Thread by @AndyHS

November 7th,2019 Fresno City Council meeting! Among the items are: Proposal to punish with a misdemeanor for leaking Closed Session information; The Chief Selection Accountability Act allowing Council more say in selecting both the Police Chief and Fire Chief; Requiring Planning

Commissioners to come from each Council District; Please “Heart” if you like these reports. Forgive any typos or mistakes! Among the Consent Calendar items: Approve the Third Amendment to the professional consultant agreement with Stantec Architecture, Inc., to redesign the 65

percent electric bus charging infrastructure design documents to accommodate primary electrical service through PG&E EV Fleet Program in the amount of $73,987 and authorize the Director of Transportation or designee to execute all related documents
Approve a Side Letter of Agree-

ment with the Fresno City Employees Association (FCEA), for Unit 3, Non-Supervisory White Collar, regarding Lateral Hire Incentives for Emergency Services Dispatchers II/III ; Approve the award of a purchase contract to Haaker Equipment Company, Inc., of La Verne, California,

for the purchase of three Elgin CNG Broom Bear street sweepers in the amount of $1,189,640; to appropriate $2,022,700 for operating programs and previously approved capital improvement projects in the Public Works Department (Citywide)

Esparza asks the Mayor to come forward regarding the Chief Selection Accountability. Public has reservations after recent shootings. Council holds the purse string. The Mayor says the next police Chief can see what it takes. Mayor will have three Councilmembers on panel

to help select next Chief. The three will Be Esparza , Karbassi, and Arias. Esparza thanks Mayor for allowing Council a voice. We have fertile ground to select next Police Chief. Esparza will pull 4-B.

City Council November 7th,2019
Invocation by Bhai Sarbjeet Singh from The Sikh Institute of Fresno

Proclamation of “GURU NANAK’s 550th GURPURB, or BIRTH ANNIVERSARY DAY”
Mayor's Office, Councilmember Karbassi, Council President Caprioglio and Councilmember Esparza. He is the founder of the Sikh faith. @esparza_nelson admires their service to the community. @kmkarbassi says

(Sorry: terrible internet connection this morning ). I am catching up now. @kmkarbassi thanks the Sikh community for all they do for the city.

WWFD : What Would Fresno Do? Says @PaulCaprioglio Caprioglio to collegue from Clovis😜 Next: Mid Valley Disposal to Present their “Recycler of the Year” awards to IEH Labs (District 4) and Chukchansi Park. @MiguelArias_D3 jokes he is just here to see Parker 😜

IEH Lab : First to divert organic waste as well as the typical paper goods. Next: Chukchansi Park. diverts 40,000 pounds of recycling and 25,000 pounds of organic. Also have their own gardens and donate to Poverello House.

National Veterans Small Business Week. SBA recognizes the 2.5 million small business and all their employees.

Proclamation of “North Fresno Lions 70th Anniversary Day” sponsored by Councilmember @Esmeralda_Soria Soria says it is a special day. All the hard work this organization. Marilyn and Gwen were both recently awarded Lion of the Day. Lions give tirelessly. 400 service hours a year

such as pancake breakfast for walk and run events; glasses for children , corneal transplants. Kids really need that as they are learning to read. @PaulCaprioglio says after his cataract surgery he has 19 years of glasses to donate. Gwen says people accuses them of being a bit

rowdy this morning. Jokes that This is only half of what they usually cause 😜Cannot donate glasses in USA due to union contracts but can send to other countries. Also have a hearing aid programs. They are expensive otherwise. Also take excess luggage. Caprioglio will also donate

his extra suitcases in the garage too! Next: @kmkarbassi met world champion Bob Meyers in cowboy fast draw. Safety is key. Meyers shot himself three times the first time trying. Luckily they were glad bullets.!Championship match in Phoenix. This is a coed competition. His wife is

draw artist too. There is a local club he founded. And if anyone wants to join please come out. He will train for free! @kmkarbassi has Meyer’s Business card if anyone needs info.

National Runaway Month: :Karbassi says 3600 missing children cases last year in Fresno County . Foster care , no access to medical care are some of the causes. Support hotline is 1-800-Runaway. Youth Emergency Shelter available for bullying , abuse etc. Boys & Girls Club,Walmart

are some of the safe places. 1250 Fulton St will be kickoff tonight at Art Hop. Students from Dailey Elementary School are present. Soria welcomes the Dragons to City Hall.

Council Reports:Karbassi: Meetings with Parks to help fix parking problem. Forkner Will have his first Neighborhood Meeting. Also Veterans Blvd is now fully funded ($130 million) Thanks Former Supervisors and Councilmen who helped get this through.

