City Council - Regular Meeting

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All right, good morning. Welcome to City Hall, everyone. Today's City Council meeting. We'll go ahead and start by taking the roll.

Good morning. Council Member Perea. Present. Council Member Carbasi.

Present.

Council Member Arias. Present. Council Vice President Maxwell. Present. Council Member Vang.

Present.

Council Member Richardson.

Here.

Council President Esparza.

Present.

Seven members being present, we have a quorum.

All right.

I'm going to ask everyone, if you can, to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. And after that, remain standing for our invocation. Actually, you know what? We're going to do the invocation first, not before the Pledge of Allegiance. There we go. Yeah, we are. I don't know why I went out of order this morning. Welcome, Pastor B.T. Lewis II out of Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church. Welcome, Pastor.

Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having me today. Let us pray. Dear God, you have been our Lord for all generations. Before the mountains were formed and before the world and the earth came into being, from everlasting to everlasting, you are still God. And so today, God, we look to you for our help. Our help comes from you as you are the creator of the heavens and the earth. And so, God, we ask your blessings on this session. We pray God your blessings on every person in this place. bless their families bless every father mother every child in the name of jesus be their strength be their refuge and be their hiding place we pray god that righteousness and justice will fill this place as your train fills your temple in jesus name god guard our hearts our minds oh god we pray that wisdom will permeate every mind and heart on today and let every decision honor you In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Council Member Vang, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Ready, salute.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. All right, that brings us to the approval of our agenda. City Clerk, are there any changes, items removed, announcements that you may have?

Yes, quite a few. First off, I'd like to note that for today's meeting, we do have translation services in various forms. We have the Wordly digital translation system. You can access that by scanning the QR code, or if you're listening at home, the QR code is present on our website that will take you to translation services for Spanish and Punjabi. If you are present and you would like to speak in a language other than English, you can simply approach the podium and begin speaking in the language of your choice, and we can provide on-the-spot live translation services for the council members. In addition, we have digital translation services live that are being provided in the Hmong language as well as American Sign Language. We do have many changes to the agenda today. With regard to item 2D, ID 26-843, regarding actions pertaining to the parks and public safety facilities, solar projects, capital improvement projects, the title in the staff report and action item number four resolution have been updated with the following information. Actions pertaining to the parks and public safety facilities, solar projects, capital improvement projects has been changed from citywide to council districts 1, 3, and 5. With regard to item number 3, sub item number 3 in that same item, approve the lease purchase agreement with Metro Futures Incorporated for an equipment amount of $5,684,172. changing to 461905.11 for capitalized interest and an additional $25,000 insurance costs for a total not to exceed 6171077.11 through a 20 year lease term. Sub item number four, resolution authorizing the city manager or designee to enter into a design-build contract with Alliance Building Solutions Incorporated, a lease purchase agreement, an escrow agreement, and equipment schedule with Metro Futures Incorporated, change to substantially in the form attached and subject to approval as to form by the city attorney and all related documents subject to mayor veto. Action item number four, resolution page one, second paragraph has been updated to read, whereas the council desires to cause lessee to enter into a design-build contract with Alliance Building Solutions Incorporated not to exceed $5,684,172 to be financed through a 20-year lease purchasing agreement, an ESCO agreement, an equipment schedule change to including a $25,000 issuance costs and $461,905.11 capitalized interest for a total finance not to exceed $6,171,077.11. An equipment schedule with Metro Futures Incorporated at a rate not to exceed 4.99%. for a total loan payment not to exceed $10,509,267.01. Striking the remaining. Item 2.0, ID 26-820, regarding actions pertaining to the expanded access to arts and culture grant program. Each of the resolution action items two through six... The ad hoc resolutions for ARC group A through E on page two, sections four and five should read EEAC project support grants and not EEAC project specific grants. Those are the changes to the agenda. With regard to items removed from the agenda, no items have been removed. With regard to items moved to contested consent for further discussion, 2J, ID 26-829, regarding approve a municipal advisor professional services contract with KNN Public Finance, was moved to contested consent by Councilmember Arias. Item 2L, Item 2P, ID 26-630, regarding submission for acceptance of the Parks, Arts, and Recreation Commission's five-year evaluation of the Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Tax, was moved to contested consent by Councilmember Arias. Item 2P, ID 26-145, regarding actions pertaining to the Helm Lofts, a 98-unit multifamily housing development project, located at 1101 Fulton Street, Fresno, California, was moved to contested consent by Council Member Arias. This is the extent of the changes and announcements for the agenda.

All right. Thank you, Clerk. Did we... Did you... I missed, did you discuss the translation services?

I did.

Okay, great. Appreciate that. Council, is there any additional changes? I'll go... from my right to left. Council Member Perea, any additional changes? Adios.

Council President, I will keep item 2J on consent. The city manager addressed my questions this morning. And I will also keep 2L, as in Larry, on consent. The city manager, I provide her my feedback this morning on a better version of the annual report with graphics and photos. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, 2J and 2L are back on consent, not contested. Council Vice President Maxwell? Council Member Vane? No. Dick Richardson? No. Carbasi?

No. I do have one, but am I able to make a little statement before I remove something from the agenda? The floor is yours within a reasonable amount of time. Okay. The reason why I want to make a statement is because in the past with this item, there have been leaks from closed session that are completely opposite of my position. I think if you want to know my position, just ask me and I'll tell you. Don't rely on people that don't know what they'll just try to misinform you. We have a couple of hearings on the agenda today. One is for the Central Southeast Pacific Plan. and the other is for the Elm item. I want to be real clear, I support the specific plan, much like the West Area plan that we waited a long time to approve and we did approve. There were some delays and it created a lot of confusion. I think this is a good plan, but I did meet with the neighborhood. I met with some of the advocates in the area and they expressed concern to me, which I was really surprised about. They have concerns about our environmental documents And given that we've had a history of getting sued and having a court overturn our decisions, I would like to delay the 355 hearing for the specific plan until a time where we can have a legal analysis, hopefully not a long time. I don't want to delay this at all, frankly. But if it makes the neighbors happy, then that's probably the best way to go. It was a request directly from them. And the Elm item, I don't support. I want it gone, so I'm gonna remove that too. That's it. Sorry if it sounds confusing, but basically the 3.55 and 4 p.m. items are removed from the agenda.

Okay, so 3.55 Central Southeast and the 4 p.m. Elm Rezone application.

