Thread by @AndyHS

Fresno City Council February 18, 2021! On the agenda includes the 1 PM Free Bus Fare Act 2 Homeless items including Regional coordination and CDBG-COVID funding. Advocates wish for the funding is used for Mobile medical clinics and Right to Counsel ; Bredefeld lawsuit against

Fresno Unified to force reopening of schools. #Fresno You can watch at cmac.tv/gov/ @CMACTV

Among the Consent Calendar Items:1-B Actions pertaining to the Ordinance Number 2021-005, the
Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Tax Ordinance
Certifying and declaring the results of the Consolidated General Election held in the City of Fresno on November 6, 2018, as to

1 Measure P (Subject to Mayor's Veto) 2. RESOLUTION - Authorizing the Controller or his designee to execute agreements with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for implementation of a local transactions and use tax 3. RESOLUTION - Authorizing examination of

sales or transactions and use taxes records 4. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the 67th amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution No. 2020-159 appropriating up to $175,000 for State administration of Measure P

1-C *Actions pertaining to the 2017 Transformative Climate
Communities (TCC) Grant and Transform Fresno Plan
Projects

1-G ***Reject all proposals received on August 4, 2020, in response
to the Department of Transportation Fresno Area Express
Transit Mobile Ticketing Solution solicitation and staff will
rebid the project (Bid File #9544

1-L** RESOLUTION - Authorizing the Submission of a Grant Application to the Fresno Council of Governments for 2021 Measure "C" Transit Oriented Infrastructure for In-Fill Development Grant Program in the amount of $1,138,000 for the Merced Complete Street Project(HOTEL FRESNO)

and Authorizing the Execution of Grant Application and Grant Agreement Documents by the Public Works Director or Designee (Council District 3)

1-M* RESOLUTION - Approve Non-AAR Reallocation of $60,000 from the City Attorney's Department/Code Section to the City Council Department, Council City Support Section. (Subject to Mayor's Veto)

Among the new additions to the Council format for 2021 is Mayor/City Manager Reports and Comments. Previously only Councilmember Reports/Comments scheduled. New City Manager is Thomas “Tommy” Esqueda

All Coucilmembers here this morning. Pastor from Wesley United Church with the Invocation (Issues with CMAC video feed)

Live feed has gone and now showing PSAs instead. Wesley United Methodist Church gave invocation until live video cut away. Bredefeld 4-A was removed from Agenda failing 3-4 to keep (Bredefeld, Karbassi and Soria vote YES with latter two voting yes for discussion reasons)

I missed what items were pulled or removed due to CMAC difficulties

Black History Month Proclamation Presentation
Sponsors: Vice President Esparza and Councilmember Arias. Arias and Kimberly Tapscott Munson leads it. Tapscott-Munson: a handwoven from Ghana originally worn by Royalty. Among those receiving it are @JerryDyerFresno , Deputy Mayor

and other staff. Among those in memorium Louise Gaston, , Dr. Noel Smith and Pastor Jeffrey Willard. (Video of those who passed away shown). Neapoleon DeVaughn "the Fruit Man" honored. Tapscott-Munson shares she has fond memories as first "Meal on Wheels". Would change his music

when he entered Hispanic neighborhoods. He was a Westside Legend. Esparza says second honor will be Fresno State's NAACP.. Black Lives Matter locally was organized by this group. A peaceful march outside City Hall and hold this accountable Council with Police Commission.

Black History Proclamation is given to this chapter.Student Denise Rogers-Heyte (sp) knows there is much that needs to be done and thanks the Council. Esparza thanks all those here today supporting this group Ivanka Saunders, Shawn Brooks, Dottie Smith, Greg Barfield, Gail

Gaston, Venice Curry, Debbie Darden and many more. Esparza also notes Tina Griffen in City Attorney's Office. Councilmember Reports:Soria:food distribution continues and this month is critical to remember current struggles of our Black community. Needs to be a more equitable.

Fresno County shows inequity of COVID vaccinations. @kmkarbassi Thanks Esparza and Arias for the scarf. @MiguelArias_D3 Thanks Mayor Dyer for Neighborhood Meeting and clean up as well as motel opened up for homeless. Vaccinations at Gaston Middle School for those over 65.

Minorities are being left behind for vaccinations. Fresno County still requires Online registration which leaves many of these groups behind. Reopening will leave these groups vulnerable if the vaccines don't increase. @Maxwell4Fresno 100 days 100 trees. 80 trees along Sierra.

Bring pride to District 4's corridor and park. Last of the 100 trees will be planted on Earth Day. Cary Park Cleanup Blitz. Thanks Mayor Dyer and @MarkStandriff Beautify Fresno It was cold and wet but 80 people showed up. Neighbors are ready to reclaim their parks. Senior Meals

continue to be given out. Also Community Engagement committies. Public will be given training on FresGo as well as reports from City Staff. Application process will begin soon. @GarryBredefeld Thanks Karbassi and Soria for vting to keep 4-A on the agenda. While military i put my

life on the line. Our Bill of rights is what separates us from other countries. But we see Cancel Culture on Council by letting public dialogue on these destructive shut down acts. They refuse to discuss. These anti science shut down hurt our students. Leading to depression, etc

Other states and other countries' schools are open. Shares a father's 8-year saying "I want to die". This is direct result of school closures. I should be taking him to park to play with friends but last 11 months has strip child of what he loved. Suicide, depression is rampant.

Ends letter from that father. Bredefeld:Superindentent Bob Nelson cut a deal with Teacher's Union. Why can Nelson's children go full time to school but not other. No removing items from agenda or nonsensical tweets from Nelson will stop me.I ask other public officials to help.

"open the schools now". @LuisCha70215912 I agree with Bredefeld that everyone wants to reopen schools. When Chavez he has insight when he was School trustee. Online learning and internet access is not universal. This was a tough year in Fresno. Collaborating with CBO/s, churches

etc.I agree we need to reopen but disagrees with Bredefeld that a lawsuit is how to do that. Collaboration with all these groups is what is needed. If you want to go fast go along. If you want to go far work together. School districts stepped up and fed students.I think by summer

we will having most vaccinated. Mayor Dyer Comments:My support of President Biden's relief fund has gotten media attention. Our revenue needs to be made whole as well as rental help and homeless housing. H Spees has worked on Operation Offramp to find housing for those on CalTran

properties. @MarkStandriff Beautify Fresno and Cary Park was great. Lots of good things happening in Fresno. I appreciate the passion of Bredefeld for our youth and re-opening the schools. Dyer asked State to open schools and safely. Met with local Unified Schools Superindentents

and Dyer learned a lot. Only Clovis was allowed to open due to plans being in place. All Suxperintents want the schools open. Clovis is different than Fresno.Project Offramp:next spot is 180 and Tyler between 6th and 11th. 99 and Ventura/Golden State area next. Thanks for your

patients. City Manager: surplus land act (Selland Arena) , Cannabis application licenses is now closed @JePahl_White Notification to businesses near these locations are being sent. Jennifer Reese gets a shoutout for keeping this moving forward.

Consent Calendar: Public comments: Sam FrankEmployees Association President asks about Closed Session item on 80 hours of covid leave. Sunset on those hours occurred and are now unavailable to any employees who are placed on quarantined do so as unpaid leave. Many would like to

see this Council values their employees and find it in your heads and hearts to use this money to mitigate Covid. Kaillen Valenzuela:I am homeless. I and 20 others here on 180 are waiting to be taken to motels(phone cuts out).@LovesMercy Brandi:one thing that is lacking is under-

standing the homeless. We need ways to bring them to the table. Agrees with Soria that sheltering the homeless needs to be community wide. Need affordable housing. Check into number of beds are vacant as they are being held for Project Offramp. Anyone who needs a shelter should

get it. Walk ins need to have access too. Voice of homeless need to be brought to table in meaningful way. Next: Dez martinez:Thanks Arias for awareness regarding lack of beds. Thanks staff for getting people into transitional homes. That is one step closer to permanent. Privacy

in rooms is important. Some homeless are often banned from Santa Clara and Parkway areas and if placed in those shelters puts their life in danger. Need a shelter for those who can't have drug use done by rooommates. We need more tiny home villages over more shelters. Shelters

are a 4 year temporary plan. Wonders abut Dyer's numbers on shelter space. Arias:mentions homeless item this afternoon. end Public Comments. Bredeld and Karbassi registers a NO vote on 1-B (Measure P) Arias: Registers a YES vote and welcomes all of Bredefeld's Park Money to come

to District 3. 1-G Department of Transportation Fresno Area Express
Transit Mobile Ticketing Solution solicitation and staff will
rebid the project
Maxwell: asks that this goes to Transportation Committee before it goes out to bid. Soria:timeframe? @gregorybarfield This bid was

out last August and before Zero Fare proposal. We will hold off for now. Approved 7-0