@Esmeralda_Soria illegal dumping with with most in alleys. Operation Cleanup soon. It is helpful but can safety problems( blocking sidewalks or places that have not been given sidewalks yet) , blight and trash scavengers. Thanks Department of Public Utility for helping clean up

a terrible dumping. Small business owner had it illegally dumped in front of his establishment. Do we have to change policy so illegal trash can be picked up in front of Businesses? Assistant Jane Sumpter:Operation Cleanup is popular with public but there are issues with some

in county islands residents dumping trash in City property. Assistant Manager Jim Schaad says they are working with illegal dumping. Who gets cited for illegal trash if no person is caught? Sometimes people dump things early on Operation Cleanup. Assistant Head of DPU Jerry Schu-

-ber says they work overtime to clean up. Especially West Fresno has many issues with illegal dumping. Often they are hauling it away at same time people are dumping new trash. Schaad: more resources needed to enforce and pick up is an issue. @MiguelArias_D3 apartment dwellers

pay a lot more for trash pick up than other residents when City of Fresno allowed private haulers. Apartment residents get less services. It is a problem with profit model of privatizations. We should only charge what it takes to provide the service. @GarryBredefeld: 3rd and 4th

floors as well as second floor have memorials to those who have fallen in military. Memorial unveiling outside of City Hall tomorrow morning at 10 am. 21 gun salute and flyover. Fortune 500 company GAP got 200 acres for $2 for their distribution center. Animal shelter is needed

as contract with SPCA expires in June. Karbassi and himself met with GAP. Questions by GAP were answered by City. He thinks it is the corporation greed for not going forward at this time. GAP also wants their property tax to drop as well. A local journalist sent him a letter

saying if GAP won’t help he will send a letter to National media saying corporate greed is rampant by third largest clothing company . Bredefeld will protest GAP is they don’t step up. The City has been a good neighbors to GAP for 20 years. We are asking for 6-10 acres for this

shelter. I hope they will step up. Arias want it on record he completely agrees with Bredefeld.
Caprioglio says this Saturday is next Bulldog football followed by Men’s Basketball this Sunday with NBA Star Paul George’s number being retired. Coffee with a Cop soon. A Trunk or

Treat at Campus Pointe. He thanks Melissa Hurtado and Joaquin Arambula for the items donated. Fresno State kicked off Veterans Day event. Jim Schaad says items pulled from agenda today will be back next meeting on the 14th.

Approve an ordinance of the City of Fresno, California,, relating to confidentiality of attorney-client privileged and personnel records.
Councilmember Karbassi, Councilmember Bredefeld and Mayor's Office. @kmkarbassi suggests in bills to hold electeds responsible. The Brown Act

allows this to happen in front of public. But some items need to be in Closed Session such as land negotiations, labor and employment negotiations. Items with security issues. Attorney-Client privileges need to be held.Whistleblower protections have been added. This will save

City money by lawsuits.@GarryBredefeld says media have a large role in our society and we want to uphold that. This bill is more for keeping City Employees accountable. @District5Chavez he jokes this the “Karbassi Snitches Get Stitches Act” He doesn’t feel the City Attorney

Shouldn’t be put into awkward positions. @MiguelArias_D3 : Mayor has said leaks have cost City. How much is that? Karbassi:‘this is about being ethical”. Arias: what leaks happened and what were result? Karbassi: if people are not happy with majority rule they can not vote us out

@MiguelArias_D3 how much has this cost City? Sumpter does not have that info in front of her.@GarryBredefeld : that is a good Fair question. City Counsel said “a negotiation occurred and somehow opponent knew our number. That was five years ago. Arias: does this apply to City

employees too? A: Yes. Arias: pending police Chief Info releases info. Does this apply ? A: maybe maybe not. Arias: this will empower City Attorney? A: potentially. Arias: initial proposal was an attack on Constitution. They made changes to the proposal that was needed.Too little

info as to how much this has cost City. Also City Attorney can be put into bad situation. Shows we don’t trust DA Smittcamp to do her job. Sponsors need to show evidence why this is needed. This could be used to protect certain people. Leaks have always happened. Administration

can punish anyone caught. Voters can remove anyone of us. Higher standard of evidence for me to go forward. @kmkarbassi : protects majority rule. Media gave them a lot of feedback and we have made those changes. But if something is confidential than it is confidential. SF has a

@kmkarbassi a penalty that is ten times harsher than our proposal. Thanks Chavez for his comments. Soria appreciates the dialogue and debate. Surprised the two more conservative Councilmembers were taking a page out of liberal SF 😝 She teaches Constitutional Law at City College. She is