Yep. Okay. Council President, if I may, I'd like to keep the 4 p.m. since it's my district. I think the residences are up or down vote. I think this has been dragged out for years now. So they're two separate items distinct from one another. So I'd prefer to have the Almarism heard today and a final decision being made today. Unless the applicant is withdrawing themselves, I'd rather have it heard and have the residents get a final decision from us.

And I totally respect that. My motion to keep it off is to keep it off forever. So that's why. But I hear you.

So I have the city attorney punched up, followed by Council Member Vang.

Just a couple things. I never like to get into legal analysis up here. But I would strongly urge and recommend that if any of the two items are Moved that they are moved to a date certain doing otherwise could expose the city to Litigation So it'd be my recommendation that they go to a date certain and preferably keep them paired and As to Councilmember Arias' point, it would be helpful to receive some sort of letter from the applicant asking it to be moved if it's in their interest as well.

I forgot about the lawsuit, the other lawsuit. How much for the specific plan, how much time do you need for legal analysis, roughly? I would say at least 60 days. Hold on. So what meeting would that be? Let's see. So August.

We have one meeting in July is my understanding.

Council Member Karbasi, if I may ask just legal counsel a generic question. When applicants submit a reason on application, they do have a right to be heard. We can't just table it indefinitely, correct?

That is my concern.

Okay. So I have Council Member Vang followed by Council Member Arias.

Thank you very much, Senator Tierney. I really appreciate the clarification on that. This item has been tabled two times the last, I believe, six months. I believe the people in District 5 is ready to move forward with this. The last time it was heard, or at least on the agenda, was, I believe, March 19th. And so it's been three months since then. If there's any concerns that was addressed or was stated back then, it should have been addressed by now. But I understand my colleague from D2 and I'M GLAD THAT HE HAS STATED PUBLICLY THAT HE DOES SUPPORT THIS PLAN AND SO APPRECIATE ON THAT. YES, MOVING FORWARD IS CAUTIOUS BUT AT THE SAME TIME I BELIEVE WE HAVE DUE DILIGENCE IN TERMS OF ALLOWING THE PUBLIC TO COMMENT ON THIS AND SO I AM READY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS ITEM TODAY AND AS WELL AS THE PEOPLE IN DISTRICT FIVE IS READY TO MOVE WITH THIS ITEM.

I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO KEEP THE OMRIES AND ON THE AGENDA FOR A FINAL DECISION TODAY.

THERE'S A MOTION. SEEING NO, UH, WELL, MIKE'S, MIKE'S DOESN'T REQUIRE A MOTION. THE ITEMS ARE CURRENTLY REMOVED, BOTH ITEMS. SEEING NO SECONDS, His motion is to keep the 4 p.m. Elm Rezone application on the agenda. We have a second. We have a live motion, though. State Attorney, do we require public comment on this procedural motion?

No.

Okay.

Don't do anything substantive. Then you don't require a...

Okay, so we have a motion. And City Attorney, just for clarification before we do vote, you were clear that you were recommending a time certain, which has not been applied yet. But you also recommended that these items follow together.

Yes, and just for the record, as I sit here now at 9.24 a.m., I have received an email from the attorney representing the Elm Avenue applicants to... They are formally requesting that the ELM item be continued to the same date as the specific plan. Okay, well, we have a live motion. I just want to get clarification before we voted.

Council President, I really don't give a crap about the ELM item, but for the other item, you said August. So August 13th or 27th, which one?

Well, we have to take this motion up first.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Do I need a date specific, though? Well, right now, as it stands, I mean, I can allow the amendment after this, but we have a live motion we've got to take to... Okay. Sorry about that. And if it stays... Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. If the item stays off, then you can amend your... Okay. Thank you. You can add the date certain here. Is that procedurally all right? Thank you, thank you, Council President. Okay, it's like I've done this before. All right, we have a motion, we have a second. The motion is to place the 4 p.m. Elmry zone item back on the agenda. It's currently removed from the agenda. Is there any opposition to putting the item back on to the agenda? Opposed? Opposed? Opposed? Opposed? All right, so that's five to two. The motion fails. Council members, audience surveying, voting in favor. Well, I'm gonna give the floor back to Council Member Karbasi to amend his, and then I'll go to you.

So it's tough, because I want to be careful what I say because of the legal issues, I want the specific plan back as soon as possible. Hopefully, it can be before the winter as the advocates requested, so everyone can be happy. But you said August, so 13th or the 27th?

We can do the 13th. I mean, that's, I think, as soon as possible. We'll connect offline in between.

I want to be very careful how I ask this question. I want Elm gone, but are you saying that I remember... I want to be careful how I say this. I don't want us to get, I want us to prevail. Sure.

I think if your motion, if your request is to move them both to the 13th, August 13th, I don't think that folks would perceive that as any type of support for Elm. It's just that you're following legal guidance.

I don't want to. So we're legally exposed if I don't do that, basically. I mean, I'm, don't answer that question. Sorry. Council President Torres. I'll amend it for the 13th, but I want to talk to you for a moment about the own things, see if I can avoid that come back at all. Sorry. So I'll change it to the 13th. If the person who seconded it will support that. Both items? Both items, but I want to talk to him real quick. There's no second.

No, both items, yes. Charter official. All right. Council Member Vang.

Council President, if I may, I'd like to motion the 355 item to be on the agenda for today. Just that item? Just that item.

All right, we have a motion, we have a second. The live motion, to be clear for everybody, is to put the 3.55 p.m. hearing for the Central Southeast specific plan back on the agenda. It's currently removed, moved to a date certain for August 13th. The motion is to place it back on. Is there... Just one of them. I do have City Attorney punched up and I have Council Member Perea punched up.

Again, I don't want to get into legal risk up here on the dais, but putting one and not the other back on does create risk to the city.

Council Member Perea, followed by Council Member Carbasi.

Okay. Council Member Carbasi. Just Council Member Vang, it is your district. I respect it. I'm going to support you on the ultimate item. This request came specifically from patients and the pastors. That's why I have hesitation. Now, if we are legally cleared and there's confidence that we can prevail and the judge won't overturn us, which has happened to me in the past, I'll support it when it comes back on the 13th, as soon as possible. That's my only, it came directly from them. That's why.

