Thread by @AndyHS

Fresno City Council June 11,2020
Among the items besides budget hearings at 1 pm are: 10:30 AM WORKSHOP on Building Community Trust and Accountability While Protecting Social Justice, Presented by Fresno State and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People;

; parklets in Tower District; proposed SB1 Road work;

Some CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS: Consent Calendar
1-B Approve a Sub-Recipient Agreement with the Youth Leadership Institute for the Leadership Development Community Partner component of the Transform Fresno Community Engagement Plan as a part of the Transformative Climate Communities

(TCC) grant totaling $164,12; 1-F ***Creating the Fresno Temporary Parklet Program for expansion of restaurant service area due to social distancing guidelines

2. ***RESOLUTION -Amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution (AAR)
to appropriate $100,000 in CARES Act funds to the Fresno Parklet Program

1-Q *Adopting a list of proposed Public Works projects to receive Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account funding for City Fiscal Year 2021.
#Fresno

1-T**Furnish and Install Slurry Seal on Various Streets
to Sierra Nevada Construction, Inc. of Sparks, Nevada with an annual budgeted allocation of $2,863,389

1-V **Actions pertaining to the South Fresno Pedestrian Signalization Upgrade Project & Award a construction contract in the amount of $397,997.47 to Construction H, Inc. of Richmond, California

Consent items that were pulled : 1-c
1-E 1-J
1-I soria
1-J soria
1-k soria
1-x continued

Proclamation of "Alex Delgado Day" by @MayorLeeBrand She interviewed Brand several times. 22 years journalism yet never lost her passion. She hosted Veterans Day for number of years. (She tears up).

She thought “she would be in Fresno for about 3 years but stayed 20+ years. She is overwhelmed!” Next Councilmember Reports: Caprioglio thanks Fresno State President Castro for teleconference and he continues to make Fresno State a great University (bad connection). Next :

Nelson Esparza thanks his constituents and every resident who called and emailed about changes and improvemwnts to police department. @MiguelArias_D3 said he got 1000 emails on police changes and is thru reading 150 of them. @Esmeralda_Soria she also flooded with calls/emails

and she is pleased with the connections especially the young people who have called, protested, emailed. When they get involved we get changes. Need to roll up our sleeves to do the hard work. Also small business Grant is available until tomorrow. Also PrideParade was canceled

and it would have been its 30th year. But we don’t forget Pride Month and encourages people to support LGTBQ+ owned businesses. @MiguelArias_D3 thanks City Staff for their hard work. The IT department (if today’s Zoom goes well 😜)and Scott Mozier for compiling SB-1 road work

projects. @PaulCaprioglio has a pressing engagement later this morning so Council will go to ClosedSession for one item and then will be back for rest of items.

Council is back from Closed Session (9:50) Will take public comments on Consent items as well as unscheduled. @LisaYFlores1 thanks Soria for waving Pride Flag. Three Re- 1)reallocation of PD department to other needy parts of town. If we can give ULTA/amazon tax breaks...

2)Redemption 3) Re- (I missed what that one was) Asks Bredefeld to wear face masks she sent him Nexf @LovesMercy Brandi thanks Alex Delgado was honored. She also says Facebook Live and some people are waiting until 10:30 to comment rather than now. People are asking for changes

to racism in the city Noted that Jerry Dyer said changes need to be done. She will hold him to those comments. Homeless are mainly just moved from place to place and not solved. Task force needs to be better funded. Next: Cesar Casamayor-where can I get info on measure engagement

to gatekeepers. Next: Dez Martinez Homeless Task Force- we don’t need to police homeless but we need social workers. Also worried about hotels rented for Covid 19 homeless victims and they were mainly empty. Need more shade for homeless. Perhaps solar panels that cooks not only

* could provide shade as well as save City money by providing energy. Street members are cleaning streets but need gloves etc. Next: Lanesha wants to know about airport expansion project and how small Businesses could take part

Moving on to contested Consent Calendar items.

1-E Approval of the 2020 Management Agreement between the City of Fresno and ASM Global for the Management of the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center. Caprioglio said they met with a lot of vendors on this that was

Contentious last year with local businesses upset at being squeezed out. They are now on a list. City will save lots of money as well. Net effect will be better service, entertainment, and local vendors. Bredefeld worried about ASM running both this and Save Mart Center too

Had bad service on top of the conflict of interest. Wished it was less than the proposed 5 year contract so we could measure how ASM was doing. Caprioglio wished Bredefeld took part in subcommittee when this was discussed. ASM will be accountable.

@Esmeralda_Soria generally supportive. Local vendor list ? Caprioglio says agreement and terms states that local vendors like Pardini and Mario at Expo Party Rental approve this compromise. Karbassi: local economy was hurt during Covid but this will help. Esparza: length of the

Contract concern of Bredefeld. Esparza would like this to be revisited By Council in five years rather than approved at Administrative level. (Sound issues)

@GarryBredefeld thanks Karbassi and Caprioglio for improving this. He remembers the local vendors that were going to be carved out by ASM. We are still left with company that provided bad service and treated vendors poorly. He would like a less than five year contract. Arias: can

we terminated it before five years is up for bad service ? A: yes. Caprioglio: City can remove local General Manager of ASM with 30 day notice as well passes 6-1. Next : 1-F

1-F Creating the Fresno Temporary Parklet Program for expansion of restaurant service area due to social distancing guidelines Soria says some businesses have no /little parking lot to put Parklets up. However some need help funding barricades etc This will provide $100,000 for

that help. This is targeted at Tower District but this can be expanded to other parts of city. Assistant City Manager Jim Schadd says CARE dollars still need to approve this. If they don’t the money will come from General Fund. @LuisCha70215912 SE Fresno has spots that could use

this as well. We may be able to get funding from CDBG funds to pay for it if CARES won’t. Esparza: Money is going thru Tower Marketing Committee so needs to be changed so SE Fresno can use funds too. Bredefeld asks why use a Marketing Committee ? Soria: thought is two restaurants

can share one parklet. Mom/ Pop spots can’t always afford to do it themselves. Not complicated as Jersey Barriers / construction will provide parklet. Arias: large shopping centers in other part of town has enough parking to do this without building parklets but not in Tower.

(Sound issues) City Manager is worried this won’t fall under CDBG eligible if CARES doesn’t cover it. Also @plannerdanzack and others are already working on a Parklet program and would like them overseeing this. Karbassi: will this be one vote or split vote? A: Can do either

Does Finance department think it will be covered by CARES? I think this is a great program but I want this to be city wide and finds provided by City and not thru Tower Marketing Committee. Soria: makes sense in pedestrian friendly parts of town.

Karbassi: can it be for businesses that doesn’t have funding but does have parking lot: can they apply? A: yes

Karbassi: can City’s Lupe Perez and her team manage this ? Caprioglio: likes Karbassi’s idea. Keeps it above board. Administration of the funding is question unless City manages it. Jim Schaad: could have both Tower Marketing and Economic Development Dept as well. Approved 7-0

Caprioglio: can we adjourn in honor of his mother in law Stella Chavez. He needs to leave for her funeral at this point.

1-H Soria asks if building code to Emergency Sleeping Cabins. Will this make it easier to house homeless? Planning Dept Jennifer Clark says HVAC provided in cabins. This allows non profits to increase their capacity for those who are unsheltered. Arias: says this is only for

Poverello House and replace their Tuff Sheds. Very specific to that spot but can be used anywhere else in city. Approved 7-0

1-I Authorize the Chief of Police to enter into an agreement with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office in the amount of $100,000 for three years with the option for two one-year extensions for the continued shared use of the Satellite Jail facility office for the registration of

Convicted Sexual Offenders. Police Chief Andy Hall says there are 2500 that are in City and 25 are homeless. They have to be periodically registered by law. Some are done off site due to Covid but will be indoors eventually.

1-J Arias asks if this is time sensitive as there are quite a lot of public who want to speak on it. H. Spees says yes it can wait a week. Approved 6-1 with Karbassi voting NO

1-K Pump Station construction : soria wants to know if this can be continued so she can have a conversation with staff first as to what will be done with remainder of land. Approved 7-0

1-S City Staff says this is due tomorrow so we need to vote today. Soria: supports Veteran’s Blvd but need to find matching dollars in future. Doesn’t want older neighborhoods being squeezed out. Karbassi: West Fresno calls themselves Left Behind Fresno. Need to help Approved

4-A *Approve Second Amendment to Services Agreement with Kosmont Companies, dated June 5, 2019, adding $5,000 for additional services related to the formation of the Fresno Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District. 2. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the amendment to the Annual

Appropriation Resolution No. 2019-133 appropriating $80,000 for costs associated with formation of the Fresno Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District. Bredefeld asks why a second amendment so quickly? Esparza: this is a quick contract anyway. Approved 7-0

1-T Slurry to roadways. Public Works Scott Mozier says this is specialized work that no local companies perform. Approved

10 AM HEARING to consider the vacation of a portion of Mono Street and a portion of the R Street and S Street alley, east of R Street. Approved

10:30 AM WORKSHOP Building Community Trust and Accountability While Protecting Social Justice, Presented by Fresno State and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). (An 8-minute video being Shown)

It is video of the 8:40 seconds of George Floyd in his last time alive.

Arias: expresses his thanks for Council and Public for watching this now historic video. D’Aungillique Jackson Presents

@JePahl_White

They will present on Covid-19. “This is just as important as previous presentation” Shantay Davies-Balch says there is a connection between the two.

(Opening Prayer by Pastor DJ Criner )

We are not lazy. We built this country’s infrastructure. Just to get job interview we have to use our middle names. Mary Curry said processing plants are placed in communities of color. Are we one City or Two? Can Council bring us hope

Davies-Balch” Hospitalized at 60% rate but only 5.8% of population. We have lost four classrooms worth of black babies. Blacks don’t carry a pre-term gene”

West Fresno has highest rate of community spread of COVID-19

Respectful care given by someone who speaks similar language and same background patients do better.

Culturally appropriate education on Covid-19. 211 calls showed requests were the same across racial lines Except for African American. Free Covid 19 testing in a trusted place is needed.

We demand justice. Thank everyone on this Zoom call. Will turn it over to Fresno State team now.

Reading names of those who were killed by police. Stand in unity as solidarity with “(list names of )Pastors, community leaders, community leaders at large.

Public comment: @MiguelArias_D3 will make exception to alllw comments on a Workshop. One minute allowed. First: Social Worker Cassandra Clayton asks Police Budget especially over time as that can lead to injuries and poor judgment of officers. Reduce military tactic.

Next: Ivanka Saunders policy worker with @LCJandA Leadership Counsel Thanks young for their work. Public engagement of environmental. Still have a racial component. (Sound issues )@LisaYFlores1 Reconciliation is needed. Next: Heather Brown says a letter from DRIVE was sent to

Council yesterday. Thanks NAACP for their protests and demands today. Kimberly McCoy: supports these demands and take a stand on this budget. Investment in POC communities needed. Carolina Garza DeLuna: rebuild police department. PD shouldn’t have to handle problems they are not

equipped or trained for. Valley POC are told to be kind and quiet. Please talk to other police departments that have done better. Next Bryan Patterson says to kill all n****rs. Cut off by City Clerk

James Pitts : from Fresno State says use of force of those in custody that are often unnecessary. Need to go beyond policing as we have many disparities in services to those in custody. Without transparency there cannot be trust. A sensational event such as POC killed the video

doesn’t always come out. Next: former mayor Ashley Swearengin says this is a huge issue. Youth especially have shown courage such as those at Fresno State. Central Vallley Community Foundation needs to show more investment and not just charity. Truthful , healing is starting.

