke with four legal experts who criticized the subcommittee for keeping its meetings closed to the public, which they said could violate California’s open meeting laws.

City officials told Fresnoland the budget subcommittee is exempt from the law because it dissolves and reforms each year, meaning that it would not be a standing committee subject to the open meeting laws under the state’s Ralph M. Brown Act.

The legal experts who spoke with Frensoland said the city’s interpretation of the Brown Act is wrong – and kinda weird.

Omar’s investigation sparked a lot of debate online. Fresno Bee columnist Marek Warszawski praised the report and urged the council to move committee deliberations to the public stage.

During Tuesday’s interview, Elizabeth asked: “So, is this normal for a city to make these sorts of budget negotiations private?”

The short answer: No. It’s not normal.

You can listen to the full interview with Omar here.

ICYMI: Read the Fresnoland investigation here.

Fresno County moves to challenge a new California law. Legal fights expected.

In March, voters will be asked to change Fresno County’s charter in a fight over the election cycles of California sheriffs and district attorneys, Fresnoland reported this week.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution putting the issue on the upcoming primary ballot in March.

The move comes in response to a new California election law that forced some – but not all – counties to move their top law enforcement elections to presidential cycles. The issue is expected to draw legal challenges, as well.

Supporters said the new law made sense because voter turnout is almost always highest during presidential elections. Critics called it a Democratic Party power grab that illegally infringes on the rights of charter counties.

To move in line with the new law, Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp and Sheriff John Zanoni are currently serving six-year terms instead of four.

If successful, Fresno County’s efforts could cost its two top cops the extra two years on their current terms.

However, Zanoni and Smittcamp told Fresnoland they were OK with that and signaled support for the effort to challenge the new law.

I loved this feature story from The Fresno Bee about queer Latino culture in Fresno.

This story from Melissa Montalvo at The Fresno Bee is precious and prescient, given the rise in anti-LGBT legislation throughout the United States. As trans and other gender variant people are attacked by legislatures all over this country, it’s important to remember the joys of culture and the unique ways that queer and Latino culture manifests in Fresno.

Cara Coronado, drag queen, lead host at Splash, and fixture of my best Saturday nights, talked about coming out as a drag queen to her parents. “It got a little tense and awkward. I think they thought I was wanting to transition,” she said. “But I kind of had to explain … this is just a character, it’s an art form for me.”

Jasmine Leivya, a queer Fresno resident, discussed the push and pull between identities. In a Latino space, one’s queerness is diminished. And vice versa in a queer space. But she remains optimistic as queer people of color come together to create safe spaces.

“I think that’s changed a lot.”

Downtown Fresno will be revitalized by a $250 million investment from Sacramento, and developers are starting to notice.

This story from Yesenia Amaro at The Fresno Bee highlights outside developers’ sudden interest in Fresno. Currently, downtown Fresno has a 4% vacancy rate for retail space and a 6.1% vacancy rate for office space. Those aren’t terrible numbers for a city, but the extra funding could drive vacancy down further as businesses elect to settle in a newly revitalized downtown.

Moreover, this could dovetail with the completion of the high-speed rail project and the station in downtown Fresno opening its doors. According to pretty much all the sources in this story, travel, investment, and new economic opportunities could mean great things for the city. “Fresno is a hot market right now. There’s a ton of opportunities,” Lance Lippincott, director of economic development for Fresno, told The Bee.

However, the revitalization project has no timeline and remains in the planning stages. It’s interesting that just the prospect of a revitalized down has the brokers calling. Mayor Jerry Dyer’s vision of a city that is more attractive to developers and big business seems to be coming to fruition.

While the funds have $80 million earmarked for infrastructure investment to promote housing development for 10,000 residents, it remains to be seen what the effects on already rising rents will be.

Last year, the CSU chancellor resigned over accusations of mishandling sexual harassment complaints, and now campuses throughout the Central Valley are making changes.

The Cozen O’Connor law firm completed a comprehensive report about Title IX offices across the entire CSU system, Rachel Livinal reports for KVPR. The report offered recommendations for each campus after surveying both the student body and faculty.

CSU Stanislaus had the highest survey participation rate among students and the second-highest participation overall, thanks to robust advertising efforts.

For its part, Fresno State elected to move its Title IX office from the fourth floor of the library to one of the student unions in an effort to make the office less intimidating and offer visitors more privacy – after all, there are a lot of reasons for a student to visit a student union, and this is just one more. They also hired more staff, which was recommended to all CSUs.

Joseph Castro, the disgraced former chancellor who put Fresno State in the spotlight for mishandling sexual harassment complaints, was available for comment. “(The Cozen report’s recommendations are) generally appropriate given the CSU’s now well-documented long-standing systemic problems with Title IX sexual harassment related matters,” he said.

Astonishing.

OUTSIDE THE LINES

Hilary was downgraded to a post tropical storm after wreaking havoc throughout southern California, including precursor storms that snuffed out power grids in Clovis and Fresno.

Six professors across the San Joaquin Valley are suing the community college system over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion policies, Rachel Livinal at KVPR reports. The professors say that they shouldn’t be required to teach things they do not personally agree with.

But what are DEI practices? Some examples from the story: teaching about color blindness as it pertains to race and ethnicity, covert racism, and the educational equity gap.

Block Beat

WOODWARD PARK: Roma Italian Street Cuisine, a popular food truck, is opening its first brick and mortar store in Fresno on the corner of Chestnut and Shepherd avenues. Fresno Bee

EAST ALLUVIAL AVENUE: In the same story, Dad’s Cookies – which sells giant cookies made by someone’s dad – has its own retail location. The business began during the pandemic as a mobile app and a tent. Fresno Bee

NORTH FRESNO: A small tornado formed and traveled along Temperance Avenue through Clovis and into North Fresno. Forty large trees were downed. KMPH

FRESNO UNIFIED: Five elementary schools in the Fresno Unified district are transitioning into “community schools” with the goal of providing basic services to students in the highest need areas, thanks to a $7.1 million grant from the California Community Schools Partnership Program. The Business Journal

Department of New Construction

SUNNYSIDE: A development permit was issued to the Vincent Company Architects, Inc. of Fresno for a 72-unit market-rate, multi-family residential development with one-, two- and three-bedroom units in three-story buildings within a gated complex near South Clovis Avenue and East Kings Canyon Road.

Around Town

Valdez Hall is hosting a back-to-school snake and clothing sale on Saturday at noon. Downtown Fresno

The Fresno County Central Public Library will have volunteers on site prepared to inform military veterans or family members of veterans about benefits, services and resources available on Aug. 28. Downtown Fresno

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.