Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
There's a Better Way to Make Fresno Sparkle. Vote 'No' on P.
Darius-Assemi
By Darius Assemi
Published 6 years ago on
October 23, 2018

Share

Here’s something I believe people on both sides of the parks tax debate can agree on: We’ve got miles to go to make Fresno a vibrant, safe, and prosperous city for all.
For decades, our elected leaders have struggled to make ends meet while facing annual budget challenges in which there are no good options.

GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi
Opinion
Darius Assemi
Then, every so often, a movement is born to push us incrementally ahead. And so we’ve decided, on a countywide basis, to tax ourselves to improve our roads and our libraries, and to transform the Fresno Chaffee Zoo into a must-see family attraction.
But now it’s time to take a break from well-intentioned efforts focused on a single need. Instead, we should take a top-to-bottom inventory of the problems Fresno must tackle to realize our potential as a world-class city and the shining anchor of the Central Valley.

There’s a Better Way than Measure P

We can’t afford a parks tax on its own. We’re better than this.

Measure P locks in the sales tax increase for 30 years with the funds flowing exclusively to parks, trails and cultural arts. Three decades is a long time. Do you know what Fresno’s needs will be in 2039 or 2049? I don’t. And neither does anyone else. 
Clearly, we’ve got work to do. Homelessness is devastating to our community. We need improved public safety, along with more and better-maintained parks and trails. I am sure that many of you have additional ideas about what must be accomplished to make Fresno the city we want it to be.
This is one of the reasons why I am voting “no” on Measure P, the ballot proposal to raise our sales tax by 3/8 of a cent. Another reason is Measure P locks in the sales tax increase for 30 years with the funds flowing exclusively to parks, trails and cultural arts.
Three decades is a long time. Do you know what Fresno’s needs will be in 2039 or 2049? I don’t. And neither does anyone else.
I recognize that voting “no” on P is just the first step in Fresno’s rebirth. A path to greatness must also be identified, and this is the one I propose.
Put together a broad spectrum of community residents and have them identify Fresno’s most pressing needs. Then assemble a team of financial experts from the community to audit the city’s budget, financial records, and service levels.
The best Fresno sales tax measure would fund public safety, parks, moving the homeless into housing and other needs identified by the community, says GV Wire Publisher Darius Assemi. (GV Wire Photo/David Taub)

Other Ways to Raise Parks Funding

Meanwhile, we should also look for innovative ways to raise revenue.
For example, we could sell naming rights to our parks. We also could expand upon the adopt-a-park program. There should be an opportunity for a restaurant or two to be built along the San Joaquin River trails. And we must scour state and federal grant opportunities.
When the panels have finished their work, bring them both together to suggest a broad-based revenue source to fill the gaps over the next 15 years. Then put that proposal to the voters.

15 Years, Not 30 Years

Why 15 years?
We live in a fast-moving, ever-changing world. Nothing is static. Tastes, needs, and desires change in the blink of an eye as technology relentlessly transforms our lives.
In addition, the two biggest causes of Fresno’s budget challenges are our underperforming economy and the debt kicked down the road by City Hall.

This new model will mark Fresno as a leader among cities grappling with big challenges such as adequately funding public safety, parks, homelessness reduction, and the arts.
I am fully confident that the forward-thinking leaders at our local universities, community colleges, and school districts, in concert with their trustees and teachers, will produce the high-quality graduates needed to shift the Fresno economy into overdrive.
In addition, Fresno’s municipal debt load — barring undisciplined spending by future mayors and city councils — will be off the books in the early 2030s.
With many tens of millions of dollars of debt retired and thousands of high-skilled graduates staying here in the Valley and significantly elevating our workforce, our General Fund finally will be healthy.
Fresno also will be well on the way to becoming one of America’s top cities, a great place to raise a family, go to school, recreate, and soak in the cultural arts.
If at that time, we still have pressing needs, we repeat the process I’ve described. Ask residents to identify the most pressing needs, audit City Hall’s books and service levels, hunt for alternative revenue streams and put a new proposal on the ballot.

Fresno Needs a New Inclusive Path Forward

We’re not going to get where we want to go by repeating what we’ve done in the past. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Measure P does.
It’s time to embrace a new model — an inclusive bringing together of residents that uses strategic, innovating thinking and accelerates us into the future.
To protect taxpayers, this new model must include annual third-party audits so residents clearly understand how their dollars are spent and the results they are getting.
This new model will mark Fresno as a leader among cities grappling with big challenges such as adequately funding public safety, parks, homelessness reduction, and the arts.
Remember, voting “no” on Measure P is not a vote against parks!