Councilman Richardson, did you have something to say? No, just clarification. Okay, you got clarification. Yeah, I mean, this impacts my district greatly as well. I think... There's a great deal of annoyance regarding all the different legalese and kind of legal actions that have been taken around this particular item. I'm eager to get it done as well, but I probably, just per legal counsel, probably will not support the motion given the risk today. Council President, can I request for a roll call vote? Sure. Thank you. Clerk, please call the roll. Again, the motion is to place 3.55 p.m. hearing item back onto the agenda. It's currently removed for August 13th.

Council Member Perea? No. Council Member Karbasi?

No.

Council Member Arias? No. Council Vice President Maxwell? Nay. Council Member Vang?

Nay.

Council Member Richardson?

No.

Council President Esparza.

Nay.

2-5, motion fails.

Motion fails, 5-2. Okay. All right. Any additional changes to the agenda? All right. Let's move on. Council President.

Yeah. Can, given that the applicant, someone that indicated a request for having the item delayed, can we have the city attorney read that request into the record?

No.

I already did. You did?

Oh, yeah. That was it? Okay. Yeah. All right. I'll entertain a motion for approval of the agenda. Motion, we have a second. Any opposition to approval of the agenda? All right, agenda is approved. Now let's move on to the ceremonial presentations. We have a packed house here today. Um, we have some of the youth here. You got to see democracy in action. Uh, all the, uh, yeah, now the fun parts of it, we'll get to the actual, the actual fun parts. We have a few proclamations this morning. Uh, the first one is going to be presented by myself. Um, this proclamation for the 76th anniversary of Fresno NAACP chapter. So I'll welcome our friends to the front who are here with the Fresno NAACP and I'll meet you down there.

Thank you.

All right, good morning, good morning. So after, again, the business here, so the fun part of the meeting are our ceremonial proclamations. We're honored to be here today to recognize an organization whose legacy has shaped not only our nation's history at large, but the continued pursuit of justice and equality here in our very own community in Fresno. For 76 years, if you can believe that, here in Fresno, the NAACP, the Fresno branch, has stood at the forefront of civil rights, ensuring that communities have a voice, and that progress continues toward a more just and equitable community and society here in the city. Their work has helped create meaningful change across generations, and their advocacy continues to strengthen Fresno by challenging injustice and opening doors for future leaders to thrive. And I thank you, you know, once upon a time you were one of the future leaders, and look at you now, Dustin, you're here, leading, leading, right? So we have some of our youth here as well, you know. Organizations like the NAACP remind us that progress is never accidental. It is built through persistence and courage and a willingness to stand up for what is right, even when that work becomes very difficult. So I want to recognize the many members, volunteers, community leaders, both past and present, whose dedication over these last seven decades has left an undeniable mark here in the city of Fresno. And so as we celebrate the 76th anniversary, we'll also reflect on the responsibility that we all share here, everybody here shares, to continue building a community that's rooted in fairness, opportunity, and really dignity for every resident. So on behalf of the city of Fresno, thank you to the Fresno NAACP for 76 years of extraordinary service. We're proud to be able to congratulate you and Legacy and look forward to the continued impact this organization will have for several more generations to come. It's a very long-standing organization. 76 years is nothing to sneeze at. We congratulate you all. So I'm going to hand it off to Dustin here. And I've spoken enough. I'm going to let you all say a few words. Welcome to City Hall.

Thank you, Council President. And we really thank Fresno City Hall and the Fresno City Council. We couldn't do any of the work that we're doing without the people here today. I'm just the president. The people here actually do the real work. We stand on the shoulders of greats like Dr. Hendricks, Mother Sterling, And a tremendous number of our elders. And we are just honored and gracious to be here today. And we thank you for the opportunity to serve this community. And we look forward to continue to serve the citizens of Fresno County.

You know, I, I really, this is a very humbling moment to say 76 years. My mother was the part of the NAACP, uh, during the time of the civil rights movement and, uh, her, uh, the honorable Mary Curry and many others, uh, continue. They, they were the footprint on which we stand today. So I want to thank the council, council president, to all of you that are a part of this today. Thank you for remembering and understanding that the struggle is still going on. Thank you.

I also want to thank the community and the shoulders that we stand on today. And just the bottom line, we cannot be in this spot without our community. So we need everybody on deck to move Fresno forward. Thank you.

All right, without further ado, it is my pleasure to proclaim today, June 18, 2026, as Fresno NAACP Day here in the city of Fresno. Clerk, will you please read the proclamation? Thank you.

Yes, thank you. Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, founded in 1909, stands as the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing political, educational, social, and economic equality for all people, safeguarding civil rights, and working tirelessly to eliminate racial discrimination and injustice in all its forms. And whereas the Fresno NAACP Branch 1038 proudly celebrates its 76th anniversary, commemorating more than seven decades of steadfast advocacy and transformative leadership that have strengthened the city of Fresno and empowered generations of residents through the pursuit of equity. And whereas for 76 years, the Fresno NAACP has served as a powerful voice for justice, championing initiatives that promote educational achievement, civic participation, economic empowerment, and equal access to opportunities while addressing critical issues affecting underserved and marginalized communities throughout Fresno and beyond. And whereas the members, officers, volunteers, and supporters of the Fresno NAACP have demonstrated extraordinary dedication and perseverance in advancing civil rights, fostering meaningful dialogue, and creating pathways for future generations to thrive, leaving an enduring legacy of service and leadership. And whereas the city of Fresno proudly recognizes and celebrates the lasting contributions of remarkable legacy of the Fresno NAACP Branch 1038 and extends its deepest gratitude for 76 years of service dedicated to advancing the principles of civil rights, equality, opportunity and justice for all people. Now, therefore, be it resolved that we, Mayor Jerry P. Dyer, Council President Nelson Esparza, Council Member Mike Carbasi, and the Fresno City Council do hereby proclaim June 18, 2026 as Fresno NAACP Day in the City of Fresno.

All right. Our next proclamation in the morning is going to be a proclamation for Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month. That's sponsored by Councilmember Karbassi.

I don't see Mario in the crowd. Are you here? Oh, there you are. Okay. Good to see you again.

Seems to be great.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Mike Carbasi. I'm a council member for Northwest Fresno, but I'm going to talk to you today about a problem that affects all parts of the city, all parts of the county, all parts of our state and our country, Alzheimer's disease. This is something that, unfortunately, we hear more and more about. Now, the good news is there's more awareness. But the bad news is the reason why we hear more and more about it, it's not just the scores of victims of this terrible disease. It's the families that also have to be with them to see what happens to them and the toll it takes on them. I have a father who's 84 years old, and you start thinking a little bit differently when you have a parent that's that old and the things that can happen to them. and so we do have a great organization here in the valley that does raise some money for this important cause and if we all come together and work hard together we will be able to actually hopefully bring an end to this terrible debilitating disease that affects our loved ones and our elders more than anyone i've always said a reflection of our society is how we treat those that are our elders and they're before us and so without further ado mario give us some of the facts and figures tell us about what you do and how we can help absolutely

Thank you, Mr. Councilmember, and thank you as well to the members of the council as well. Good morning, everybody. My name is Mario Penny. I'm the director for the Alzheimer's Association here in Central California. I'm also joined by one of our fabulous advocate volunteers, Bob Gray, who does a lot of amazing work up in the state and has also traveled to Washington to push some important bills to help many families and caregivers. So this morning, we are honored to accept this proclamation on behalf of the many families, caregivers, health care professionals, and advocates who are working every day to support individuals affected by Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Alzheimer's disease is more than a diagnosis. It is a growing public health crisis that touches nearly every community, including our very own here in the city of Fresno. Recognizing Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month is extremely important. This recognition addresses three critical purposes. The first one, as Council Member Karbasi just mentioned, is it raises awareness. Alzheimer's is not a normal part of aging, yet it is often misunderstood. By increasing awareness, we help people recognize early warning signs and seek medical attention sooner, allowing for a earlier diagnosis, better care planning, and improved quality of life. The second promotes support and resources. Many of our caregivers provide the majority of the care for those who are suffering with Alzheimer's. Raising awareness helps connect families here in the city of Fresno with local resources, education, support systems that are not able to navigate this journey alone, but we also offer many other support groups in the local area, including our 24-7 helpline that's available in over 170 languages. The third, it strengthens our commitment to brain health, which is why we are here also today. The city of Fresno, this recognition, this reflects something more powerful as a shared commitment from a local government, healthcare providers, community organizations, and residents to build more dementia-friendly community, one where individuals are treated with dignity, caregivers feel supported, and more importantly, no family goes through this process alone. As we mark Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, I encourage our community here in Fresno to learn more about the warning signs of Alzheimer's. Talk to your physician on any memory concerns. Support your caregivers in your community. Wear purple as well to support this month's recognition and to get more involved. As Councilmember Carbasi just mentioned, I definitely encourage many of you to join us on the Walk to End Alzheimer's that's occurring this year on Saturday, October 17th at Woodward Park. This event aims to raise critical funds for dementia research, and provides local care programs while uniting communities to build awareness and honor those affected by this disease. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to our volunteer, Bob Gray, to share his personal experience and story about this condition and journey. Bob?

Thank you.

My name is Bob Gray, and my wife was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's 13, 14 years ago. We didn't know anything about Alzheimer's at that time. And then you go, where do I go, what do I do, type of thing. And so for the longest time, for the first eight years, I took care of her at home. And then it became more obvious that I couldn't do that. I've been, we were both special ed teachers. I was an adaptive PE teacher. And I used to tell people, people would ask me, what do I do in adaptive PE? And I said, I make kids feel good about not being able to do something. That is what I continued to do. My wife was a resource specialist at Tenaya Middle School, and that works with kids who have learning processing problems. This is what she has. So I tell people I've been preparing for this all my life. So it didn't scare me. I didn't know what to do, but it didn't scare me because I'd worked with the invisible population for 31 years. So I knew basically what was going on. I took care of her, like I said, at home for eight years. Then I coached cross-country and track at Baird Middle School. So during those times, I had an in-home service come in three hours a day when I was gone. Then health conditions prevented, and her condition continued to deteriorate. And so I had to place her in a memory care facility, 60 bed. And it worked till it didn't work. Because what happens is the caregivers there are wonderful people. There's just not enough of them. You know, that's the hardest part. There's still not enough to help out. So a year ago, because of the rising cost, I placed her in a 10 bed home, which has worked out terrific. And that way, when you go to the large facilities, the ratio is one caregiver per eight, nine people, which is tough because they see one and then they have to keep moving on. In an eight-bed, ten-bed home, six-bed home, it's one caregiver for two people or three people. So you feel a lot more relaxed and stress leaves you. This journey of 13, 14 years has gone very quickly. And this Sunday we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. A third of it has been spent with Alzheimer's. It's like going from kindergarten to senior in high school. And it didn't go that fast when I was in kindergarten to senior in high school, but it's gone fast lately. So I want to thank the Alzheimer's Association for what they provide. And the biggest... For me, the biggest help they gave me was a support group. They have a number of support groups. They have a number of classes. They have the 1-800 number, and they have the walk. I went to the support group first because I was at my wit's end. And I walked in and they gave me all the information and they were telling me the group starts tomorrow or whatever. And I threw the stuff in the back of my car and waited two months. I went in and I said, okay, I'm ready. I'm only gonna stay for 15 minutes. It was an hour and a half class. That was five years ago. I've missed one class. or one session, because it means so much to me. And you find out you're not alone, and you find out, well, maybe I don't have it so bad, because people have all these stories, and there's many layers to it. So in conclusion, I'd like to say that the walk is coming up. I have the cross-country team. Everybody knows about Alzheimer's. All the people on the team know about it. And for the last five years, we've raised money for the walk. And I just said, now we do it by internet and stuff. But before, we'd have envelopes. And kids, I didn't want them to go around neighborhoods, just families. In the last five years, we've raised $12,000 for this. And the kids get an understanding of what Alzheimer's is. And they talk to me about families and relatives and that that's going on. So anyway, I want to thank you for having us here today. And if anybody has any questions about Alzheimer's, you can ask either one of us about meetings or what's going on, or if you want to talk about your family. It's very important. The most important thing is getting information out there. And what I've noticed in the last four years is before nobody talked about it, now people are talking about it. And more and more people who are volunteering have Alzheimer's, which is a great sign because they're not hiding it. They're coming out. So thank you very much.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and humanizing it for us. By the way, congratulations on the 40-year anniversary. But for one-third of it to be through this process, through this journey, I can't imagine what that's like. I am glad to hear that in-home support services was helpful. The county needs to continue that program. But just for folks out there, to give you kind of an idea of how big of an issue this is, this room here and upstairs can fit about 250 people. You'd have to fill this room 70 times. That's the number of people in this county alone that suffer from Alzheimer's. And when you consider their family members, like Mr. Gray here, that go through that as well, this is who we're fighting for. And I firmly believe, I mean, when you see what's happened in the last several years, we can cure this disease but it takes time it takes money and it takes commitment of our country so thank you so much to what you what you do and when you go to the walk i encourage you to go i've gone every year it's a lot of fun uh this is my third year uh you also get to see the families some of the families that have lost loved ones and they're still committed to the fight join the fight thank you so much and i'm going to have the clerk read the proclamation in the record council member carbos if i may take a moment of privilege gentlemen to your left yes

You were the coach for my two kids at Baird. And thank you to you, they now enjoy running, so I can send them running when they frustrate me, and they enjoy it too. My daughter is a super climbing athlete, thanks to your encouragement, and so is my 15-year-old boy. So thank you for all the years of education and coaching that you did, and thank you for allowing me to have a relief and a break from my two teenagers. Council Member, join us down here. Come on.

Whereas the month of June 2026 has been declared Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month to help educate the public on this debilitating disease, increase efforts to combat its human and economic costs, and encourage all Californians to take charge of their brain health. And whereas brain health is a lifelong priority, not an issue limited to older age, this month is designed to raise awareness to understand how to reduce the risk of cognitive decline as a public health priority. There are meaningful actions that can protect brain health, and this month brings attention to ensure that science reaches people and systems in ways that make a real difference. We are building momentum to connect efforts across individuals, communities, workplaces, and healthcare. We can build more equitable framework to support cognitive health and help reduce dementia risk for everyone. And whereas California has 720,000 residents living with Alzheimer's disease, more than any other state in the nation, and 14,643 Fresno County residents as of 2019. And whereas Alzheimer's disease was the leading cause of death in adults 85 years and older, and the second leading cause of death overall in 2024, as stated in the 2026 California State of Public Health Report. Whereas recent research published by the California Department of Public Health in 2021 indicates that over the next 20 years, the impact of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia will increase dramatically. While the population of California will expand by 16%, the population of people living with Alzheimer's disease will expand by 127%. And whereas research on the expansion of people living with Alzheimer's disease showed communities of color will shoulder a disproportionate share of the increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, The number of Latinx or Hispanic Californians living with Alzheimer's disease will nearly triple by 2040. Additionally, the number of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living with Alzheimer's disease will more than double. And whereas Californians with dementia will visit emergency rooms nearly one million times per year and are readmitted to the hospital one out of five times after discharge. And whereas Alzheimer's disease is a family disease, impacting 1,403,000 California spouses, partners, children, siblings, grandchildren, and other relatives who provide unpaid assistance to a loved one. And whereas California caregivers devote approximately 1,900,000,000 hours of unpaid assistance to family members valued at over $53,200,000,000 in non-governmental financial support. And whereas disparities in detection and diagnosis persist, resulting in less than 50% of individuals affected by the disease receiving a formal diagnosis that is disclosed to them by a clinician and documented in their medical record. And whereas on average, a person 65 years of age or older lives four to eight years after a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, but may live as long as 20 years, depending on other factors. And whereas age is the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, which has no proven way to prevent it and currently has no cure. And whereas Californians invest in Alzheimer's disease research through the voluntary contribution funds and have raised more than $25 million since its inception for research into treatments, to slow the progression of and develop a cure for the disease. And whereas individuals living with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers need acknowledgement, support, and services to meet their needs over the lengthy progression of Alzheimer's disease and its related dementias. Now, therefore, be it resolved that we, Mayor Jerry Dyer and the Fresno City Council, hereby proclaim the month of June to be Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month in the City of Fresno.

All right, our last proclamation of the morning is going to be a proclamation for Roosevelt High School Baseball Day, and that's presented by Council Member Vang.

All right, come down here, players. It is summer, but these are the boys of summer. This is the 2026 Roosevelt Baseball Championship team. And coaches. I want to thank the players for being here. As I mentioned earlier, school is out, but they made the time to come here to City Hall to be recognized today. It is an honor to recognize the Roosevelt High School baseball team for an incredible, incredible season, and it is historic. What makes this recognition special is not just the championship itself, but it's how you guys got there. A few years ago, this program won only three games out of 20 or 30 games that they played. And year after year, the players and the coaching staff continued to show up and work hard and believe that they can build an accessible team. This season, that hard work paid off. This team finished with 22 wins, captured Roosevelt High's first league title in 55 years. That's since 1971. and the school's first Central Section Championship in 61 years, going back to 1965. And that deserves a lot of applause because some of your parents, players, probably were born after 1971. So it's been a long time in waiting. And as somebody who roots for the underdog, I love stories like this. This team proved that success doesn't happen overnight.

It comes from commitment and discipline and hard work.

I liken this team to the movie, the Bad News Bears. In this case, the Bad News Rough Riders. It is true. Just imagine, somebody who played varsity as a freshman, and over the span of that four years, rise from two or three wins to being CIF champions. I mean, it's difficult. I have kids who play sports, and it's extremely difficult to win a CIF championship central section. So congratulations to you. I also want to recognize head coach Manny Milano and the entire coaching staff for building a successful culture, a culture of excellence. Championships are won by players on the field, but there are coaches behind the scene that put the players in that position. And to the players, You made school history. More importantly, you've shown future generations of Roosevelt students what is possible when a team commits to a common goal and refuses to give up. And to the parents, I, myself, a parent of five kids, four boys, and most of them did and one is still playing school athletics. And it takes the commitment of parents day in and day out to drop your kids off at practice, to pick them up late, to follow them when they play other schools, to cheer for them when the degree is, when the temperature is 100 degrees. And it is to you that these kids are successful today. So I want to thank you for your continued support of your students and our athletes. And on behalf of the city of Fresno, congratulations on this incredible once in a lifetime season. We are proud of you. We are proud of Roosevelt High School, and we are proud to celebrate this historic achievement. And at this time, it is my honor to present this proclamation to the 2026 Roosevelt High School Baseball League champion and CIF championship team. However, I'm going to hand the mic to coach, Coach Milano.

I just want to thank all the parents, all of our coaching staff, all of our boys putting in the work. It wasn't easy. These guys know that. But we tell these boys all the time, we're not always just playing for us. We're playing for your school and your community. And it just shows, you know, with hard work, these young bucks, as they start coming up, they can be champions too. So, thank you.

