Thread by @AndyHS

It is Thursday so it must be time for:March 4, 2021 Fresno City Council meeting! On the Agenda includes 16 miles of bike pathways;3 workshops on Housing Production,American Rescue Plan and Displacement Avoidance ;Jensen/Maple 12 acre development;SE Fresno Prop 68 Park Grant ap-

plication; Covid relief for grocery workers; #Fresno Watch live at 9 am cmac.tv/gov/

Three Workshops:Workshop on Displacement Avoidance work related to the
Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) grant;Workshop on American Rescue Plan and proposed allocation
methodology; AND Workshop on Housing Production

Among Consent Calendar:1-B BILL - (For introduction) Amending Article 15 of Chapter 7 of
the Fresno Municipal Code relating to certain technical
amendments required by the California Department of Tax
and Fee Administration and as required due to the passage
time of the Fresno

Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Tax
Ordinance (Measure P)

1-G appropriate $1,069,700 in the Fire Station 18 Construction Fund.

1-K Authorize the Fire Chief to apply for the 2020 SAFER
(Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) Grant.

1-L Actions pertaining to Veterans Memorial Building located at
2425 Fresno Street Approve lease agreement between the City and Children’s
Musical Theaterworks Inc

. for use of office and storage
space in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium for a three-year
term with option to extend for two one-year periods at $1.00
per year.(Is this due to Adventure Church offered the spot too??)

1-N Approve a Resolution providing 2021 COVID-19
Supplemental Leave time to City employees effective January
1, 2021.

1-O *******Actions pertaining to the 2017 Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Grant and Transform Fresno Plan projects: 1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption per staff determination, pursuant to Section 15301 and Section 15304 of the California Environmental Quality

(CEQA) Guidelines for Project #16 and Project #17 2. Approve Sub-Recipient Agreement with State Center Community College District for the Workforce Development Plan - Welding Program totaling $1,850,500 3. Approve Sub-Recipient Agreement with Fresno Metro Ministry for Project #15

Yosemite Village Community Orchard totaling $262,500 4. Approve Sub-Recipient Agreement with Fresno Metro Ministry for Project #16 St. Rest + Food to Share Hub: Urban Heat Island Mitigation totaling $62,220 5. Approve Sub-Recipient Agreement with Fresno Metro Ministry for Project

#17 St. Rest + Food to Share Hub: Healthy Food Rescue and Redistribution Hub totaling $1,488,280

1-R Adopting the 66th Amendment to the Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2020-159 Appropriating $500,000 ($250,000 was previously appropriated for a total of $750,000) for the South Fresno AB 617 Truck Rerouting Study Project.

1-S ** Actions pertaining to Final Map of Tract No. 5551 RESOLUTION - Approving the Final Map of Tract No. 5551, of Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 5551, and accepting dedicated public uses offered therein- south side of North Salinas Avenue between North Figarden/Corona

1-U **Authorizing the City of Fresno's Participation in the State Rental Assistance Program (Subject to Mayor's Veto

1-V Annual Appropriations Resolution (AAR) No. 2020-159
appropriating $29,467,800 in Emergency Rental Grant Funds
from the Federal and State Governments to facilitate
payments to eligible applicants and reimburse the City for
administrative costs associated managing the programs

1-X Authorizing Southeast Fresno Community
Economic Development Association, Inc.’s submission of a
Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization
(Proposition 68) Grant application and delegating authority to
City Manager to execute a concession agreement
@SEFCEDA

1-Y Actions pertaining to COVID-19 testing, tracing, quarantine,
and vaccination support:UCSF,North Fresno Primary Care, Inc. (Bautista Medical Group)
,United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley

1-Z Approve First Amendment of Grant Agreement with Fresno
Economic Opportunities Commission for food distribution, no
cost, extending time for performance
Sponsors: Councilmember Arias, Councilmember Soria and
Councilmember Karbassi

Dave Rothman of Northpark Community Church with invocation.