3-A Workshop - Coordination of Regional Homelessness
Initiatives and Funding. Arias: Thanks H Spees for leading this. Record:Lots of criticism of State. Federal and State has given us a record $100+million. Still have homeless growing though. This is what Homeless Committee has

been grappling with. This today is detailed info on this issue. I hope this is standard going forward. Public can see size and scope of our homeless problem. H Spees: Size , money received/spent and what we got for that money

Size: 68% increase between 2019-2020. Shelter space increased too. Unsheltered rose too though. Fresno had 1400 beds offered. As we move away from unparraled funding to normal? Street homelessness has increased and we are losing ground. 2020 survey by Jim Yorvino showed large num

-ber of homeless students Soria:Eviction Moratorium will go past June? City Attorney Doug Sloan: Yes, but may be superceded by State order. City manager:If we extend emergency order to December we will be covered?

Spees:$150 million received for homelessness. $56 million City funding resources. (showing slides with these numbers)

Arias:typically City would only receive $2million a year. State and Federal Government has given us $150 million. Unfortunately won't be permanent. Have to stretch it out as long as possible. Spees: Leveraging those one-time money.

Tiny Houses are on this list. Project Offramp showed 503 camps found. Focusing on 250 most vulnerable to being hit by vehicles or fires on this land. Arias:map shows it is a City wide issue and focused along freeways.

Spees:Parkway Motels Leveraging short time resources. Temporary Covid can be transitioned into permanent housing.

New approach to shelter. Old school shelters is where you line up at 5 pm and pray for a bed and then do it all over again next evening. Goal of each triage center that will help each individual make their way thru shelter system. Aria:Our largest problem is we don't have enough

affordable housing or high density housing. We need to build these and not just single family housing. Comprehensive Mayor's workshop is being created says @LuisCha70215912 "dashboard" will be all hands on deck. Soria has been on forefront with tiny homes. Soria: Lots of puzzle

pieces going forward. How about number on Motel Row? Spees:no specific number 327 currently with another 60 on tap. If we only rely on motels we won't get ahead of this. We need longterm goal. Arias: 6 Motel Drive have been purchased and maybe 2-3 more still. Motel owners are

beginning to charge more too. Plenty of motel stock throughout city too. Soria: How do we provide wrap around services? West of 99 has few health clinics. Need comprehensive services with mental health etc. NIMBY issue is occurring but we don't want them on our freeways or in

front of businesses. Mixed use affordable housing. Need a healthier city. @D7Esparza Thanks Mayor Dyer for responding to my letter regarding 180 freeway. Tyler Ave have row of homeless encampments next to freeway. How do we rate to to other cities? Spees: Homelessness is outstrip

-ping our resources. Governor said Fresno brought a thoughtful plan and was rewarded. Working smarter and not just harder. Homekey and Project Off ramp working together. Esparza:Appears to be a housing crisis. Are we homegrowing due to lack of housing OR is it migration from

other cities? Spees:Every Mayor says other mayors re sending their homeless to their cities but most is homegrown. Esparza: 277 Homekey Beds include Old Smugglers Inn? Spees:It does include that. 969 beds when we add all but that is a moving target as some beds are shut down for

other needs like mental health. Spees:Smugglers in is for famlies needing rapid housing. Esparza:Is that County residents or City?Spees:Mainly city residents. Real reluctance for rural County residents to move to city. Esparza:success rate of moving along continuum ?Spees:success

rate has led 600+ transition to permanent housing. It is cumbersome system and different entities. @GarryBredefeld 1400 have gotten shelter? Spees:that is number of beds available. Goal is to make it to permanent housing. Covid has radically increased homelessness. Sectio 8, pri-

vate pay for permanent housing (Secured a job, family helps out). Bredefled: how many are mentally ill , how many are criminals, those who lost their jobs? Spees: whole spectrum. We have those numbers. Bredefled: how are mentally ill and addicts getting help? Spees:Community wide

response. Mobile units have mental health staff. Bredefeld: we need to address those or our tab will go from $150 million to $700 million. We hand out free needles although nothing is free as we will see later with Bus Fares. Spees:Project Homekey gave us tremendous resources