Community matching dollars are available too. @MiguelArias_D3 is cutting off public comment partly due to disgusting racial comments by those trying to high jack an important issue like this. Former Councilmember Oliver Baines will lead Fresno Commission. Asking community

members to serve. Our fine police officers and public deserve nothing less. Soria: thanks youth and the presenters today for peaceful protests and keeping us in Council accountable. We can’t continue to do the same investing and expect different outcomes. Our budget is our

priorities. $92 million federal relief dollars plus the black communities request today this isn’t asking much. @LuisCha70215912 someone picking this venue to say disgusting things shows why work still needs to be done. City needs to continue this conversation even after this

Council have moved on and termed out. We can’t forget. Arias: this will be heavy work but we know the urgency. @GarryBredefeld we witnessed the evil against George Floyd. This cannot take place in our nation. Police denounce that type of brutality and swift justice is needed.

Commends Fresno State students for their passionate and peaceful protests. He denounces the cowardly idiot who made the racial slur earlier. He hid behind social media. All the peaceful protestors who unfortunately were lumped in with looters. Thanks those who came out to protect

River Park. All the good police Officers should be praised and honored. He wants to be part of Fresno Commission so he can listen. We have good days ahead. Karbassi: Oliver Baines is a great choice. This is a needed conversation. Lots of energy brought forth that can be lasting

Need to listen to black community and police officers. I urge not to have any current elected officials on the committee though. @PaulCaprioglio I share sentiment of the others. Proud of Fresno State students. Baines’ leadership is a good choice. Concludes this Workshop.

Will adjourn for lunch until 1:30. Budget hearings will start then. Afterwards will be special Covid-19 meeting

1:00 PM item Approve the Fourth Amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Fresno and the City of Fresno, dated January 6, 2003, relating to annexation, development, and property and sales tax allocation Assistant City Manager Jane

Sumpter says they would like a simple extension of time of one year. Karbassi asks for five months so @MayorLeeBrand is still in office. @Esmeralda_Soria would like an even shorter time period despite Covid crisis. City has been giving us the short end of stick. Sumpter says

Property Tax : 62% goes to County for new annexations. Soria: often cobble several parcels to West Fresno part of city for services but we only get 38% and it costs more to provide those services. This percentage is not fair.90 day maximum? @GarryBredefeld who is negotiating for

Us? Finance Head Mike Lima, Planning Jennifer Clark and Public Works Scott Mozier. Jane Sumpter helps on sales tax negotiation along with Lima. 2003 was when this agreement was formed. Controller Lima: property tax dollar goes to city , county, schools and special district.

Annexation divided between city and county. Sales tax divided : State 87%, City:10% and County 3%. What is goal asks Bredefeld? Sumpter: creating matrix on how other cities and counties do in California. Bredefeld says his staff could find it out by tomorrow. Why is a year needed

Sumpter: matrix is in draft form. Bredefeld: how do we know it is fair ? Should’ve have been prepared since 2017. Arias : it has been extended 3 times. Whatever Fresno agrees to Clovis will as well. It is complicated. Chavez:what is legal ramifications if we don’t have an agree-

-ment ? Attorney Sloan: arbitration. Chavez: City is doing all the work but County takes biggest chunk. Karbassi: hard costs with PD and Fire takes half of Taxes but limited tax base to extend. We are half the population of county so we need better percentage. Soria: (sound issue

90 days max. Mayor Lee Brand: simple truth county gets most of property tax. If they didn’t get that tonhey would be in dire straits. If we ask for more it will go to legal options. Staff: county won’t budge Central core got 50% of tax revenue back in 1980’s. Wants to put that

record. Arias: other than those who got jobs the largest benefactors to Ulta and AmAzon deals Was County and they put no skin in the game. Housing crisis makes annexation at edges of city won’t be financially sustainable. Bredefeld : we are subsidizing the county and have been.