CMT item 1-L removed as well as Closed Session items 5-A and 5-C. Bredefeld wants to know why Closed Session items were removed? Arias:no backup material for 5-A provided and 5-C we need more time to discuss.Not time sensitive. City Manager is ok with those changes. Soria:Details

are needed still. Chavez recuses himself from 1-Z (EOC food distribution). Agenda approved as amended.

*Proclamation for "National Human Trafficking Awareness Month" Councilmember Karbassi

Karbassi:give a voice to those victims. Police Chief Valdaramma: It is an issue in Fresno but 78 rescues did occurred. 44 million globally. 1 out 6 runaway children are victims.

Councilmember reports:@Esmeralda_Soria Several food distribution. Thanks the many volunteers. Many distributions coming up as well.City Manager: $4 billion money for CBO's especially for AG so we will try to get some of that for this valley. Soria:March 11 Coffee

Conversation with her constituents. @MiguelArias_D3 Thanks Dyer Administration for irrigation to allow park grass to grow. Long time coming. Budget meetings in his District with neighbors coming up. "Come in with very specific requests". Thanks Biden Administration for hoped

for relief coming. @Maxwell4Fresno Zero Fare Bus began this week. Many have reached out to thank him especially disabled. Ribbon cutting at Indian Health Clinic that opened at Shaw and 9th. Youth survey going out to ensure youth has a say in District 4. 100 Days /100 Trees

continues to clean air and make District 4 beautiful. @D7Esparza Financing Summit on Infill Development occurred. CAFRA report looking at audits and will come back in a more formal format. Met with Gov. Newsom as more vaccines are ramping up.When it is your turn get your shot.

Great clean up event where tires, oil and mattresses were dropped off. YES youth group were huge help. Coming up:Food Truck Fridays at Manchester. @JerryDyerFresno and myself will be there. Also cleaning up Blackstone this Saturday. Manchester Park neighbors Zoom meeting to see

what they would like there especially with Measure P dollars coming available. @GarryBredefeld Thanks Mayor for Freeway cleanup and finding homes for homeless.He has heard some homeless have moved to canals instead though. Any plans to move Council back into Chambers? Supervisors

meet in person. We have beautiful plexiglass and PPE. @LuisCha70215912 I am working with @gregorybarfield about coming back. @MiguelArias_D3 "Maybe we shouldn't use Super Spreader Superviosr Steve Brandau as our model". Chavez: Still have senior citizens who have not gotten their

vaccines with transportation and language problems. School children working back to meeting in person. @JerryDyerFresno @BeautifyFresno event last week. Forgotten Fresno clean up. This Saturday will be at Manchester. Sign up at Beautify Fresno. Shields/McKinley. Also a Youth

forum 4 pm this Saturday. Sunday I will be at Well Church as they are doing their Service Day especially in South Fresno near Jackson Elementary. Starting to work on 99 freeway for homeless rehoused and then to 180 that is a problem in @D7Esparza district 7.

City Manager: Operation Clean Up will have a pilot test where people bring their bulky items. CARES Act spending plan:overage given by Council. Will be addressed on Monday. @kmkarbassi Thanks City Manager for being responsive. Consent Calendar is next.

1-S removed until March 18. @LovesMercy Brandi:Thanks for all those that were housed. People want a safe place to go. There are more secure.People want to be helped. Outreach Teams are working hard to learn how to proceed in future. Want this to succeed. Concern about room avail-

ability going forward though. @LisaYFlores1 Thanks for Covid efforts this past year. Addresses Mayor Dyer about an upcoming Planning Commission. Also rerouting truck route issue. @D7Esparza 1-H and 1-O I would and Soria would need to recuse ourselves. However: City Attorney has

found away that both can be still here. @MiguelArias_D3 I have 3 residents who want to be considered for Planning Commission. @kmkarbassi I would like the best person to be selected and not just to be ensured from all districts. Esparza: we may have to address that change. half

the commissioners come from Karbassi's district. Soria: Asks Measure B to be sure clarifying language is added. Also 1-E. @GarryBredefeld I want to register a NO vote on 1-W. Chavez: it is only being discussed today and no vote.