Mayor Dyer stepped up and stated most vulnerable are those along freeway overpass.Bredefeld: thanks Jerry for targeting freeways. We need to see how we are helping these people though. @JerryDyerFresno Thanks Spees. We will get you resources needed. Is it addiction? Hardtimes?

Mental Health? Yes all three can be true and one can lead to other. Outreach workers need to approach i the correct way and offer services. Funding is today and may extend even longer. Every mayor in large cities in California say the number 1 problem is homelessness. FEMA recog-

nizes need to help with motels. Help with rent, utilities, and less evictions. Poverello House has been given money to build tiny homes and we will need to fight NIMBYism. Fresno Rescue Mission has plans for 100's of tiny homes. Cleanup of freeways resources are going to be

asked of Governor. We asking developers to build smaller units 400 sq foot along Blackstone and Downtown Fresno to increase our affordable housing. It will take a lot of work to get there. Chavez:Thanks mayor and staff. As we debate these funds we need to remember these are one

time funds. Need to look at services as well as housing. Arias:We have been given Mayor direction to look to get FEMA funds. Our upcoming issue will be influx of minimum wage workers who can't afford rent. NIMBYism needs to be stifled as they will remain on our freeways, parks

3-B ******Actions pertaining to supplemental funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development Office of Community Planning and Development (HUD CPD) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus: 1. ***RESOLUTION - Adopting Substantial Amend-

ments to the Citizen Participation Plan to submit a request to HUD to program $7,980,086 of Community Development Block Grant-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Coronavirus (COVID-19); approving allocations to activities in accordance there

with; and authorizing the City Manager or designee to sign all implementing documents as approved to form by the City Attorney (Subject to Mayor's veto) 2. Approve first revision of ESG-CV Activity Allocations to allocate $5,960,899 of Emergency Solutions Grant-Coronavirus, 2nd

tranche (ESG-CV2) to activities to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the Coronavirus among homeless population. Public: @LovesMercy Brandi:Thank you for comments. UPDATE: people were waiting to be taken to motels . Miscommunication occurred. Mental Health professionals need

to be there at all times and not just on-call. Sources need to used for jobs too. Full breakfast need to be provided at shelters. Dez Martinez: agrees with Brandi. Shelter issues occur where persons who have enemies placed into same shelter. No escalation officers are needed.

CORRECTION;Escalation officers ARE needed. Security officers are not always friendly and uniform can cause problems. Homeless outreach such as picking up trash. EOC tried it with success but homeless could only be hired for 3 weeks. @LisaYFlores1 City needs Moment in Time will

also have rent moratorium expiring in June. Worry about gentrification requires rent stabilization for two years. Tiny Homes cannot only be south of McKinley. Robert McCloskey:if no shelter beds are available where are people going ?Freeway sweeps often cause people to lose their

belongings. Supervised camps such as in Sacramento can provide showers, bathrooms as an inexpensive temporary solution. Provide Humanity. 4 tiny homes could be provided for cost of one motel room.
Ruben:Mental Health expertise is helpful. NIMBYism needs to be called out.

Yonis Paulo: Social distancing is hurting Veteran Homeless. Affordable housing is needed. Lost two a few days ago. Need to do more for our Veterans. Approved 7-0 Council

Council will take their lunch recess and be back at 1 pm for Zero Bus Fare Item. After that they will take up Closed Session Items.

1 PM The Zero Fare Clean Air Act
Sponsors: Councilmember Maxwell, Councilmember Soria and Vice
President Esparza

1 PM The Zero Fare Clean Air Act
Sponsors: Councilmember Maxwell, Councilmember Soria and Vice
President Esparza
@Maxwell4Fresno We think this is Bold legislation. Thanks his staff , public who gave comments, and his co-sponsors. While Councilmember -Elect he was told about lack

of access to transportation. During Covid pandemic we stood up for renters, businesses etc but not stand up to accessibility to transportation. Why now ? Short-term:Get as many people vaccinated but don't have access to getting to shot. Lost job and thus their cars. We also want

to clean our air. Average bus rider in Fresno? Young single woman of color. 76% of riders have no access to vehicle. 77% make less than $20,000. I have never paid an access fee to a park. This is a regressive tax on most vulnerable. Other Cities have done us. We want to sustain

this for next 1-5 years. Local universities know their students used it. Private sector like hospitals too. We will need to codify not allowing people to ride endlessly. Measure C will help reduce to zero fares. Clovis also has zero fare. Other cites have done it for Covid reason

like Clovis and Visalia. Found out it increases ridership and satisfaction. 5th largest city in State needs to step up to plate. We are not doing this because it is easy or perfect but rising up to solve this problem. Need to provide a service to the most needy. Thanks Metro

Black Chambers,Fresno EOC, Dr. Joaquin Arambula, Bitwise, Magdalena Gomez, Faith in Valley, Metro Ministries and many others. A productive conversation with @JerryDyerFresno and City Manager Esqueda. Motion to approve, Soria seconds. Public: Chacon:Concerns free fare was used BRT

(She represents Transit Union I think)$1.25 helped vett the riders. If we lose revenue it will hurt us longterm. We hoped Maxwell would make adjustments after we spoke to him but doesn't seem like that happened. (Changed to 2 minutes per as lots of speakers) Next: No Fare is

vital for students to go to school and work. They were most effected. This supports most vulnerable. Make city a little easier to navigate. Mario Magniello:CNC Education Fund. Important this passes as rents have increased and bus fare is an extra burden.People looking for change

while getting on bus slows it down. @kieltls Quality of life aspect as people rush to get to work. Affordable housing developers will be key partners. Lidia Chavez:She is a bus driver. Was part of BRT free fares but this led to many problems with homeless riding around. Only 10

passengers allowed due to Covid. We want to drive clean busses with paying passengers. I have already been assaulted twice this year. Next:Watkins:Bus Driver has concerned for safety of passengers and drivers. Assaults were up during BRT free fare. Maxwell hoped those going to

get vaccinations will expose drivers to Covid. Next:School Board Keisha Thomas:In favor of zero fares. West Fresno young women need to get to work, medical etc. She will only be in support if safety of drivers and passengers though. Next:Tina Robertson of Bitwise. We encourage

access to transit. Bitwise emphasizes community. Free safe bus service can give that access. We are a community supporter of this. @BitwiseInd Next:Kiya Harris of Black Chambers. We support this due to accessibility. Supports local businesses. Demand will increase as we open up

post covid. Leadership Counsel rep @LCJandA partners have raised this issue and need to create a sustainable service longterm past 5 years. Transition to zero emissions bus and infrastructure. Jacobsen:this is a bad idea and will kill transit in Fresno due to lack of funding.

It will kill jobs as it will hurt Uber as well as school bus drivers as parents will force kids onto city bus. Youth Commission District 2 Evelyn Gamble says many students cannot afford bus fare as it is . Youth Commission is excited by this. Next:As a passenger on a fixed income

that when BRT bus was fare it was a fiasco. DEaling with vagrants and those with mental issue. I saw students and elderly harassed. Lets get an exploratory committee to see if longterm funding is available. Not jump into this with fingers crossed. Next:Raymart from FCC student

When FCC free fare was eliminated it made it hard. Biggest issues among bus riders were lack of wifi and late busses. Nothing is free but council didn't flinch when Police were given more money last year. Professor Amber Crowe (sp)this is a straightforward way to help many of our

citizens. Bus fare is a hindrance. Brenda Quist: Wholeheartedly support this as a long time bus rider. I had heard horror stories before riding bus but it was not bad at all. @LovesMercy Brandi: In support of this. Poverty level citizens need this to get to appointments.