My name is Larry Lopez. I'm the athletic director at Roosevelt High School. I just finished my 15th year there. So I've seen the bad news bears into what we have today. And I'm very proud of our staff, very proud of our kids. They have, we've had a historic year this year. We had eight league titles, we had two Valley Championships, and it was capped off by a historic championship by these young men. And so I'm very proud on behalf of Fresno Unified. This group has instilled pride back in the Southeast Fresno. So congratulations and thank you.

And I want to read the last two paragraphs of this proclamation. Whereas Roosevelt High Rough Riders baseball team has brought immense pride to students and families of the city of Fresno, serving as an inspiration to future generations through their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Now therefore, be proclaimed that we, Mayor Jerry P. Dyer and the Fresno City Council do here proclaim June 18th, 2026 as Roosevelt High School Baseball Day in the city of Fresno. Thank you and congratulations.

Whereas the Roosevelt High School baseball program under the leadership of head coach Manny Milano since the winter of 2022 has undergone an historic and profound transformation defined by grit, discipline, and unwavering belief. Earning Roosevelt High School its first central section baseball championship in 61 years and marking one of the most significant achievements in the school's athletic history. And whereas the journey to a championship began with a program that won just three games in 2022, through unwavering commitment, discipline, and belief in one another, the Rough Riders steadily improved each season, transforming from underdogs into one of the most respected programs in the Central Section. and whereas in their fourth season under head coach manny milano the rough riders completed a remarkable turnaround finishing with 22 wins and an 11-1 league record capturing their first league championship in 55 years and earning the opportunity to compete for a central section title And whereas the Rough Riders continue to display incredible determination throughout the season, finishing as the number two seed in the Central Section Division VI playoffs and capturing Roosevelt High School's first Central Section championship since 1965. And whereas head coach Manny Milano and assistant coaches Sean Eastman, Blake Hernandez, and Luke Juarez played important roles in developing a culture of accountability, excellence, and championship-level performance. And whereas numerous student athletes earned individual recognition for their outstanding performances throughout the season, including Samuel Serrato, Brian Roberson III, Manny Milano II, and Rocco Portillo as first-team All-League selections. While David Mesa was named North Yosemite League Pitcher of the Year. And whereas the Roosevelt High School Rough Riders baseball team has brought immense pride to students and families in the city of Fresno, serving as an inspiration to future generations through their hard work, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Now therefore be it proclaimed that we, Mayor Jerry P. Dyer, and the Fresno City Council do hereby proclaim June 18, 2026 as Roosevelt High School Baseball Day in the city of Fresno.

Thank you.

All right, congratulations to everyone. We're gonna move on to council member reports and comments. I think we've still got a quorum in the room. Council member Perret, are you passing today? Council member Arias, do you have any reports? Council member Karbasi, do you have any reports for today? Not at all. Okay. I don't know where the rest of my colleagues are right now. So I'll go. Just want to thank again everyone who joined us this morning for our morning reception as we honor the 76th anniversary of the NAACP Fresno branch. We're obviously proud to celebrate the legacy of the NAACP and their decades of advocacy and service to Fresno. But yeah, any other reports? Everybody good on the council side? Well, if my colleagues out there are listening, if we're still on this when you come in, we can provide some report time. Mayor, city manager.

I don't know if the mayor's in here. I do have one comment, a trade memo that went out that certainly exciting news for those of us who work in City Hall and frankly, those in the downtown building. On next week's agenda, there will be a lease for our new vendor for our cafe on the ground floor, which has been closed down since right after COVID. We have had a cafe and city hall for, gosh, as long as I've been here, almost 25 years. And it's been shut down since then. And we had been working to find a new vendor. And next week's lease that will be coming forward is between us. and Culinary Studios Inc., which is the owner of Cracked Pepper Restaurant, and we will be having a Cracked Pepper Cafe in the first floor of City Hall. So I know those of us who don't get out much for lunch are really excited about having a great food option, and so we'll look forward to the agenda item next week as well. That was it.

All right, I think that deserves a round of applause. That's fantastic. We finally get food back at City Hall. All right. It could be a bad thing, you know.

We have requested bread pudding as a dessert option. Oh, man.

Very, very dangerous.

And kudos to Brian Barr, who's really been pushing, pushing to be able to bring something forward.

Very, very dangerous. Some of us on this dais might revert back to our original form that you saw when we first got here. Yeah. Um, all right. Uh, council member Richardson, you had a report. Everybody's back. Fantastic. All right.

All right. Uh, just very briefly, thank you to everybody who came out for flag day. It's my personal favorite holiday. We had the brand new youngest Richardson out there and the oldest Richardson, my son and my grandpa, which is cool to see him out there at once. Um, the, the message this year was look, Nobody has to have the same story or the same interpretation when they look at the flag. It represents a lot of things. The stripes represent different colonies. Obviously, back in the day, coming together, disagreed on things and they had different stances and beliefs and thoughts and different languages. But they all came together to build a community that they wanted to see. And the blue with the stars on it represents a constellation, right? It's a constellation of states. It changes as we go through time. It's not the same as it was 70, 80, 90 years ago, 120 years ago. It's changed. It's updated because this country continues to change as well. And a constellation is not something you can touch, right? It's something that's in the dark, but you can look toward it. You can count on it to be there, and it's something you can aspire to. So I notice this every council meeting of people who don't like standing up for the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm not going to tell you what to do. But... The point that we carried this Flag Day is when you look at the flag, whatever you aspire to see as your country, whatever values you want to see pushed forward as a nation, that is what you should look to the flag and see. And it's not going to look the same for everybody, but that is hope for the future. That's kind of what it represents to me. So thank you to all who joined us for Flag Day. And then finally, if you live in anywhere in the city, but specifically I can speak to the residents of District 6, if you have issues with trash, with water, with your street, with... whatever, you know, garbage piling up somewhere, any problem like that, you can try to solve them yourself or you can come to us. So I would ask if you live in District 6, if you're Northeast Fresno, that is our job. We work for you. Our job is to solve those problems. Punt those problems to us. In fact, as you are punting your problem to us, remember, if you just dial 621-PUNT, my staff will pick up the phone and And we will get to work on it for you. That is our job. That's why we get up in the morning. We're happy to serve. So if you're in District 6, 621, punt. Punt your problems to us. Council President, that's all I have.

All right. Council Member Vang. Thank you very much, Council President. Just a few comments to report. I had an opportunity to stop by La Kitchen. If you frequent that small restaurant by Fowler and Kings Canyon, some of you may call it LA Kitchen, but it's actually La Kitchen. It's named after La and Brian, a couple who started that restaurant five years ago. So if you're in Southeast Fresno, near Kings Canyon and Fowler Avenue, please stop by La Kitchen. They have one of the best food there. and also support your local business as well. I'm also happy to share that the winery's tree repaving project has been completed. I want to thank our Public Works Department for their hard work and for keeping the project on schedule. I know that road construction can be an inconvenient and so I also want to thank the residents and business operators along this corridor for their patience throughout this whole process. And while one street paving is over, another one is already underway. There is ongoing concrete repair on Cedar Avenue, and I appreciate, again, everybody's patience as we continue making much-needed infrastructure improvements throughout District 5, in this case, on the western part of District 5. Thank you very much. That's all I have, Council President. All right.

Any further reports I missed? All right, it's 10-11. Let's move on to a few of the timed items that we still have here on the agenda. We've got the 9.05 a.m. joint meeting of the city council and the city's capacity as the housing successor to the RDA of the city of Fresno and the Fresno Revitalization Corporation. This will require two votes, first by the successor agency, then the council. Phil, give us the quick and dirty on this brief, please.

Yeah, good morning, Council President. Good morning, Council. Happy to do that. So Ms. Murphy and I are pleased to be before you this morning asking this body to approve a local housing trust fund agreement in an amount of $3,727,000. I'm very pleased to share with this body that the developers have successfully secured more than $69 million in bond financing. The local housing trust fund agreement before you this morning is the final dollar in. And we are looking forward to the developers pulling their grading permit by the end of August and holding a groundbreaking ceremony for the South Stadium Project, 174 units in downtown Fresno, sometime tentatively scheduled for mid-August.

Great. Any questions from council or comment? All right, great. We're going to go out to public comments on this item. So at this point, I'll open public comments on the 9.05 a.m. joint meeting of the council and the RDA successor agency regarding the $3.7 million trust fund agreement. Any public comments on this 9.05 a.m. item? Seeing none, go ahead and close public. Are you coming down? Okay. All right, come on down.

Hi, my name is Brunette and I'm with HEAP and I'm against this project. We haven't heard anything about it. If there was meetings, we didn't have anything to say about it. So we are against it. Any funds, I don't know how they got those funds. They have to include the community with it. So they didn't come to us with it and we are against it.

Thank you. Any additional public comment? 9.05 a.m., hearing item.

My name is Diane Smith. I'm from West Fresno. I'm also a member of HEAT, and I have to agree with Brunette. This has been going on far too long where things are being done in District 3 without coming to the community for answers. You go to a particular group of people every time, get in the same answers that you get, and you guys push forward without considering us. So I'm in agreement with her. Anything in District 3 that does not get the approval of the people of District 3 should not pass, and you shouldn't get any money for it either.

Thank you. Any additional speakers on the 9.05 a.m. item? 3.7 million. Joint meeting of the City Council and the RDA's Accessory Agency. Seeing no further public comment, I'm going to go ahead and close the hearing. I'll close the public comment on the 9.05 a.m. item. So we'll need to take...

Sorry, I have the Mayor punched up, followed by Council Member Artis. Thank you, Council President. Yeah, I just wanted to comment in support and kind of give a little bit of a history. I know a lot of folks may not have known the history on this, but this land, we're talking about the lots that are being developed, have been vacant for decades. And we have not been able to get developers to be able to develop on that property because it didn't pencil out, quite frankly. And it wasn't until we were able to do some creative financing in the city with the revolving loan fund, as well as some other ways to provide mixed income housing. But at the end of the day, we are going to be able to develop a beautiful 174 unit, eight story multifamily complex overlooking our Chichancey Stadium. And the option is to leave that land vacant for more decades. And if we are truly in a housing crisis, like I've heard repeatedly over the years, and I believe we are continuing to be in a housing crisis, why would we not want to build 174 units that's going to allow for mixed income housing in downtown Fresno? We already are investing $250 million, thanks to the state of California, in infrastructure, that's two parking garages, It's all of our water mains and sewer mains being replaced, some of those well over 100 years old. And we have another $43.7 million. that we're investing in downtown Fresno. And what people may not know is the reason in which we got those funds from the state of California was for the sole purpose of accelerating housing in downtown Fresno and Chinatown. And that is why we're doing this. We're providing much-needed housing, housing that is affordable to folks, and it is... for the purpose of stimulating downtown, creating that vibrant environment downtown because great cities have great downtowns. And for far too long, we've had an abandoned downtown. And I hear a lot about, are we investing in the core? Well, we are investing in the core of our city. And I'm very fortunate, Jeff and Mehmet, thank you guys for investing. We've been working on this project now, this particular project, myself, Council Member Arias, for the last two years to get it to this point. And so I want to say thank you, and I offer my full support for this funding.

Council Member Arias.

Thank you, Council President. I just wanted to somewhat respond to some of the comments made by the public and residents of my district. And I think oftentimes we just... approve items with the assumption that this body has read all the information and the general public also has read the information and understand it. So I always think it's important for us to just provide a basic summary to the public on what we're actually doing. So director, assistant director, if you can just provide us a quick summary of what the actual project is. Because as the mayor mentioned, him and I have been working for years to get this vacant lot developed into housing. So if you can provide us just a quick summary of what the actual project is and what money is being committed to the project, city, RDA, and private sector funds for the project itself.

Happy to do it, Council Member. Thank you so much. So this project is, as Mayor mentioned, is 174 units, eight stories in downtown Fresno, immediately behind Chanty Park, Chanty Stadium. This is located on land that is comprised of both land that is owned by the successor agency as well as the city of Fresno. We couldn't have done this without that partnership, and really grateful for you, Ms. Murphy, and your assistance with all of this. The funding that is comprised or is going to enable this project to be constructed is both some private funds, the $3.727 million that is before you this morning coming by virtue of a local housing trust fund agreement, $8 million in the revolving loan fund that Mayor was mentioning just a moment ago that the state of California has made possible, and about $69,620,000 in bond financing.