@kmkarbassi glad sponsors took feedback and have made changes. Is this is a result of recent leaks regarding City Manager? If so this bill doesn’t apply to that. She is astonished by that. Can we allow public to comment on this next time? Bredefeld: appreciates Arias’ comments. Unsure what

@kmkarbassi the costs were. Someone leaks negotiation info to other attorney is not right. Granite Park Attorney said he knew all of the info that was discussed in Closed Session. That is a problem ultimately for taxpayers. This has nothing to do with corruption. We take an oath that that we

@kmkarbassi need to uphold. Caprioglio: this is for introduction only. Public can Comment next meeting too . We have many options to prosecute. There is a high burden to convict. We already have the rules but not always kept. Conviction is next step. Public: Crystal Cabrera says this uncon

@kmkarbassi -stitutional and will lead to a lawsuit. She has many in public that would like to comment too. @kmkarbassi : your frustration was heard by others in public. This will only apply to City employees. Please contact me with any additional comments.

@kmkarbassi Approve the award of a purchase contract to Haaker Equipment Company, Inc., of La Verne, California, for the purchase of three Elgin CNG Broom Bear street sweepers in the amount of $1,189,640 Approved.

@kmkarbassi to appropriate $2,022,700 for operating programs and previously approved capital improvement projects in the Public Works Department. Mozier : these have all been approved before. This will be a Spring Project. Arias:why was District 3 project eliminated. SB 1 gas tax was up for

@kmkarbassi being repealed. We took a conservative approach in case it was repealed. Ultimately it did not. We are a bit behind due to that. Bredefeld: Thanks Scott Mozier. He was project manager on Veteran Memorial. Jim Schaad also thanks Mozier for all his work. Approved

@kmkarbassi 3-C: East Nees Avenue Pavement Rehabilitation Project from North First Street to North Millbrook Avenue Esparza: What year approved ? 2019 for year 2020. Approved

@kmkarbassi 3-E $544,600 for new capital improvement projects in the Public Works Department. They were brought forward earlier. Approved. Karbassi: a lot of talk about ignoring south Fresno but 94% of these federal dollars going to south of Shaw. Arias notes that yeah the grants are re-

@kmkarbassi required to go to South of Shaw. Next: 4-A Adding Section 2-804 to the Fresno Municipal Code relating to Planning Commission composition. would like more representation for south. None of them live in a historical or rural neighborhoods. All new appointees have come from North.

@kmkarbassi 6 of the 7 are appointed to 2023(?) past the term of this mayor. He is not suggesting they be removed before their terms are up but as openings occur that District 3 and 1 do not have representation. This forces council to appeal all projects in that area. Majority of Commission

@kmkarbassi live North of Shaw. 6 and 2 have multiple commissioners from their districts. Schaad: Administration opposes this attempts to bypass charter and mayor’s role. Esparza: I love my neighbors in Old Fig but it is not represented of most of District 7. That is only person on Com-

@kmkarbassi -missioner from his district. Karbassi:would like Council to have more input on choices. He will give this serous thought. Bredefeld: every appointee comes before Council to vote up or down. I don’t think we need to formalize this. He doesn’t always agree with Commissioners de-

@kmkarbassi -cisions. They just voted to approve a large sign variance. Maybe we do need Commissioners in south! says @GarryBredefeld 😜Soria: Commissioners do need to reflect the south as well. No one from district 1 since she has been on council. She realizes charter gives power to Mayor.

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld He doesn’t agree with all parts of the charter either. She is in favor of this unless Mayor shows strong Commitment to appointing some from South. None from West Fresno. Chavez: every district has their own implementation committee. He tries to get them from all parts of his

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld District. Communication between Council and Mayor has not always been like it should. We need to come up with a better solution. Arias: we started conversation with Mayor last year but he appointed someone else recently. Was told if Person is qualified we should approve them.

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld Mayor only has one commissioner spot left to replace in his term. It is a lot of work to have to appeal every Planning Commission decision. Soria: lots of growth in her area but lots of decisions by planning Commission but no one on commission from her district. Karbassi: we have

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld total control ultimately on Planning Commissioners. We value our Commissioners too. Council going to Closed Session now. One item is the Significant Exposure to Litigation: Landscape Maintenance of America dba California Highway Adoption Co. v. City of Fresno. They had part of

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld contract subtracted at last Council meeting. Perhaps something to do with that? NOVEMBER 14 - 9:00 NO MEETING NOVEMBER 21 or NOVEMBER 28.
DECEMBER 5, 2019 - 9:00 A.M. MEETING DECEMBER 12, 2019 - 9:00 A.M. MEETING DECEMBER 19, 2019 - NO MEETING DECEMBER 26, 2019 - NO MEETING

@kmkarbassi @GarryBredefeld @threadreaderapp unroll