Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
When is Business-Friendly Fresno Coming? Be Patient, My Friends
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 7 years ago on
January 19, 2018

Share


Opinion
by Bill McEwen
Let’s face it. Fresno Mayor Lee Brand is bland.
Blander than a vanilla pudding sandwich made with white bread.
Moreover, he’s never in a hurry. I bet when he was a kid in a long line to ride the train at Roeding Park, he told those behind him, “We’ll get there when we get there.”
And if Brand wanted to, he could get a copyright for “We need to get it right — instead of right now.”
At Thursday morning’s news conference — just one of many events in the mayor’s busy day — Brand unveiled his plan to make Fresno more business-friendly.
After defining the problem (Planning Department delays in approving permits, plans and projects, large and small), the mayor announced the formation of a blue-ribbon committee to review the situation and offer solutions.
What’s the name of this effort?
“Business Friendly Fresno 2,” Brand told the crowd. “With an exclamation point.”
This was Brand’s message to Bredefeld: I am the mayor, I will defend my chief of staff and I’ve won this skirmish. Go back to your corner and lick your wounds.
I kid you not, the mayor’s idea of going big and bold is adding “!” to the name of an initiative.
By the way, this committee of business leaders and councilmen has a name: “Dream Team.”
Yes, it’s 1992 all over again and, to the star-struck fans at the Barcelona Olympics, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are, as Coach Chuck Daly described it, “like Elvis and the Beatles put together.” I wonder how good committee member Clint Olivier’s jump shot is these days.
Keeping in the spirit of the day, Brand’s team should be rebranded “Dream Team 18 With an Exclamation Point,” don’t you think?
Go ahead. Penalize me three business licenses, two plan checks and one conditional-use permit for digressing. I plead nolo contendere.
We should not be surprised by Brand’s anti-climatic announcement. For eight years on the Fresno City Council, Brand stood out because of his superior performance – not because his news conferences radiated the energy of a Sunday sermon. His successful mayoral campaign stressed competence — at City Hall and in private business.

Brand is Fresno’s Very Own Bill Belichick

The mayor is Fresno’s version of five-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick, a guy who dreads news conferences and hates distractions. For both, it’s all about moving forward and rarely about satisfying the public’s need for instant gratification or emotional connection.
The question now is whether the blue-ribbon committee is just window dressing and a conduit to a meaningless report destined for the circular file. An analysis read by few and forgotten by everyone six months after its release. That, after all, is the fate of most blue-ribbon reports.
I don’t believe that’s the case here. Brand promised a year ago to fix the Planning Department. The mayor missed his own deadline, and I doubt he’s happy about that. I also don’t believe that the fact the mayor is making this new initiative open-ended means that he isn’t serious about it. This is his style. It has served him well. And he’s not going to change it.

Mr. Bredefeld, Guess Who Heads This Committee?

But just because Mayor Brand’s brand is bland, don’t make the mistake of assuming that he isn’t politically cunning and ruthless.
Last week, Councilman Garry Bredefeld publicly characterized Tim Orman, who was Brand’s campaign manager and is now his chief of staff, as a “character assassin.” The charge came while Bredefeld was pitching his proposal to offer a money-back guarantee to businesses whose projects are needlessly delayed by the Planning Department.
Guess who is chairing the panel tasked with studying the Planning Department’s culture and operation?
That would be Mr. Orman.
Coincidence?
No way. This was Brand’s message to Bredefeld: I am the mayor, I will defend my chief of staff and I’ve won this skirmish. Go back to your corner and lick your wounds.

Bredefeld Still Has a Role

But Bredefeld can still help move Brand’s initiative along. Three months from now, on social media and during his council remarks, Bredefeld can ask, “How is Business Friendly 2 With an Exclamation Point coming along?”
Not that Bredefeld needed to wait until the next council meeting to answer Brand’s news conference. He tweeted his response Thursday afternoon.


And, as the clock nears the end of 2018, Bredefeld can pose the question louder and detail the latest snags in Fresno’s business development pipeline.
Brand, ever the pragmatist, knows that he must improve the Planning Department’s performance. He has publicly and privately promised to accomplish this many times to many important people. If he fails to do so over the next 12 months, it will be at his political peril.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

DON'T MISS

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

DON'T MISS

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

DON'T MISS

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

DON'T MISS

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

DON'T MISS

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

DON'T MISS

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

UP NEXT

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

UP NEXT

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

UP NEXT

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

UP NEXT

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

UP NEXT

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

UP NEXT

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

UP NEXT

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

UP NEXT

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

2 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

3 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

3 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

3 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

3 hours ago

Fresno Woman, Tied to Fentanyl ‘M30 King,’ Sentenced to Federal Prison

3 hours ago

Tesla Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claiming Sudden Acceleration in Ohio Crash

4 hours ago

Trump Is Dismantling the Education Dept. How That Might Harm Special Ed

4 hours ago

Special Interests Pour More Than Half a Billion Into CA Lobbying

4 hours ago

Texas Walmart Shooter Who Killed 23 Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty

5 hours ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Paul Atkins, who previously served as a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member from 2002 to 2008 and wa...

44 minutes ago

CEO of Patomak Global Partners Paul Atkins takes part in a strategic and policy CEO discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Eisenhower Execution Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2017. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo)
44 minutes ago

Paul Atkins Sworn in as US SEC Chair

The corporate logo of the UnitedHealth Group appears on the side of one of their office buildings in Santa Ana, California, U.S., April 13, 2020. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
1 hour ago

UnitedHealth Spent $1.7 Million on Executive Security in 2024, Filing Shows

2 hours ago

US Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Obamacare’s Preventive Care Coverage Mandate

Pilar Rose, 51, formerly of Fresno, pleaded guilty to tax evasion and obstructing an IRS audit, agreeing to forfeit her mansion and BMW after falsifying financial records to evade taxes and secure fraudulent loans. (Zillow)
2 hours ago

Woman in Fresno Mansion Fraud Case Sentenced to Prison for Tax Evasion

Nathaniel Ray Diaz, 21, of Greenfield, is a California state prisoner who has been indicted on federal charges on Monday, April 21, 2025, for allegedly directing a minor to send sexually explicit images while serving time for previous offenses against the same child. (Shutterstock)
3 hours ago

California Prisoner Indicted for Exploiting Child Victim While Incarcerated

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a news conference about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest autism survey in Washington, April 16, 2025. In his first attempt to significantly change the nation’s food supply, Kennedy will direct food manufacturers to phase out eight petroleum-based food dyes that are found in hundreds of thousands of grocery-store staples, the department said on Monday, April 21. (Pete Kiehart/The New York Times)
3 hours ago

Kennedy Plans to Phase Out 8 Commonly Used Food Dyes

3 hours ago

The Superintendent Search Document FUSD Does Not Want You to See

President Donald Trump attends the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
3 hours ago

Trump Approval Rating Dips. Many Wary of His Wielding of Power, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend