Fresno’s public safety departments presented their budgets to the city council on Wednesday.

The fire department presentation revolved around how to allocate firefighters.

Chief Billy Alcorn’s initial proposal was to reduce several stations from four firefighters in a station at a given time to three.

Councilmember Mike Karbassi felt unease about the reduced staffing at Station 2 in his district near the river bluff.

To keep the higher-per-station staffing level, Karbassi made a motion to cut the number of the department’s squad units, which utilize a smaller fire vehicle that focuses on medical calls, from four to two.

Alcorn and City Manager Georgeanne White defended the use of the four squad vehicles saying they absorb a heavy workload from other firefighters and heavy-duty fire vehicles.

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While the department will remain at 375 firefighters, more of the salaries will come from the general fund. State and federal grants, paying $21 million for 159 positions, expire later this year. The budget drops some positions, such as three fire captains, but still maintains 375 overall staff. The department averages 103 firefighters on duty per day.

Councilmember Miguel Arias, facetious or not, had a plan to test response times in northeast Fresno versus his district downtown to extinguish open fires.

“I’m going to test it,” Arias said with a smile. He said he would burn a clean-wood fire on a sidewalk in northeast Fresno.

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Police Present Budget

Police Chief Paco Balderrama presented his department’s report. The city allocates 926 police officer positions — same as last year — with 860 positions filled. At $250 million, the city spends 52% of its general fund on police.

Homicides are down 42%. Shootings are down 18%. Business burglaries are down 44%, the chief told the council.

Councilmembers generally praised Balderrama for the crime decline while also expressing concern about traffic incidents, including DUI and distracted drivers. Balderrama said that his officers have written thousands more tickets than in the past.

Karbassi also proposed a motion to hire a detective to solve petty theft crimes.

Arias, a critic of the department’s Shotspotter program, asked questions about how effective the technology is, and which city department should pay for the $1 million-a-year-program.

“It is very effective,” Balderrama said.

The technology helps identify the sound of gunshots and alerts law enforcement.

Councilmember Frustrated Over Slow Projects

The new Capital Projects department presented on Tuesday.

The department started last year, combining some staff from public utilities and public works. Capital Projects is still looking to hire engineers. Director Randall Morrison said that the city is in fierce competition with Caltrans and PG&E for those important positions.

“It is tough to deliver projects when priorities change. Projects get shifted around. New funding comes in that has tighter deadlines. And so a combination of all of that, with this ever-changing market has made it difficult,” Morrison said.

Morrison acknowledge several projects are backlogged. That frustrated Arias, who said several parks and other projects like Mariposa Plaza are “behind schedule and over-budget.”

“What I’ve seen is a system that has intentionally delayed most of these projects by using the excuse of public comment, public engagement, two years of public engagement. For somebody to tell you to plant one more tree on the green space is unnecessary. And the voters of Measure P expected new parks,” Arias said.

Arias suggested that the department pay engineers more. He also broached the idea of outsourcing park construction.

Morrison said his department is delivering. Costs because of inflation and general construction workload in Fresno led to increased costs — up to 30% in the last few years.

Budget Motion Update

Through Tuesday, the city council made motions adding nearly $5 million to the city budget. A bulk of those funds — $3.5 million — came from a Karbassi motion for the planning department to realign Beechwood Avenue in northwest Fresno.

The council would have to make equal cuts to keep the budget balanced. A vote on budget motions is scheduled for Wednesday, June 12.