We need to see what other cities and counties get. If we need to take legal options than we need to do so. For 17 years it hasn’t worked but we can’t do it blindly. We should to it even quicker than 90 days. Soria: maybe we are done? County may not budge. We need matrix and 60

days rather than 90. Karbassi: does this need to be in closed session? If County is watching this Broadcast today they know we are serious and we need more tax revenue. Tim Orman: clovis just signed their deal and it is 1% less than ours. They do have a “me too” agreement as wel

Question: 60 or 90 day? Let’s meet in closed session. We all like subsidizing those across the street at County like @stevebrandau golfing. Public: @LisaYFlores1 I actually agree with Bredefeld ! 90 days is too much. You have negotiating in good faith but county is still not.

Soria : wants 60 days. Arias : we will vote (sound issues ) approved 4-2

Special meeting notice for Covid plan approved 5-1 with Karbassi voting NO. Tim Orman: provide testing in city of Fresno. Strategic Plan is not being asked to be approved today. $92 million in CARES. We have guidelines so we are not spending it incorrectly.

$27 million for community: small business and housing grants , small farmers, EDC for small businesses, buy local campaign , homeless transition composed of buying hotels. Rehab hotels that would provide 200 permanent housing, Arts and culture , domestic violence , human

trafficking , food bank, child care vouchers. Mobile testing sites and contact tracing. Retrofit City for coronavirus , teleconferencing improvements for City , $40+million left for reserve to make up for losses on tax revenue. This gets idea started today.Karbassi: I won’t vote

Yes on any items to this special meeting as I need time to read and speak to constituents. Chavez:this money is to be used to combat coronavirus. Not ready to vote on second item. What would Be helpful is which zip codes were hit the highest and determine from there. Infection

Rate is accelerating now as people are out and about. Orman: zip code info is available. Esparza: based on current knowledge but I think a second wave may be coming. We need to build upon that premise. I want that contingency plan by betting on second wave.

Bredefeld: what is $2 million for arts and culture? Arias: all museums are shut down and can only let in 100 Max now. This money could be used for exterior improvements that would allow social distancing. Bredefeld: we need to careful that federal government won’t approve and we

are on the hook. Soria: appreciates the initial Draft. Flexibility is needed as Esparza mentioned if second wave hits. Culturally concordant health was mentioned in previous workshop. How will that be accomplished ? Youth Commission says many youth have mental health issues due

Covid by losing their jobs or being stuck inside. Also poor wifi infrastructure hurts those in Southeast and Southwest Fresno to got to school or telework. Arias:glad we are focusing on health part. 92706 has high infection rate but little testing. How do we take on workforce

component. Public: @LisaYFlores1 disappointed that $25 m is out aside for revenue replacement. We know we will have a second wave. Is there anything to help large families who have single member get Covid to have a place to quarantine?

Shantay Davies-Balch: we need real data. Blacks in Fresno Co. the Covid rate is 100 out of 1000 but not even supposed to be open is rate is over 25. Domestic violence is up 70%. Intimate violence goes up for all pregnant POC. Covid funds are for quick response. Systematic about

tracing. I will challenge County to get data by Monday ! Ivanka Saunders: last minute notice of this meeting is not transparent or helpful. Please delay for two weeks. $40 m reserved for city reserves is not acceptable. Hoarding money while some are suffering. $8 m for Parks

Retrofitting next: Anthony Molina of bicycle counsel. We need safer essential transportation like walking and biking. More pedestrians were hit during shelter in place due to drivers taking advantage of less traffic to speed. Slow Street movement is better.

@LovesMercy Brandi: agreed with many of the previous comments. We need to reach out to public before voting on this. Arts is impacted. Hotel purchase is wonderful but not put in one part of city as well be near stores.

Karbassi: great to provide health care to rural areas but again I would like a chance to review this. I know This is urgent. Motion to delay. Esparza : how immediate would these vehicles go out. Orman:30 days soria: I get Karbassi so comments. A week delay is reasonable but not

It will also take 30 days to implement once we approve. We can speak to advocates during the week delay. Orman: we can delay a week. Esparza: can we have a special meeting Monday or Tuesday? Arias: we want to see zip code info down to neighborhood level. Soria: culturally

appropriate health ? Orman: yes. Approved 5-1 with Esparza voting NO.