1-B BILL - (For introduction) Amending Article 15 of Chapter 7 of
the Fresno Municipal Code relating to certain technical
amendments required by the California Department of Tax
and Fee Administration and as required due to the passage
time of the Fresno Clean and Safe Neighbor-

hood Parks Tax
Ordinance (Measure P):Attorney sloan:July 1st 2021 will be beginning of this. Approved 5-2 with Karbassi and Bredefeld voting NO. 1-E Soria asks about lowest bidder on this item. Lots of local businesses have been impacted by pandemic recession. Can we prioritize

Fresno based businesses? Lowest bidder is from Clovis so it didn't trigger usual. Sloan:State or Federal dollars used prohibits directing only local. Also within 25 miles of Downtown Fresno is considered local so Clovis is included.Soria:If next lowest bidder is within 5% I

would like Fresno based businesses chosen. City Manager: We agree and will work on that. @JerryDyerFresno Fresno based should be priority 1 and those 25 miles out priority 2. @MiguelArias_D3 This project is a master Plan. Westgate Development but he hasn't seen that developer

meeting its benchmark. We gave millions to them.State Center is already breaking ground but I have yet to see progress from this developer building homes. City Manager:We will add this to to be sure it gets done. Approved 7-0

1-W Annual Appropriations Resolution (AAR) No. 2020-159
appropriating $29,467,800 in Emergency Rental Grant Funds
from the Federal and State Governments to facilitate
payments to eligible applicants and reimburse the City for
administrative costs associated with managing the

programs. @LuisCha70215912 I was approached by grocery store workers.Sloan:Lawsuit in Long Beach. An injunction was requested by grocery stores. Judge determined the proposal was in fact legal. Chavez:Disparity by grocery clerks. Many got sick and brought the virus home to their

family. Big grocery stores have done well in pandemic. They made lots of money with monopoly and allowed to stay open. Their workers were not always had enough to pay for their own PPE. I have 40 food processors in my district. I am a Capitalist but not a crony capitalist.

Their employees need to do well also. This country has given a lot to corporations but darwinistic to employees. That needs to change. Health coverage for when these workers get sick. Even Hazard Care. @Maxwell4Fresno Commends Chavez for bringing this forward. These are not mom

n' pop stores but large corporations. We call people essential by our words but not our actions. @Esmeralda_Soria:I am surprised to have you bring this forward. I know you visited food plants. Should we include those though?Foster Farms had many infected workers. Some of these

large Agricultural plants have received relief dollars but their own employees were not even allowed time off when sick. Hazard pay for working in hazardous areas. Chavez: I want to be fair as their are some businesses that have provided hazard pay. Soria: We need to highlight

those businesses who did go above and beyond. Did Amazon Warehouse help their workers? @D7Esparza I will support this today although we can't let perfect be enemy of good. I was skeptical at first when looking at how other grocery stores reacted in other parts of state by closing

their stores. Chavez:these workers went into dangerous places. What do they get in return? We often subsidize the health plans with County dollars. @D7Esparza A previous bill gave relief businesses by protecting them from liability. @kmkarbassi large businesses were allowed to

stay open when smaller could not. The stores that do pay hazard pay like Trader Joe's and Save mart are union run and that says something. Our firefighters and PD can't work via Zoom. Hopefully we can provide hazard pay to our employees. Private businesses have time before we

vote on this item. Chavez: We are usually told "we don't have the money"when we ask large businesses to help their employees when we know that isn't true as they had a monopoly during this pandemic. Grocery workers used to be able to work 40 hours and have a good life. Not true