Not having to choose between food and the bus will be helpful. Safety of drivers is important. @LisaYFlores1 This is a fabulous idea , Tyler! But need to look at longterm funding as we are giving up some funding with this. PPE for drivers. Amazon got special tax cuts but those

who work for Amazon are hit over and over. This bus are saving of $75 a month can be turned into clothes etc. Rick Steitz:30 years of speaking for transit workers. $1.25 has been in place for 6 years and one of the lowest in California. BRT was used as a way to broaden its ride

-ership.The free BRT got sway from the City initially with homeless that had no skin in the game and didn't broaden ridership base. We need to know if grant funding will be available longterm. Why do any of these entities want to buy bulk for their employees, students etc if it

is free? FAX doesn't have the compliment of police that it used to have. Pedro Cruz:Full support. Dyer's hashtag #onefresno is a good way to connect this community. I heard a narrative growing up that south Fresno lack everything and North Fresno was scared to come down. This

free fare will help people see other parts. Central Valley Urban Institute's Eric Payne is in support. This is for the Public good. This is needed. Dr. Anthony Molina: funding and homeless issue solved this will be a great boon for health. 10-20% of neighborhoods lack access to

vehicles. Public Health would improve with access to healthy food. Henry Amador:Bus driver that disagrees with this. If so it will cause a lot of issues with those who shouldn't be on the bus. Disabled and students do need this but drivers will have safety problems. Kevin Hall

@airfrezno I was against this initially and using Clovis's bare bone system. Regional Plan has $30 million for methane bus but perfect timing to get zero emissions busses. Please get this right. Measure C needs to be done correct. No Closed Doors on that committee. Cooper:Of

Faith in the Valley and Maxwell's district. Community wants safe bus rides. David Johnson: Kansas City transit which is a 7 county regional system. Suspension of fares, rear boarding. Implemented plexiglass around bus drivers made it very safe. Funding is an issue. Policy is all

about people. When you pay a fare every trip is a financial transaction which is different from a car when all those costs are sunk in. Everyone who hears about free fare likes the idea and place their saved money back into economy.

@Esmeralda_Soria This will move Fresno into the right direction. Transfer tickets add ups for a family. $1.25 is steep for some. This will help us in both short and long term. 61% of Fresnans income is spent on housing and transit and for low income it is 80%. This is about the

"One Fresno" of Mayor Dyer. This is about those who have to avoid their next meal if they pay a bus fare. Kevin Hall is correct that Measure C needs to have a voice for those in need. Fresno County is made up half of those in Fresno and we need our fair share. I want to be a City

of Yes. This is good change for the longterm. When Council makes something is a priority we get it done. This is the right time to be bold and creative and get funding from Measure C and other sources. @D7Esparza Proud to be a co-sponsor on this. Covid-19 has impact our com-

munity greatly. End of the pandemic may give opportunity to create a more equitable nation and in Fresno that means zero fare.Those making $40,000 or less have a hard time savings. Investment on Blackstone infrastructure , increased density and PBID there will make a great future

for Fresno. I am happy to sit down with bus drivers to hear their concerns. @MiguelArias_D3 a minimum wage earner makes $23,000 a year. $6000 for food. $150 for utilities a month. Tax bill is $50 a month. Taking bus to Amazon/Ulta leaves $50 a month. Not everyone has good salary

or benefits like our bus drivers as we take care of our employees. People talk about nothing is free. We waive impact fees to encourage developers to make it easier to create houses/jobs. This Zero Bus fare is the same as it helps people climb the financial ladder. This will also

create cleaner air. Lets not make this the false narrative as this is a social system or charity. Clovis does this. Time for Fresno to act like a big city and not a small town. When left with just $50 a month is not enough. Just because someone gets free fare doens't mean they

are not helping pay for our transit system as every time they purchase something some of that tax goes to support it. @kmkarbassia asks fare costs? $1.25 and 65 cents for veterans, elderly and disabled currently says Greg Barfield. FAX police officers was reduced to 12 and now

down to contract officers only. Fat Wednesday is tough day as more PD trainings are done then. Herndon Crosstown bus route begins March 1st to El Paseo. Monthly pass is $48. Bulk purchasers pay $1.10 unlimited rides. $24 monthly pass for vets etc. @GarryBredefeld Resolution says

zero fare will increase GDP but I haven't found any data to support this. Page 2 suspending fares will increase safety for drivers and riders but it didn't happen with BRT. Regulars stopped riding due to that. Free Fare will let homeless ride around all day and they all carry

weapons. It failed miserably when we did this before. @gregorybarfield Today is 3rd anniversary of BRT and first two years were bad. Safety and cleanliness were all an issue. Bredefeld: Zero Fare commences march 1st until Covid emergency is lifted. When is that? Barfeld:I can

legally suspend fares for up to 6 months. Analysis would need to be done. We haven't done one in 8 years. We have to do an equity study when fare is changed or route changed to see who is effected. No matching 5:1 from federal as we are not collecting fares. We will still get

this ratio for capital improvements. Bredefeld:will cleaning be free, free tires, free bus driver salaries,? A:NO. Bredefeld:Zero Fare doesn't let you climb economic ladder but more jobs. If this is such a great idea lets get rid of utility fees, business fees, inspections etc!