DON'T MISS

Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Bill Criminalizing Adults Assisting Minors in Gender-Affirming Care

DON'T MISS

Wittrup: Vote to Table Bullard Fence Contract Was ‘Retaliatory’

DON'T MISS

Did Arias ‘Weaponize’ City Attorney’s Office by Requesting Documents from Smittcamp?

DON'T MISS

Google Parent Reports Another Quarter of Robust Growth, Rolls Out First-Ever Quarterly Dividend

DON'T MISS

$15 a Pack for Cigarettes? It’s Happening in This US City.

DON'T MISS

USC Scraps Graduation Ceremony Amid Concerns Over Potential Disruptions from Protests

DON'T MISS

US Growth Slows Sharply Amid High Interest Rates and Inflation

DON'T MISS

No Security Fence for Bullard High. Why Did Fresno Trustees Table Bid Award?

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Comedy Night: ‘President Trump’ Meets ‘Superintendent Biden’

DON'T MISS

Lawyer Says Iran Rapper Famous for Songs After 2022 Killing of Mahsa Amini Sentenced to Death

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Comedy Night: ‘President Trump’ Meets ‘Superintendent Biden’

UP NEXT

Jose Ramirez Bout, Clovis Rodeo Are Center Stage in a Weekend Crammed With Events

UP NEXT

Judge Keeps Reedley Biolab Suspect in Jail. Was Operation Just a Warehouse?

UP NEXT

Cruisin’ Through Kingsburg’s 29th Annual Car Show

UP NEXT

Fuzzy Little Adeline Will Purr You to Sleep

UP NEXT

Meet the Valley Republican Predicting a November Win Over Esmeralda Soria

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: Construction Workers on 2018 Fresno Unified Project Still Not Paid

UP NEXT

Fong Won’t Debate Boudreaux, but We Get Hot Topic Answers Anyway

UP NEXT

Legislation Pandering to Tribal Casinos Is a Bad Bet for Fresno Cardroom Employees

UP NEXT

Ancestry Website to Catalogue Names of Japanese Americans Incarcerated During World War II

Google Parent Reports Another Quarter of Robust Growth, Rolls Out First-Ever Quarterly Dividend

3 hours ago

$15 a Pack for Cigarettes? It’s Happening in This US City.

4 hours ago

USC Scraps Graduation Ceremony Amid Concerns Over Potential Disruptions from Protests

4 hours ago

US Growth Slows Sharply Amid High Interest Rates and Inflation

5 hours ago

No Security Fence for Bullard High. Why Did Fresno Trustees Table Bid Award?

Local Education /

5 hours ago

Fresno Unified Comedy Night: ‘President Trump’ Meets ‘Superintendent Biden’

6 hours ago

Lawyer Says Iran Rapper Famous for Songs After 2022 Killing of Mahsa Amini Sentenced to Death

6 hours ago

Jose Ramirez Bout, Clovis Rodeo Are Center Stage in a Weekend Crammed With Events

7 hours ago

Supreme Court Seems Skeptical of Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity But Decision’s Timing Is Unclear

7 hours ago

Hamas Official: We’ll Put Down Arms if an Independent Palestine Is Created

8 hours ago

Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Bill Criminalizing Adults Assisting Minors in Gender-Affirming Care

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their final approval to legislation criminalizing adults who...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Bill Criminalizing Adults Assisting Minors in Gender-Affirming Care

Local Education /
2 hours ago

Wittrup: Vote to Table Bullard Fence Contract Was ‘Retaliatory’

3 hours ago

Did Arias ‘Weaponize’ City Attorney’s Office by Requesting Documents from Smittcamp?

3 hours ago

Google Parent Reports Another Quarter of Robust Growth, Rolls Out First-Ever Quarterly Dividend

4 hours ago

$15 a Pack for Cigarettes? It’s Happening in This US City.

4 hours ago

USC Scraps Graduation Ceremony Amid Concerns Over Potential Disruptions from Protests

5 hours ago

US Growth Slows Sharply Amid High Interest Rates and Inflation

Local Education /
5 hours ago

No Security Fence for Bullard High. Why Did Fresno Trustees Table Bid Award?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend