Quote of the Week
“We’re not here to be quiet. We’re not here to be hostile. We are a peaceful community. We just want our rights. We want to be part of this community that we already are. Our nation is at a moment where democracy could break. We need you with us.”
— Norberto González, California state director for Poder Latinx, speaking the 13th anniversary of DACA
This Week in Fresnoland
Would an election integrity unit help?
Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi says the city needs an election integrity unit following a messy council election in March.
In an interview this week with Fresnoland’s Omar S. Rashad, Karbassi said adding such a unit to the City Attorney’s Office would allow the city to more aggressively pursue election law violations. Karbassi cited the recent botched smear campaign against Councilmember Brandon Vang, as well as his own unrelated and ongoing defamation case, as reasons to beef up local oversight.
But, Karbassi acknowledged, such a unit would not be able to influence the content in election mailers, which was the main controversy in March’s special election.
Additionally, the committee behind the contentious mailers is tied to Fresno political fixer Alex Tavlian, who does contract work for Kabassi — and many others in local government — and helped Karbassi win two elections.
Fresno isn’t getting this affordable housing project anymore
Plans to build an affordable housing project in one of Fresno’s more affluent neighborhoods faced its death blow at a Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting this week, ending a six-year battle, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported.
Is it another victim of NIMBYism?
That was at least part of the equation, according to one of the affordable housing developers behind the project.
Many residents of Old Fig Garden, the Fresno neighborhood the project was originally planned for, organized against it. Some of them still have signs in their yard opposing it.
Still, Fresno County didn’t completely lose out on increasing its affordable housing stock, as the board opted to redirect $20 million for the Fig Garden project to one in Sanger instead.
Fresno joins nationwide ICE protests
Hundreds of Fresnans joined nationwide protests over recent immigration raids in a demonstration outside the federal courthouse downtown earlier this week, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina and Diego Vargas reported.
Organizers said they mobilized after seeing tensions escalate over the weekend between protesters and law enforcement in Southern California — where President Trump has controversially deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines.
Multiple Fresno councilmembers joined the protest in solidarity with immigrant and Latino communities, while the Fresno County Sheriff voiced support for Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and criticized protesters in Los Angeles.
There were no reports of violence or criminal activity in connection with Monday’s protest in downtown Fresno.
Will California ever call Fresno ‘Prohousing’ again?
The Fresno City Council made some moves to try to get back in the good graces of California housing regulators at its recent meeting, Fresnoland’s Pablo Orihuela reported.
That included approving some tweaks to city codes to better match state guidelines.
What it didn’t include was other, more controversial housing-related proposals that have already been postponed numerous times: a proposed ordinance that would make it easier to approve projects in office zones, and the controversial rezoning of a handful of properties on Elm Avenue in southwest Fresno.
The city wants its “Prohousing designation” from the state back, after Mayor Jerry Dyer broke the news last month that the city had lost the coveted status that comes with access to millions of dollars in state housing grants.
Local leaders talk DACA’s anniversary
A group of local community leaders gathered at Fresno City Hall this week to mark the 13th anniversary of DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Organized by Poder Latinx, a nonprofit focused on immigration, economic, and environmental justice, the news conference called for urgent action to protect Dreamers and immigrant families in the Central Valley and beyond, Fresnoland’s Gisselle Medina reported.
DACA is a policy adopted in 2012 that protects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation, while also providing work authorization and social security numbers.
About 4,500 Fresno residents have DACA status, according to a March 2023 report from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Outside the Lines
Sandy Richardson keeps the kitchen moving and the music spinning at Al’s Cafe, a beloved west Fresno institution where the plates are large, long lines move fast and the Chile Verde is red. She’s featured in this week’s Around Fresnoland.
Fresno County will appeal a recent court ruling on Measure A, the ballot measure that attempted to change the cycle on which the county’s top cops are elected. Fresnoland
On this week’s Fresnolandia podcast, Jordan and Danielle talked bicycle and pedestrian safety with Laura Gromis, the executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council of Central California and a member of Fresno’s Active Transportation Advisory Committee. Fresnoland
“Domestic violence among teenagers is on the rise in Fresno County, according to the Marjaree Mason Center.” ABC30
“For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, Yosemite National Park has opened all its campgrounds for the summer.” KSEE
“The LA Chargers could be practicing in Fresno next year after head Coach Jim Harbaugh expressed his ‘well-documented’ love for the city.” KSEE
“Alarm spread through California agricultural centers Tuesday as panicked workers reported that federal immigration authorities — who had largely refrained from major enforcement action in farming communities in the first months of the Trump administration — were showing up at farm fields and packinghouses from the Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley.” Los Angeles Times
Nearly one in three jobs are now empty at the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office, sparking concerns. ABC30
“New subsidence guidelines from the Department of Water Resources are expected to drop on San Joaquin Valley water managers any day, a prospect that has them both hopeful and worried.” SJV Water
“PG&E has announced the expansion of its family electric rate assistance program. It will allow an estimated 150,000 Fresno County households an 18 percent discount on their electric rate.” ABC30
“A rabid bat was found at a Fresno business, sparking concern from the Fresno County Department of Public Health.” KSEE
Fresno police Chief Mindy Casto sat down with KSEE to discuss her first 100 days as the city’s first female chief. KSEE
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent endorsement of a plan that would more than double tax credits for television and films has raised questions from state farmers and farm workers who wonder why Newsom wants to find the money for Hollywood but not so much for the state’s struggling agriculture industry. Ag Alert
Block Beat
DOWNTOWN: The San Joaquin Valley Housing Collaborative is hosting a community screening of “Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness” on Monday, June 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the South Stadium building downtown (700 Van Ness Ave.). A panel with local experts and community leaders will follow. SJVHC
ALLENSWORTH: Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park and the Friends of Allensworth are proud to present a Juneteenth celebration at the historic town of Allensworth founded by African American pioneers in California’s Central Valley. Transportation to the park is available with the purchase of a ticket through Amtrak San Joaquins. All ages are welcome. Allensworth
PEACH AVENUE: Southeast Fresno residents are encouraged to nominate names for a new park on Peach Avenue. City leaders broke ground on the park in February and are asking residents to submit nominations by June 15. Fresno City Council District 5
WEST FRESNO: The Central Unified school board voted unanimously to approve a new district superintendent Tuesday. KMJ
CLOVIS: Pro-golfer and Central Valley native Bryson DeChambeau is collaborating with Cook Land Co. to bring a “significant new development” to the Clovis area. Clovis Roundup
TOWER DISTRICT: Residents say they can already feel big changes in the neighborhood as Producers Dairy continues to remove the towering decades-old grain silos. The Fresno Bee
WEST FRESNO: The family behind a popular Fresno burger chain made big changes to its Shaw Avenue location, with a trimmed down menu and beefed up cheeseburgers featuring Wagyu beef. The Business Journal