This is reckless idea and panders to a select few but hurts those who rely on it. Always the cost is put onto Middle Class. I am going to listen to bus drivers. It will be on this council when a rider/driver gets injured. I won't support this and I hope the Mayor vetoes this.

Bredefeld:Correction: 60 cents is fare for vets etc. @Maxwell4Fresno A wild misconception that a person who is homeless is more dangerous than anyone on this call. My own father was homeless and he wasn't dangerous. Lots of our bus fares are subsidized and those riders are not

more dangerous. To Bredefeld the Money Back Guarantee in this case is not going to developers but just back to the working class. We will not let homeless ride endlessly. Arias:Income of SF and Long Beach incomes are more than Fresno. This act won't change the requirement on how

you act on a bus. If any bus driver gets hurt is on this council. We have never said if someone dies from Covid such as the recent death of a police officer we don't blame a councilmember that wants to open up the economy too soon. We are a fiscal conservative council, we want

visitors to City Hall to wear masks. Bredefeld:I grew up poor. I am not saying poor are dangerous. But we need to protect our drivers from this fiscally poor policy. @kmkarbassi Is there a spreadsheet to see what future costs are ?City Manager:Nothing has been decided today other

than we will suspend bus fares March 1st. We will come back later and ultimately it will be up to Council. We will need to look for grants , work with our local entities, Measure C. Karbassi:Our bus drivers are a union but they don't have a voice on this. That scares me to death

What is Kansas City demographics? Barfield:Bus is only free in Kansas City but not the other regions. They have a tax like Measure C. They have a free loop for those living in Downtown which triggered those coming into Downtown wanting free too. Karbassi: I listened to today's

callers but i am going to listen to the bus drivers. Keeping the $1.25 keeps the only affordable transit for those like elderly etc when we have reduced capacity to only 10 riders. @LuisCha70215912 We already subsidize transit. People want to feel safe on bus, cleanliness.

Thanks Maxwell for first initiative wasn't just for District 4 but for the downtrodden. I want to also thank the bus drivers and the City supports you. You will have a voice in this. Everyone wants to make it better. How do we pay for it? What is unintended consequences? Longterm

expansion? We will suspend during Covid. We will look at 1-year and 5 -year plan. "Public-Private" in MOU doesn't mean privatization. There are incidents on busses but there are mental ill on all bus and they are not all homeless. I love the intent of this Act as it is to help

people. I am going to support this but will look at numbers for 1 to 5 year plans. This is not idealogical but we trying to make this better. @JerryDyerFresno Public comments is to hear the various views from various walks of life. What is clear is that we have to take care of

our bus drivers. They were on enclosed bus where someone may have covid. They are heros as they get people from point A to Point B. But we can do both:Make drivers safe and zero fare. We need to get our FAX officers back in place. 1)Financial Fresno and Central Unified have lent

support already. Drivers should not have to interact when there is an incident between riders. We have provided food , utilities, rent relief during this pandemic. Can we provide fare relief? Need to find longterm solution. A Regional Transit Authority is needed. No General Fund

or Enterprise Fund. We will come back May 1st with longterm plan. I will support this with the other 5 councilmembers. Thank you Tyler @Maxwell4Fresno for your passion. Measure C dollars are spoken for until 2026 but after that. Approved 5-2 with Arias saying Yes for Working

Class and Bredefeld NO in support for Bus riders and bus drivers. Going to Closed Session now.Next meetings:MARCH 4, 2021 - 9:00 A.M. MEETING
MARCH 11, 2021 - NO MEETING
MARCH 18, 2021 - 9:00 A.M. MEETING

Document from Zero Fare

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