Welcome To The District Six Website
This section will provide information on major city issues. It will also be a place that you can see information on items I will be bringing to the City Council and Mayor for action. Items displayed here may include City Council Staff Reports, Internal City memos or other reports or comments on issues that are important for you to know about.
December 3, 2007
The Mayor's Budget Plan Does Not Go Far Enough
Over the last five years, the City's
General Fund has enjoyed historic growth and has increased by over 40%.
Now, with the current real estate market and the general slowing of the
economy, those boom times are over. Our State Government is looking at a
$10 billion dollar deficit; Sacramento is experiencing a $60 million
deficit and Los Angeles a $95 million deficit. Even our neighbor to the
east, Clovis, is recognizing a $2 million shortfall. Fresno is no
different.
On November 13th, I requested from our
budget department a five year projection of our General Fund revenues.
This past Wednesday, at a hastily called press conference unannounced to
the City Council, Mayor Autry released those numbers to the public and
the information was startling. According to our Budget Manager, next
year’s operating budget with the availability of a $5 million
reserve will still experience a $12 million dollar deficit. The
projections for the next two years are even more starling as current
projections are $13.3 million for FY2010 and $18 million for FY2011.
Mayor Autry indicated in his press
conference that he is having our department heads plan for a 7.5%
reduction in their budgets for next year. He also indicated that it may
be a short term problem and that his spending plan will continue. While
the Mayor is to be commended for his optimism, there is little or no
evidence that the current situation caused by a weakened real estate
market will turn around anytime soon. Actually there is every indication
that the City is facing a multi-year problem with no immediate
turnaround in site. Local real estate experts I have talked to indicate
it will be at least three years before we see any kind of turnaround.
The Mayor also indicated that we do not
need to panic and he is correct.
We do however; need to begin taking action immediately to insure
the funding for our critical services is available. As a prudent trustee
of the taxpayers’ dollars you to plan for the worst and Mayor Autry’s
comments and actions do not go far enough in the face of what can easily
become a crisis to our city.
Mr. Autry is correct when he states
that the City weathered the previous storm a few years ago. He also
indicated that we were able to continue to implement programs in spite
of this. What he failed to mention is the "strategic investments" where
primarily financed by debt, not General Fund dollars. As a result the
financial impacts will be felt for the next 30 years as they are paid
off. He referenced the "No Neighborhood Left Behind" program. This was
financed by $50 million in long term debt to the city to be paid off by
the General Fund. When this was proposed, I worked with the Controller
to propose a financing method that would have allowed this program to be
paid for within five years without any new debt to the city. Our
recommendation was rejected.
Mr. Autry has recently requested nearly
$100 million dollars in additional debt to finance projects and some
will be partially paid for directly by General Fund Dollars. In
addition, all of the projects, once completed, will require significant
General Fund dollars to operate and be maintained. As of this date, in
spite of repeated requests for the information and promises that it is
coming shortly, there has been no information released on what the
financial impact to the General Fund to operate or maintain of these
projects will be. There is no doubt that this impact will only
exasperate the current deficit projection.
The reductions Mr. Autry proposed are
going to be felt by all of our citizens and will have a significant
impact our city departments, including our Police and Fire Departments.
Employees will be asked to sacrifice wage increases and services will be
impacted. While during budget downturns these steps are certainly
necessary, there was no mention by the Mayor of any reductions in
programs that have been recently passed that if canceled or delayed,
could help significantly in minimizing the impact of the delivery of
critical city services to the public and our city's employees.
Therefore I am calling on Mayor Autry
to immediately implement the following:
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Commit to bring to the City Council for approval by the end of January, a Deficit Elimination Plan that will show how the projected $18 million deficit by 2011, projected by the Mayor’s own staff, will be eliminated. I will also request that the City Council Audit Committee, chaired by Councilmember Larry Westerlund, with the inclusion of a representative of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce convene to review the Deficit Elimination Plan and add any additional recommendations as well.
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Freeze the $200,000 of General Fund dollars allocated by the City Council with a 5-2 vote (Duncan and Westerlund voting no) on October 30th to provide rebates of up to $2,000 and interest free loans of up to $15,000 for Fresno residents who install solar energy panels. It was not vetoed. Freezing this program would save $200,000 from the General Fund and would allow it to go into public safety services. It is wrong to ask out city employees to sacrifice their paychecks while we subsidize wealthy Fresno residents who choose to put a solar water heater system in for their swimming pool.