anymore. @GarryBredefeld I disagree strongly with Chavez on this. This is arbritraty. Why just $3 dollars? Why not more? Why not $300 an hour? Why just grocery stores? How about hospitals? When businesses are mandated to raise their wages it will lead to higher prices. LA Times

reported Ralph's are closing in Long Beach due to this mandate.Ask those who lost their job if this good? If we want to help businesses how about not closing them and fine them for trying to open anyway. Lowes/Home Depot were able to stay open? We should give $3 to their workers

too then? We forget that this is a constitutional republic. It has been violated it 100s of different ways during this pandemic. Well intentioned but we need to get out of the way. Deregulate. I will vote NO when this comes back. Chavez:Grocery Stores were mandated to sell

plastic bags those stores kept their money and not necessarily given to employees. Many stores are doing the right thing but some took federal dollars but didn't treat their employees well. Bredefeld: Not youbut some politicians have gotten drunk on power. @JerryDyerFresno I

appreciate this was pulled for discussion only. I appreciate the many essential workers who worked through this. However I don't think we should dictate to businesses. Some mandates were unfunded. I don't want this to be a passthrough and force food prices to go up.State and fed

-eral dollars should be used. I do believe in profit sharing with employees with essential worker bonuses I just don't think it can be mandated. We have had two PD officers who have died of covid. We will have a Workshop later that will help all employees locally.@MiguelArias_D3

Why are we having this argument?Because we have lots of essential workers and minorities have gotten covid. Federal government was mandated to stay open and their workers show up. Stores still made a profit. It was not given away free. We did have Mom and Pop stores that did help

though. We gave money to Amazon/Ulta money. Was this arbitrary? We haven't bailed out high school sports where we have bailed out other sports. When we fund minimum wage workers we also have to provide Food stamps because their employers know we will bail their workers out.

This is proposal is not anti-employers but we have expectations. Government bailed out banks, auto, etc If they are getting government money then it is ok to ask them to help their employees. "Hire local, pay employees well"We have been subsidizing the economy since the day our

country was created. We will also be getting OUR OWN bailout from Biden Administration too. If we have a problem with those in food line then we need to have a problem with corporations who have taken millions. If corporations would have helped their employees they would have

by this point in this pandemic. Chavez: Those making $150,000+ during this pandemic had a much different experience than those making the median $42,000 in Fresno. Those that took PPE loans and stayed open they need to help their essential employees. Conclude this topic now.

10:10 **********HEARING to consider Plan Amendment Application No. P20-03758 and related Environmental Finding filed by the Planning and Development Department Director pertaining to 16.63 miles of bikeways within the City of Fresno

@mmwpro63

@MiguelArias_D3 Will bike lanes added in front of buildings such as City Hall take away parking? Drew A: NO Soria:Q: Did local bike coalition approve this? A: Yes. There was some concern regarding bike lanes and bike paths wording. Staff Jill: When bicyclist has to use a bike

lane or not is in legal state wording. Sloan: Bicyclist are required to use bike lane unless some reason they cannot like debris. Bicyclists can ride on all roads except freeways. Chavez: What is price difference between new bike lanes along R St and regular bike lanes? A: we can

get you that price. Soria: Bike sharing program coming back?A: City Manager: I have seen some scooter proposals coming through the past few months. Jill: This does add some bike lanes along with Blackstone and R St lanes added. Mainly a reclassification. @MiguelArias_D3 Bike

deaths enforcement? I believe we are in top 3 in deaths. City Manager: I will work with Police Chief to see where we can improve that.@Esmeralda_Soria other cities use Vision Zero we can use some of their thoughts. @Maxwell4Fresno Maybe time for a Transportation Officer? Approved

after public comment? @LCJandA Karla Martinez We are in favor generally. Reclassification should be approved by the communities that rely on this though. Approved 7-0

10:15 Consideration of Plan Amendment/Rezone Application Nos. P20-00635, Conditional Use Permit Application No. P20-00636 and related Environmental Assessment No. P20-00635/P20-00636 for approximately 12.18 acres of property located on the northeast corner of East Jensen/Maple

Chavez: four story building with housing ,Rite Aid, car wash , Bank, chiropractor etc. It will be good for Calwa area that has been neglected. Concerns : traffic so two driveways added. Buffer between residents and building.

