Advocates and opponents of a new tax to support public parks in Fresno will debate the issue in a public forum Thursday night. Measure P would raise the local sales tax by 3/8 percent and generate close to $38 million per year to build, upgrade and maintain parks across Fresno for...
Whelan, Esparza Compete to Represent the Heart of Fresno
The ideological balance of the Fresno City Council hangs in the district carved out of the city’s center. Brian Whelan is a Republican. Nelson Esparza is a Democrat. Many of their views are consistent with their party ideology. Both want to succeed termed-out Republican Clint Oliver to become the District...
Would New Fresno CC Science Building Give Blackstone a Lift?
What can be done to make Blackstone Avenue more attractive to shoppers and businesses? The question has been batted around since the end of the Manchester Mall's glory days in the 1960s and '70s when families flocked to Sears, Rhodes, GallenKamp Shoes, and a host of other merchants. But, as buying tastes...
Fresno for Parks Submits Signatures. But Is Compromise in the Works?
Moments before submitting signatures to the city clerk, advocates for a sales tax to benefit parks were one short of a nice round number. In order to achieve it, they even asked a cameraman covering the occasion if he was a registered Fresno voter. Absent that, Fresno for Parks turned...
A Better Fresno Is Within Our Grasp. Will We Do the Smart Thing?
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand isn't giving up on seeing a half-cent public-safety and parks sales tax — split right down the middle — make it to the November ballot. Despite the rejection of his proposal by the Fresno City Council, he's determined to see the plan's resuscitation and, ultimately, $44...
Parks & Public Safety Advocates Work Behind Scenes on Sales Tax
In what one City Hall insider described as a game of chicken, two sides advancing sales tax plans are attempting to work out a deal. Multiple sources tell GV Wire that Fresno for Parks, the Ashley Swearengin-led group advocating for a 3/8ths of a cent sales tax plan, has met...
Don't Blame Council Conservatives For Brand's Failed Tax Scheme
With all due respect to my colleague and news director Bill McEwen, he got it wrong in his June 29 column blasting three Fresno councilmen for putting their tax stance over public safety. The blame should be put squarely at the man who sets the budget, and hoped he could...
Next Time a Fresno Kid Gets Shot, Call Your Council Tax Fighter & Give 'Em an Earful
I'm fed up with so-called leaders who complain about Fresno crime but really are more concerned about burnishing their credentials as tax fighters. As tax fighting is an essential element of getting elected in most parts of Fresno, I understand why candidates pledge to do it. But being a real leader and...
Mayor Lee Brand's 2018 State of the City Address
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand gave his 2018 State of the City address on June 20 at the Fresno Convention Center. The luncheon event is organized annually by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce. Brand talked about a variety of issues including water, homelessness, public safety, fiscal challenges and economic development. You...
How Clovis Thinks Big Without Creating Big Problems
Residential growth doesn't pay for itself, we are told time and again. Especially in California, the experts say, pointing to a state tax system that limits property taxes courtesy of Proposition 13 and has failed to acknowledge the economy's shift from retail sales, which are taxed, to services, which aren't...