Budget hearings begin with Financial dept head Mike Lima. $15,769,000 proposed budget.

$5.7 million spent so far. We are under General Plan budget by about $1 million. Non-general fund side is about $8 million and spent $6 million so we are under by one million there as well. Public:Ivanka Saunders of @LCJandA asks Basic Human needs such as clean water Are pri-

-ritized. Be open to all levels of Fresno’s demographics. Next Hearing IT Department: Funding last year was used to upgrade firewalls and other security. We are half way thru that. Coronavirus has slowed down that upgrade though.

Very little personnel items. Soria: Call volume increased due to Covid? A: goes in waves. Initial shelter in place and emergency city announcements spurs phone calls. With budget cuts we need to figure out what to remove. We provide info to residents so tough decisions

Jennifer Clark with Planning Department Budget. Esparza asks about parking near VA hospital. Budget may help with enforcement. Soria: what vacancies are we seeing? Money back guarantee hasn’t helped is what she has heard.

Currently not filling positions due to economic crisis. We do have problems filling professional positions even before. Great talent in market place though. Soria: what part of $1 billion in new permits is in which part of city ? Clark: with Covid we bought software that can

check plan checks electronically and provide real time comments to developers. Inspections and parking control cannot next done virtually though obviously. Public: Ivanka Saunders: poverty and unaffordable housing as well as pollution can get worse without an affordable housing

Trust Fund. Assist with first time homeowners , legal help for those with landlord issues, help finance affordable housing building, $500,000 for truck rerouting Plan. @LCJandA Arias: need a meeting of CDBG Committee. Clark: a new ad hoc Committee needs to be created. Soria:

some plans for affordable housing trust fund. Clark: we will be bringing back a plan we had proposed last year. Next : Public Utilites with dept head Michael Carbajal. $341,000 million. It is supported by Non general revenue. 61/2 % savings. Ongoing capital projects occurring.

Soria: 59 vacancies ? Is that typical? Or staying vacant longer ? Carbajal: attrition / retirement etc. developing class to help get certification for employees in order to fill some of those spots. Soria: any connection to job pipeline at Fresno City College ? Trustee

@AnnalisaPerea is watching and perhaps she sees a need as well. Are we charging late fees to help those being hit by coronavirus so they don’t have water etc shut off ? Carbajal: we are not shutting off or charging late fees at this point. We need to get more data though

Soria: perhaps we can use CARE dollars do people are not getting behind ? Arias: purple pipe progrsss? Public: Ivanka Saunders : illegal dumping , bad lighting etc. we need to invest equally across the city Pilot program to see how other cities have cleaned alleys of blight from

illegal dumping such as Seattle amd Baltimore. Art alley ways have been making it better for children @LCJandA Arias: illegal dumping has led to Council Districts making payments to remove illegal dumping. Too many dumping sites and few people. Soria: do we pay PD to pick up

Trash and deter people picking in trash. Tower has a lot of illegall dumping at commercial tenants. Arias: plastic tops on trash bins are too easy to pull up. Some concern from trash company to damage to exterior walls of buildings when metal lids are open. Soria:one compliance

officer for 120 miles is perhaps not enough. Monday 9 AM will have Budget hearings with Airport , Fire Department and Police. Council heads into Closed Session now.

NEXT MEETINGS
JUNE 15, 2020 - 9:00 A.M. BUDGET HEARING
JUNE 16, - 9:00 A.M. BUDGET HEARING
JUNE 18, - 9:00 A.M. MEETING
JUNE 22, - 9:00 A.M. VOTE ON MOTIONS
JUNE 25, - 9:00 A.M. MEETING
JULY 2, - NO MEETING
JULY 9, - NO MEETING
JULY 16, - 9:00 A.M. MEETING

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