Lee Ann Eager says developer came with a vision and was receptive to community. This will be advantageous to the community. They pulled back on alcohol sales due to community request. EV chargers will be added too. Next:Brian Cultane (sp) Community does not support this

Already 16 liquor licenses in area as well as many gas stations. Teachers and school administration are complaining about it. They think it CAN be good but just not as it is currently done. Not in Fair Neighborhood Market Compliance unless alcohol forbidden. Chavez: If future

owner wanted alcohol they will have to buy two liquor licenses. @LCJandA Karla Martinez: Can we postpone as most neighbors didn't get notified about it. Too many gas stations in the area. @kmkarbassi Impressed and would like it my District. A letter i received from Brian Cultone

who represents a competitor who sells alcohol. A:Yes but that owner lives in that area. Former Planning Director Nick Yorvino:Fair Neighborhood Act was considered. Residents were concerned about alcohol.Applicant is responding to residents and project works without it.karbassi:

we need to make sure Fair Neighborhood Act doesn't help competitor only. @MiguelArias_D3 What is there now? Chavez: dumping ground vacant lot with homeless encampment. Zoning will be 150 units up to 400 residents. Light industry for car wash and then commercial for remainder

Arias:Neighborhood Market ordinance was created to lower liquor licenses over long term. I will not be supportive if this comes back to ask for alcohol. It pencils out now without alcohol. Chavez: this is an example where it can work Approved

3-A Workshop on Displacement Avoidance work related to the
Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) grant
Courtney Espinoza giving report.

@MiguelArias_D3 Whenever we revitalize a neighborhood displacement of old residents are effected. Dr. Destiny Thomas was displaced when that happened in Fresno's past. Thomas: Became an adult in Fresno. Was a transportation engineer. Saved by a number of agencies. Hard to access

meaningful transportation, no rent control (rent went up several hundreds ). I went to Oakland but was priced out there and ended up living in car. Here to stay report. A blueprint.Four types of displacement. This is funded by TCC. This is the beginning of a Communitywide dis-

cussion. people we spoke to felt ostracized when we tried to speak to residents.In person engagement is best but pandemic made that impossible. Needed to build trust and City of Fresno staff from past issues.Strategic Archiving. Planning has led to depriorization of

quality of life, ghettoization of investment. So much is needed so hard/impossible to add everything needed in one project. Active displacement due to pandemic. Lots of moving vans, furniture dumping, letters returned unable to be delivered. Arias: One reason why so much dumping

occurs as people chase free first rent coupled with rent increases. Thomas:Friendly environment for speculation. Inability to meet demand as people can't find resources. Risk focus groups: They are not the ones you find on Cal Enviro Screen but your neighbors.Intervention bundles

Eviction mediation would help tenant not get dinged on credit. Conversion restrictions. "Right to Return" is found in a few areas like Oregon and New York but I think this version is stronger. @arias:we gave millions to distribution centers but we still haven't seen what zipcodes

were hired even three years later. Thomas:Community Ownership was popular with residents spoken to. "Civic Engagement Clearinghouse" Would like Council to reach out during the 45 public comment period occurs. 3 policies need to be implemented of the dozens. Need to know how to

fund those. This is required when we accepted the TCC grant. Prioritization Process will lead to the top 3. 46 recommendations will be provided.Concludes the workshop. Will return at 1:30 for Workshops on American Rescue Plan as well as Housing Production.

The speaker at the first Workshop was Dr Destiny Thomas. Her Twitter handle is @DrDesThePlanner

3-B Workshop on American Rescue Plan and proposed allocation
methodology @JerryDyerFresno Should hopefully voted on in Congress March 14th. Utility, Rental, homeless, small business grants, vaccines. This is only a frame work and "concrete is very very wet" says Mayor.

I will allow us to balance our budget this next few years. Infrastructure like tree trimming, litter, and sidewalks. Safety to community. allows us to offset cost to our essential workers. @MiguelArias_D3 Can we accept public comments on this as it is important? Chavez:i think in

few weeks we can have a more open presentation when we have a better idea what we have. @kmkarbassi I am in favor of this and it is bipartisan. @Esmeralda_Soria I agree we should have some public comments? Good to hear from the folks impacted. (appears to be only one public )

Chavez is willing to give 20 minutes for public comments as there will be plenty of chances to chime in at other meetings.

Staff: it just moved onto Senate floor and needs a simple majority. $15 minimum wage was stripped out as well as funding for BART Silicon Valley Pelosi tunnel. Biden wants this passed by March 14 due to unemployment expires. Congress planning to stay thru the weekend. $130 B for

Cities and Counties. American Rescue Plan (ARP) gives $164 million for City of Fresno. We received $92 million from Cares Act. Planned to be given out sometimes in May. Dyer: Needs to be spent by Dec 2024. Additional pots of money not from local city but community at large. $19

Million for rental $5 billion for homeless Transit pot for FAX and airports. Vaccines will not be distributed to cities directly though. Ag for WIC, schools

Community benefits as well as individual $1400 rebates, unemployment, child tax credit and insurance premium assistance. Numbers will change if senate reduces amount. $15 million over three years for @BeautifyFresno $30 million for Community Safety over three years. Dyer: that

doesn’t just mean police but want it to be broad so code enforcement etc. Georgeanne White: essential worker payment $5 million and Separate from labor contracts. $64 M for Covid related Community Investments. 8% for rental assistance; 2% for Covid related upgrades; 10% food dis-

Stribution ; 1% vaccine expenses , 69% homeless services over three years as well as small business assistance. Money from HOME program has a lot of strings so perhaps this homeless money could be used for administration for motels. Dyer: state will provide some additional money

as well. @Maxwell4Fresno council adopted % on slide? A: hopefully we can agree as numbers are solidified. CBO’s will have a transparent and easy way to get this money out.

@kmkarbassi Q:general fund replacement. Can we put some of this money aside? Q :What will County share be? @D7Esparza $194 million is what i saw for County. Karbassi: Streamlined RFQ used? White: an application process will be used but can do RFQ if council prefers.Karbassi: In-

creased bus routes needed especially with VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) fees going up that will be passed onto consumers. Seniors? Anything tailored for them such as Senior Center? 4% only for small businesses? 69% for homeless but we need to create economy. Work with Lupe Sanchez

to see which small businesses survived. White: Need Chamber to help those businesses get those pots of money whether with SBA. Karbassi: County needs to spend 55% of the money goes to actual city of Fresno residents. Arias:Supervisors:don't act like we are not part of the County

or don't be surprised if we succeed from County!Dyer:Amen! We will need every penny of the 69% for homeless. Karbassi: Beautify Fresno @BeautifyFresno how will that be distributed by district? City Manager: it will be distributed proportionally.

@Esmeralda_Soria :need to use this bailout with an equity lense and I know we typically wan't to spread it 7 equal ways. But this needs to be about people. We have more time than Covid $$ to spend this. Need to invest in equity so we need Public Health and Services Dept and that

will help us get further money.Other cities have it. Arts need to be helped as well. Affordable Housing needs to be included an not siloed. Prefab, tiny homes, Always want an affordable housing trust fund going that could be la ong term impact. Community health clinics needed.