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Freeze the $50,000 recently approved that is going to develop a new water/green space feature concept for downtown. While some may argue that this is a worthwhile endeavor, it is not critical at this point for downtown revitalization particularly since there is specific plan and no private sector investment behind it. Doing this would save up $50,000 in additional General Fund Dollars.
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Immediately halt all new programs or debt issuance proposals that will have General Fund impact until the Deficit Reduction Plan is approved by the City Council.
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Return to the City Council a listing of all bond financed projects being proposed or already approved via a continuing reimbursement resolution for review to possibly delay, reduce or eliminate projects on the list. This listing must also provide the projected General Fund impact for operations and maintenance for each item and a plan for how this impact will be funded
June 12, 2007
New outdoor/sidewalk dining polices for restaurants proposed.
After several months of work with a lot of good, open-minded people, I am pleased to announce that the final draft of the new City of Fresno Outdoor Dining Policy is attached. This new draft policy will go before the Planning Commission on July 11th and the City Council at the end of July for approval. This document makes significant changes in the way in which outdoor dining is approved.
This new direction for the City actually makes it much easier for sidewalk/outdoor dining to be established and will be a tremendous benefit to Fresno, especially downtown. Considering the outstanding climate we enjoy here in Fresno it made no sense to have rules that made it very difficult if not impossible for a restaurant that serves alcohol to serve meals outdoors or on a sidewalk. Upon approval of this, that will change.
What really impressed me in working with the people at City Hall that helped me with this was the enthusiasm and the genuine interest in improving the livability of our town. This is a big step. More will come.
Click here to download PDF file
May 20, 2007
A Successful Program to Help Small Farmers
May 16, 2007
Fresno County office may leave downtown?
On May 15th, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors debated
moving their Planning and Development Department out of Downtown Fresno
and relocating it several miles away in the new Fancher Creek area in
Southeast Fresno.
The reason cited
in the Fresno Bee was because of a lack of parking. According to the
newspaper story the 500 employees will relocate “if
city officials don't provide more parking.”
It is
a bit ironic that in discussing this with the City of Fresno’s Parking
Department Manager and the Assistant City Manager the day the newspaper
story appeared, they both indicated that no one from the County had yet
to contact either one of them to discuss this supposed “problem”.
Maybe
if someone from the County had contacted our City Staff they would have
been made aware of a few bits of factual information about parking
availability in the downtown area. If so they would have not tried to
blame their need to move on a “problem” that does not actually exist.
Before the current administration took office in 2001, parking downtown
really was a mess. There was a serious shortage in the number of spaces
(there were only 5,680 stalls total in downtown) and what little the
City had was filthy and unsafe. The structures were covered in graffiti
and none of the elevators or escalators worked. The parking meters on
the streets had been removed and replaced with two hour of free parking
(supposedly to bring people back to downtown). When I attended then
State Senator Jim Costa’s Downtown Task Force meetings on Downtown
Revitalization in 2000 we found out that this “free” parking was being
used primarily by downtown employees who would park on the street, leave
work every two hours and move their cars. No kidding.
The
number one complaint we heard about downtown
then was
that there was no parking and they were right. On top of this, the
parking fund was losing so much money that it was being subsidized by
General Fund dollars by over $1 million dollars per year. In addition,
parking rates were so low that no private parking structures could be
built because they wouldn’t pencil out.
When the current
administration took office the downtown parking problem became one of
our first priorities for downtown. As Chairman of the Fresno
Redevelopment Agency, I worked very hard with the Mayor to develop a
plan to solve this problem. We knew that without an adequate supply of
clean, well maintained and affordable parking, the revitalization of
Downtown Fresno would never happen.
The execution of
this plan over the previous 6 years has resulted in some pretty
remarkable results. First, since 2001 the City has added 3,600
additional spaces of parking downtown in parking lots and parking
structures. Second, because we raised overall parking rates to a still
very competitive and reasonable level building private parking
structures now made economic sense and 2,900 new stalls have been added
by private companies. It is important to note that these private parking
structures were the first ones built downtown in over 40 years and
didn’t cost the taxpayers one cent.
There
are currently 12,180 parking spaces available in downtown Fresno (an
increase of 115% since 2001). Of the 12,180, 4,280 are privately owned
and 7,900 are operated by the City of Fresno.
Are
there enough spots for the County? Our
current parking demand for Downtown Fresno is not even close to
capacity. We made sure that we built enough spaces for Downtown to grow
into and we still have plenty of available space.
There may be reasons why the County Board of Supervisors want to abandon their commitment to Downtown Fresno but parking availability isn’t one of them
April 30, 2007
Letter from Councilman Duncan to Benihana's regarding locating in Woodward Park
April 14, 2007
Fresno County Grand Jury Independent Police Auditor Response
Recently the Fresno County Grand Jury issued a report recommending an Independent Police Auditor. In their report they asked each City Council Member to respond individually to the Grand Jury's opinion on the need for one. Below you can download and read my response.
March 5, 2007
A Benihana's Restaurant in Woodward Park?
Below is a letter sent by Mayor Autry to Taka Yoshimoto, Executive Vice-President of Benihana's Restaurant chain. According to this letter, the Mayor has expressed interest in letting this chain establish a Benihana's restaurant inside of Woodward Park. The letter was dated February 22nd and I received a copy on Friday, March 2nd. I was unaware that this letter had been sent and was unaware of any discussion on this concept until February 21st when I accidently received an e-mail that referenced it.
While the letter does not specifically indicate support for a specific project, the only concept that has been suggested at this time is a 10,000 square foot restaurant located at the Shinzen Gardens with a 200 space parking lot located at a proposed entrance at Friant and Shepherd Ave. Some proceeds would go to help the Garden.
Click image to enlarge
To download a PDF version click here.
Would Woodward Park benefit from a huge, full service restaurant? In my opinion, not at all. While there may be some value in evaluating the idea that there may be a role for limited food service that would complement the Gardens (a tea room or sandwich/bakery cafe), the notion of a 10,000 square foot facility with a new 200 car parking lot would do much to damage the peace and serenity of the park. Large restaurants should be located in a proper retail location with adequate parking and infrastructure.
Is comparing a Benihana's restaurant in Woodward Park to New York's Tavern On The Green in Central Park a good comparison? What is now Tavern On The Green was built in 1870 and was a sheep barn until 1934 when it was converted to a restaurant (see the history of Tavern On The Green by clicking here). For comparison, Woodward Park is 300 acres and Central Park is 843 acres.
What do you think? Should a Benihana's be built in Woodward Park? Should any restaurant of any kind be built in Woodward Park? I'd like to hear from you.
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Channel 24 Story |
Fresno Bee Story |
| Fresno Bee Editorial Comment Click here |
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February 9, 2009
What is Happening Downtown?
With the publicity of the recent closing of Fagan's and
the Old Fresno Hofbrau there has been some media and Blog discussions about
the so called failure of Downtown revitalization. Nothing could be further
from the truth. I received a Mindhub e-mail from someone who was asking
about downtown and the impact of the proposed Bass Pro Store. In response, I
wrote back and provided the writer with an overview of the progress downtown
has made and the impact a Bass Pro Shop could have. Below is James e-mail
and my response. Subject: [MindHub] Bass Pro stigma I'm wondering if some of the opposition--not all,
but some--to Bass Pro downtown comes from not knowing what a Bass Pro store
is, and what all they sell. Despite the implications in the name, Bass Pro
is a mega-warehouse for almost any type of activity that takes place in the
woods or on water. It's not just fishing--it's hunting, camping, bird
watching, hiking, canoeing, archery and more (sorry, I started
salivating...). And, as I mentioned before, they sell boats, in addition to
other recreational vehicles, ATVs, etc. Again, I'm not advocating that Bass Pro can "save"
downtown, but looking at what it offers, and where it would be located, it
might help bring people (and $) downtown. Downtown Fresno could be the "it"
place for anyone in the Valley to shop before heading up to Sequoia or Kings
Canyon, or Shaver or Bass, or the San Luis Reservoir or wherever (alright,
even I laughed at that). Does it benefit artists--probably not. Would it
have saved Fagan's--no. Would it bring people downtown--probably, and they
might just fit a broader demographic than what's currently being targeted. That's more of my opinion than anyone cares for,
but, hey, at least I'm not criticizing someone's questions about Tower
trees.... James The following is my response: I've read with great interest the discussion of
downtown and the potential impact of possible new stores. I'd like to offer
some clarification on the issue of a possible Bass Pro Shop or another major
anchor store downtown and how it fits into the over all vision this
Administration and many of us on the City Council have for downtown Fresno
and have been working on for years. First, we all seem to agree that downtowns biggest
problem after 5 PM is the lack of people. How do you change that? It's
simply that you have things in the area that a lot of people want to see and
do. Hence that is why we are looking for an anchor that is known as a
"category killer", an attraction so strong that people will find it
irresistible to not stop there. Hence, Bass Pro Shop. If you've ever been in
one you know what I mean. Why is Bass Pro a desirable alternative? Mostly
because of it's potential to draw a huge number of tourists into the
downtown area to fuel the economic rebirth of the area. When the Bass Pro
Shop opened in Oklahoma City (it's located on their river walk) it drew over
2 million visitors to downtown Oklahoma City the first year. Those are two
million people that get hungry, like to spend money and need a place to
sleep. Downtown Fresno's location at the main junction of people going
through Fresno to Yosemite or Kings Canyon National Park and the Sierras
makes it an ideal location. That is why Bass Pro wants to be in Fresno. If Bass Pro does end up in downtown Fresno it is
important to remember that it is only a small part of the overall
redevelopment concept for the master plan of 80 acres south of the stadium
that Forest City wants to get involved with. The project will focus on a
significant housing element, retail services, restaurants, and offices
amidst pedestrian friendly garden plazas that include fountains, internet
hotspots and hopefully the Mayor's Riverwalk. The other important point is
that this development will respect and support our downtown historic
resources in the project area. The role of the Bass Pro shop would be to
anchor a high quality retail area at the south end of the project area near
the freeway. If you've ever been to Victoria Gardens in Rancho
Cucamonga you've seen a pretty good preview if what this project should be
like. The big difference with ours would be the addition of over 600 units
of market rate urban style homes and condominiums. See for yourself at
Forest City is one of the larges redevelopers in the world. What is important to remember is that they are very good at what they do and none of their projects have ever failed to succeed. They are looking at investing $250 million dollars of their own money into downtown Fresno. They see the enormous future of this part of our City.
There is also much more to the vision of downtown revitalization than just Forest City. There is significant activity going on near the museums and the level of interest (and projects) from those interested in redeveloping this area is unprecedented since I've been on the Council. The Mayor is pushing for improvements on Kern Street and The Armenian Town Project near the Convention Center has started with the 5th DCA Courthouse. Steve Giel has started the renovation of the Parson Hobbs building at Tulare and H street.
Private investment in downtown Fresno is at a historic high level.
There is even talk about an Armenian Heritage Village Museum in downtown Fresno that would recreate an authentic early Fresno neighborhood during the time of William Saroyan's youth and would include period homes, shops and give visitors the experience of Fresno in it's earlier days.
The biggest single issue that must be still be addressed is the future of Fulton Mall. It is not successful in it's present form and unless a significant change occurs to it, Fulton will possibly be the one reason why downtown revitalization won't ultimately happen. One idea is to redevelop Fulton into a 30's Gaslight District and encourage clubs, restaurants and specialty shops.
No one project or store or building can "save" downtown. It takes good ideas and lots of money and a willingness of people to get involved to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. There are some people and groups that seem intent on stopping everything good going on in downtown by making sure the City is sued on everything that happens or by constantly promoting the negative about our efforts for their own political gain.
It this going fast enough? Not a fast as we wish it would but frankly if not for the efforts of those previously mentioned we would be a lot farther along.
One last thing. Working with the support of the City Manager, I'm starting a small city task force to essentially "start over" in developing the City's rules and policies on outdoor and sidewalk dining and beverage consumption.
Our current rules do everything possible to discourage this activity. If we are going to be a 21st century city we must do what we can to promote outdoor and sidewalk dining, not discourage it. Where is there a better place to be than enjoying a meal or a cocktail on a summer evening in Fresno?
I know of several restaurant owners you didn't even bother to ask for a patio eating and drinking area because the City is so hard to work with.
This will be changing soon as I expect these new policies to be in front of the City Council in just a few months.
Sorry I went on so long but downtown has become a passion of mine and it's future is very bright.
February 8, 2007
Gateway Ice Center Update- History Repeats Itself
It seems that Fresno is not the first City to experience the Glassman effort to sell an ice rink they owned. Tucson, Arizona also had a Gateway Ice Center owned by the Glassman family and in 2000 they went through pretty much the same experience where the Glassman's tried to force the sale to the City. The stories below are from the Tucson Citizen newspaper. Below the stories are links to the newspapers archive where additional stories on the Tucson Gateway Ice Center are listed. While the newspaper charges for the full download, you can get a very clear idea of the story from the synopsis.
First Story:
March 18, 2000
Section: Tucson and Arizona
Page: 1B
Skating rink buyout idea on thin
ice
Mitch Tobin
Tucson Citizen
Owners of Gateway Ice Center want the city to buy the facility, but the proposal is receiving a chilly reception from the City Council.
Backers of the idea will pitch their case to the council Monday afternoon.
Some City Council members say the purchase would amount to a bailout of a failing private business.
Rodney Glassman, Gateway's manager, said the 4-year-old rink, at 7333 E. Rosewood, is on thin ice. The business is only breaking even at 50 percent capacity, and Glassman said he's been unable to find private buyers.
Glassman said if the city buys the rink, it could easily turn a profit and dramatically expand its use by youth groups, many of whom could skate for free. The city could either manage the rink itself or have a private company do the job, he said.
A city-operated rink would save money because it wouldn't have to pay bank charges, city taxes and licenses, or private management costs.
West said the facility needs extensive maintenance work and would increase the city's liability from injuries.
Ronstadt said the city's study ''says nothing'' about the rink's financial prospects under city ownership because it was based on budget projections and unaudited information.
''Back then they were saying, 'Don't you dare, it's a private sector thing,' '' Fred Ronstadt said. ''Now that they're in financial trouble they come to the city and say we should own it. What's up with that?''
''We're not asking them to make any blind decisions on Monday, but simply to look at the options,'' Glassman said. ''I don't want to see the children of our community caught in the middle of a political battle.''
Two council-appointed citizens' groups - The Tucson Community Center Commission and the Tucson Convention Center Commission - have also recommended the mayor and council study Gateway's proposal.
Mitch Tobin's e-mail: mtobin@tucsoncitizen.com
Who: City Council members, Mayor Bob Walkup, youth groups
When: Noon Monday
2nd Story:
March 21, 2000
Section: Tucson and Arizona
Page: 8C
City won't buy out ice rink
Mitch Tobin
Tucson Citizen
Gateway Ice Center's plea for the city to take over the failing rink failed.
City ownership could reverse the rink's faltering finances and increase its use by underprivileged children, rink manager Rodney Glassman said.
''This venture makes sense,'' said Glassman, 21. ''Please just complete an analysis to prove us wrong.''
''I think there are other priorities we need to address in the city, and it would be foolish to continue down this path,'' Councilman Jose Ibarra said.
Glassman said there was no set purchase price. He put the maximum at about $8 million.
Five years ago, the Glassman family persuaded the city to abandon plans to build a rink at East Side Udall Recreation Center. At that time, the Glassmans said skating rinks should remain in the business sector.
January 31, 2007
Gateway Ice Center
There has been some media coverage recently about a request by the owner of Gateway Ice Center for the City of Fresno to purchase the facility from him. As what can happen often when issues are driven by the media, a lot of incomplete information gets shared and people don't always get enough facts to get a true understanding of what is going on. The issue of the Gateway Ice Center is no different.
A request by Mr. Bob Glassman, the owner of Gateway Ice Center to address the City Council on February 6th has been submitted to the City Clerk and will be heard during the weekly Scheduled Oral Communication period beginning around 9 am. It is important to understand that after this presentation, by law, no City Council action can occur and certainly no vote can be taken. Scheduled oral communication is only to provide any member of the public who submits a request to speak for three minutes on their topic. We will not be discussing his request for the taxpayers to buy his business.
In order to provide as much information as possible to the Council, the Mayor's staff recently provided each Council Member with copies of the actual correspondence between Mr. Glassman and the Mayors office staff. This series of letters and faxes began in April of 2006. So that those that may be interested with the actual facts about this issue can see for themselves, copies of this correspondence is available for viewing and downloading below. My hope in sharing this is that by seeing what actually has occurred, some light can be shed on what from my point of view has been some very serious distortion of information by Mr. Glassman to the public.
As you will see, Mr. Glassman does not just want the City to buy the Gateway Ice Building, but is asking for the completion of his entire project, which includes another ice rink and a swimming pool, to be paid for with taxpayer funds already designated to support our Parks Capital Improvement Program. You will see that he also proposes that after the citizens of Fresno pay to build his buildings, he will operate them. Estimated total cost is $12 million which would come out of the Parks Capital Improvement Fund.
The current Parks Capital Improvement priority list was developed by the Citizen Parks Commission over the period of several months and was unanimously approved by the City Council. Our current priority list will repair our existing facilities and allow us to begin building a quality city park system that the people of Fresno have been asking for for years and years. Buying the Gateway Ice Center is not on the list. If the City were to purchase the Gateway Ice Center, critically needed Parks department repairs, improvements and new facilities, many in the inner City, would be de-funded.
You will also see some actual profit and loss information on the current operation. While it appears to produce a very modest positive cash flow, the amount is nowhere near enough to support any debt financing nor the creation of any reserves for equipment replacement or emergency repairs of any magnitude. There is a reason why he has been unable to sell this business to a private person and his financials clearly show why. My understanding is that nearly 10% of the gross revenue is generated by what the Fresno Falcons pay to practice there.
You will also see in the letter dated December 27th that Mr. Glassman threatens the Mayor by saying he will "take off my skates" to try to pressure the City into giving him $5 million dollars of your money for his floundering business. The last document is an unsolicited fax he sent to the Mayor of a letter he began distributing to the public carrying out his threat. He has been active in trying to build public pressure for the City to buy him out and has even used children to circulate petitions.
The files below are in PDF format and you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see them. Please note that the file that contains the backup documentation to Mr. Glassman's original offer is 3.5 MB and may take some time to download.
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January 29, 2007- Memo from Mayor's Office to City Council regarding Gateway Ice Center correspondence. Download
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April 19, 2006- Original Proposal received by the City from Mr. Glassman. Download
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Supplemental Information for original proposal (large file). Download
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August 25, 2006- Letter to Mr. Glassman from Randy Cooper, Parks Director declining purchase. Download
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September 19, 2006- Mr. Glassman responds to City letter declining offer to buy. Download
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October 3, 2006- Mayor Autry responds to Mr. Glassman's September 19th letter. Download
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October 4, 2006- Mr. Glassman responds again to Mayor Autry letter of October 3rd. Download
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October 23, 2006- Mayor Autry asks Mr. Glassman to work with the City Manager. Download
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November 8, 2006- Mr. Glassman restates offer to sell. Download
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November 17, 2006- Response to Mr. Glassman from City Manager Andy Souza declining request to purchase. Download
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November 22, 2006- Response to City Manager from Mr. Glassman. Download
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December 27, 2006- Last letter from Mr. Glassman to Mayor Autry. Download
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December 29, 2006- Fax sent to Mayor Autry by Mr. Glassman. Download
Mr. Glassman's tactics in trying to pressure the City to bail him out financially is disturbing. He has used his customers and even children to try to create sympathy for himself and make the City seem like we don't care about our kids. In the six years I have been part of this administration as a City Councilmember, there has NEVER been a stronger commitment by the Mayor and the City Council to our City's children than there is now. While Mayor Autry and I can disagree on some things, he has always vocally and aggressively placed our children above everything else. This administration has also done more to help the children in this community than probably most other administrations combined.
City Call Center Opens
District Six residents now have a central call center that has one easy to remember phone number where you can talk to someone. By dialing 621-CITY residents can talk to a professional customer service representative who will be there to assist in getting your question answered or your problem solved.
To see Fresno Bee story click here.
Not paid for at taxpayer expense