Areas hit the hardest need this such as Forgotten Fresno west of 99. Wifi such as mobile hotspots for children to use in a safe area. Rehabbing old buildings with affordable covenants included. Domestic Violence increased during this pandemic. Help all CBO's and not just Marjoree

Mason Center. Parklets for outdoor dining have been popular.Closing down streets and place tables. Longterm economic prosperity with "Go zones"like Tower and Kings Canyon where incentives given to businesses going into empty storefronts. Need to put people back to work by up-

skilling people using private companies. Equity was talked about when SB 1 dollars were coming down. We need to do the same if we want "One Fresno" long term. We need to be intentional with these dollars. Q: What is the timing for putting details to this plan? Dyer:march 14 will

tell us exact dollars. And parts of town that have been neglected and the longer it is has been neglected the more expensive it will be to repair. One Fresno. Wifi $10 billion has been carved out for that.I agree with all you mentioned Soria but i am not sure it can all be done.

Soria:I don't want to be told Zero Fare can't be done. @MiguelArias_D3 Jokes "I will take whatever resources Bredefeld doens't want as this is a government bailout." Arias: federal relief plus this will be half a billion dollars for City of Fresno. We can't waste this investment

on just short term projects like potholes. We need to follow County Supervisors closely. Lots of moving parts. Q: Sales tax and property tax ? Sales tax came in $800,000 more than we had figured and property tax about what we had thought it would be. Dyer: our spending went up

11.8% more than revenues. Arias: we had projected general fund to fill deficits but this shows $100 will go to that as well. Where do we put that? A: City Manager We project we will be short $50 million in revenues. Arias: Amazon gets refund on sales tax. Public Safety bucket in-

clude Advance Peace or Shotspotter? City Manager:This is what we will need to discuss. Arias:safe routes to schools is also a safety issue.Vaccines only get 1%. We have spent $20 million on it and related.County response still requires people to get themselves to vaccine location

Seems unreasonable to send utility customers to collections now that we are getting a federal bailout. We need to give youth something to do or others will give them something to do and never good. Measure P will get programs up and running in two years. We need a stopgap to get

there like community centers or swimming pools or senior meals/center.. Soria: Some money is there in parks department. Arias: Infrastructure for permanent housing as homeless transition out of motels. Public Oversight and Investment:how can public see how we are spending this

money down to the dime. I am in agreement with 10
% with Dyer's plan but I am sure we will get to 100%. @Maxwell4Fresno We need to know what federal spending will be on FAX, Airport etc. City Manager: We can't got transit numbers available yet. @gregorybarfield Several billions

stripped from transit by Senate just in the past two hours. Zero Fare is a priority. I see two year plan but we need long term.We need Wifi on busses too. Barfield: never been a guarantee of wifi. Always been about wifi security network. Dyer:may be the $10 billion can be used?

Maxwell: Measure P is supposed to supplement the parks department not supplant it. Senior Center and Senior jobs needed.Want to make sure citizen employees at PD are helped too. Cash for Grass to bring xeriscape landscaping needs to be increased. Bredefeld:pork in this ARP with

just 10% going to local businesses.Is landscaping allowed under this?We are acting like we won the lottery and how we want to spend it. Can we do that? This is all taxpayer dollars and adding it onto $20 trillion dollars and just bankrupting our grandchildren. We need

this bailout because government shut down businesses and that lowered tax revenue. How do we justify spending on bonus on City employees? It should go to those who lost their jobs and not to programs that will have to be paid longterm. @D7Esparza I am grateful to Congress for

stepping up with this. We have been hearing we can't go back to normal but need to create economy for all. General Fund replacement: does this include contracted wage increases? A:It will for those but not future raises. Esparza: I will want to steer to Community Investment

End the Violence Summit showed that spike in violence due to gun purchases. Perhaps Gun Buy Back? This ARP will give us $50 m for general fund replacement . I can see another half year replacement. Beautify Fresno? Dyer: Some of the streets are unusable in parts of South Fresno

This could be 3 year plan to make those neighborhoods livable. Esparza: I like the volunteer clean ups but we really need taxpayers' dollar used. Vaccines to areas where it is not being reached. Need to put sites in 93701 as well as mobile. Need creative ways to get money to

locals who will spend it in local businesses such as buy back initiative. Chavez:It will be helpful to have these pots of money tracked with more clarity. Mid-year budget on one track and this money on another. How many police officers are budgeted with this?City Manager: none

Chavez:We will be short a hundred PD officers by the end of the year. We will need to be honest with our residents. I think Homeless Services pot is a bit heavy. Repaving of streets, tree trimming is needed too. A: First meeting in April will have first mid-year budget info.

Chavez:Thank you Trump for the $90 million and Biden for the $160 million. Jokes Democrats likes to tax and spend AND Republicans Borrow and spend. Arias:Beautify Fresno I like the concepts but don't want volunteers have to work every two days.Operation Clean Up needs to be

looked at for the items our utility won't take. Probably easier at apartments to allow on one day dump items as they don't usually have trucks etc. We are starting to get County residents dumping trash at City Operation Clean Up. Karbassi:Good discussion today. Dyer:This is help-

ful but I was just told our portion just dropped down from $164 M down to $150M in Senate. Crime has skyrocketed during Covid. I don't think "bonus" for City Employees is wrong as they worked from home, used own laptop etc. Homeless Services is really transitioning to permanent

housing. SAFR Grant for Fire Department and Measure P will both add to these dollars. Public: President Sam Frank of Fresno City employees. This money is to help mitigate Covid on our community. When our City employees contract expired we were told not to ask for money but nobody

told inflation or rent not to go up. Some of employees are making as much as 20% less than those in comparable cities. Stress is a killer and effects mentally and physically.I want every councilmember to think about the Covid impact on each employee whether financially/stress

3-C ***Workshop - Housing Production

Arias asks Planning Dept about this slide. Residents want single family but trend is to multi family. Karbassi:does this include affordable housing supported by government? A: both. Karbassi: for awhile we pushed for infill to urban core. Clark: we are building more stock.

Single family productions has dropped over past five years. Large growth projections and we need to make sure we have enough in queue. 2100 units in pipeline currently.

CEQA can slow this but there are ways we can still Speed it.

@plannerdanzack Ministerial can speed it up as are approved at staff level, not a project for CEQA purposes , cannot be appealed or denied.

Arias: I don’t want to give away land use authority as I am the one that would be screamed at. Zack:challenge with ministerial is you can’t add conditions of approval. Has to be codified and formalized as a standard.

The more certain and quick a process is the flexibility lessens.City Manager: the area will be built up quicker as population increases so we need to get projects through faster.Chavez:State Bills are working their way thru that makes certain development By Right and

takes it away from local control.Soria: outer limits of Fresno development is being subsidized by inner core. Infrastructure in West Fresno makes it a disincentive to build.Arias:City’s own infrastructure is the issue. We ask a developer building four units has to replace entire

block’s 100 year old pipes. Can we pay for what is underneath knowing it will pay for itself ? City Manager: it will come to you during budget hearings. Karbassi:we don’t want to drag our feet as interest rate and lumber is going up.Supply issue if homeless can

transition into permanent homes. Dyer:a number of items make development goes quicker. We don’t have staffing so we will need to use outside resources. Accela was rolled out to soon. Culture of staff need to be supported by administration and Council. I will meet with every em-

Ployee of Planning. Zack: where can this be used? Infill and growth areas only? Everywhere? Flexible.

Clark: dashboard being created. Permit Reported every month. Affordability profess is shown.

Quarterly look. Chavez: we need to get affordability as rents in increase. Arias: Motel Drive is a natural corridor with transit already there. I want to triple stock of housing in my district.Chavez: map of empty lots in my office.

Chavez: Last time we will have three workshops in one meeting! Next meeting: MARCH 18, 2021 - 9:00 A.M.

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