So if I can just summarize for the public, we're going to build 170 units in downtown Fresno without one penny of city funds. $69 million from investors in the bond market, $8 million from the state of California, and $3.5 million from the redevelopment agency, which is required to spend the money to develop housing projects. This has taken us years in the making. It's really hard and expensive to develop housing in downtown Fresno. So I appreciate the work that you guys have done. But again, not one penny of the city's general fund. That goes towards parks, police, fire, or other services. This is all money meant to develop housing in our city, and I appreciate the work you've done. With that, I'll make a motion to approve.

City attorney, does it matter which vote we take first? Okay, all right, we have a motion to approve. Second, this is the council vote. Is there any opposition to approving the 9.05 a.m. item? All right, seeing none, passes seven to zero. We now need the second vote. Motion to approve. All right, second. Yeah, I'm not sure who all is on that board, but we have a motion, we have a second. Any opposition? Seeing none, the second vote passes as well. Thank you, that was the 9.05 a.m. RDA item. All right, we move on to the 9.10 a.m. item. It's the annual assessment for the city's landscaping and lighting maintenance district one. Council, do you want a presentation on this? Okay, all right. We'll move on. I'm going to open public comment. So this is a public comment on the 9-10 a.m. item, resolution confirming the diagram and assessment and levy of annual assessments 2026-2027 for landscaping and lighting district number one. Is there any public comments on the 9-10 a.m. item? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close public comments, bring it up to the council. I'll make a motion to approve. Motion by myself, second, Councilman Baradias. Is there any opposition to approving the 9-10 a.m. hearing item? All right, seeing none, that passes seven to zero. On to 915, we have another RDA item, actions pertaining to the disposition of surplus lands. We have a number of different APNs that we're declaring a surplus land, items one through six. Council, need a presentation on this?

No, Council, I just want to make some comments on this item though. Go ahead. Just for historical purposes for the general public, back in when the redevelopment agencies were created, they essentially were empowered to take private property for the purpose of redeveloping them into something more valuable. Over the years, some redevelopment agencies abused that power and used it as a vehicle to build professional baseball stadiums and things of that nature. So under Governor Brown, I believe, he dismantled the redevelopment agencies. and directed all cities who had one to, over time, to shut it down. And the way we shut them down is by getting rid of the properties that we acquired over time, and primarily with the focus of making them into housing. You just saw the council this morning get rid of one property for the purpose of developing housing in downtown Fresno. This item would essentially also finally give up several of the properties that we've had over the years. These properties are located in what they call Armenian Town. Part of the properties are connected to an existing state courthouse. Essentially all the landscape area of the courthouse was still owned by the redevelopment agency. We would essentially formally give that to the state of California so they can have ownership of their frontage landscape area. And it would make other properties available for the public who's interested in developing them into something, either housing or some other use. So I just want to keep that historical context so people understand that. This is a process under state law that we have to follow. We must first declare a surplus and then entertain any request from anybody who's interested in developing these properties. This is all part of the state law that passed that requires us to dissolve these successor agencies and do something useful with the properties as we get rid of them. Thank you, Council President. Would that make a motion to approve?

No motions yet. Sorry. The mayor punched up.

Yeah, thank you, Council President. I also want to comment on this. We've been working closely with Council Member Arias and Marlene for a long, long, long time to get these vacant parcels to a point where we could declare them surplus and then get them back into use, useful life, part of it with the Court of Appeal, but also to be able to open this up to private developers for the purpose of being able to increase our tax base and stimulate our local economy. And so that's what we're about ready to do. Again, these are lands, parcels that have been vacant for decades. And lastly, it gives us an opportunity to be able to make good on a promise and a commitment that we made to the Court of Appeal years ago when they developed the courthouse there that they would have the land adjacent to it. So I fully support this today.

I have Council Member Richardson punched up.

Yeah, Council President, I'm not asking for a full presentation, but could we at least display the graphic that has been provided to us up on the screen just for the public and maybe speak really briefly just to what we're all looking at in lieu of a full presentation and discussion of the parcel numbers and all that? Sure, a quick visual for everybody to see the parcels.

We don't have this in digital form just yet. If you'd like me to take a moment and scan it, I can do that.

Is this something we can come back to?

Yeah, so let's put this on pause. Actually, let's take public comment while you do that. We can always move on to a different item if we need to. I'm going to go ahead and take public comment on the 9.15 a.m. RDA item pertaining to the disposition of the surplus lands on these six APNs or so. Is there any public comment on the 9.15 a.m. item? Come on down.

Thank you.

Thank you to our mayor and to the council and also my council. Good morning. When you speak of the vacancy of things in the downtown area, specifically Fulton Street, everything's been vacant for the last three decades. And there's been no movement to try to improve it. I know you put a lot of lofts around. The downtown area, we have a lot of lofts. Now you want to build the apartment, the seven, what is it, seven? 174, Team Point. You bring in more and more apartments and lofts in downtown Fresno, but you haven't bought any retail. So people that live in southwest Fresno and even in the area of downtown Fresno, they still don't have no place to shop. You still have to go 10 miles or more to buy a pair of shoes. a decent pair of shoes anyway. So what are we doing to improve that where we don't have to travel so far? Also, since I live in Southwest Fresno, I like for the mayor and our councilman, since we have to travel so far to shop and buy items that we like, we should be able to get at least a 10 or 15% discount when we attend these stores that's taking our monies. So that's something I would like for you to discuss. and bring into action because we have gas prices high, and when you have to travel that far to buy any type of items that we actually need, we should be able to get a discount. When we go, even if it's Walmart, 10%, 15%, we should be able to get a discount. Thank you.

Any further public speakers on the 915 RDA item pertaining to the disposition of surplus land? Come on down.

Once again, my name is Brunette, and I'm with HEAP. And we are against it. We could care less what you guys did. That was done through the city council. You knew what you was doing when you did it. They took that money. They did what they want to do with it. Now you're hollering, oh, well, we want to do so much. We want to build this and we want to build that. That's District 3. We didn't have a say. I could care less what the mayor did, what Arias did. They did not come to the community. We're going to find out from the state why it is that you have the money. You've already been audited. So you're going to get audited again. We're tired of you. This is District 3. We don't have a say. Everybody sit up here and run their mouth and want to speak for us. We don't want you speaking for us. Speak to us. Ask us what it is we want. We had downtown fixed, but you took it away due to high-speed rail. This is what you guys want. It's not going to happen. We could care less what you feel. You don't live in District 3, so you don't care about how we feel. We're tired of it. You're going to get out of it again, and we hope they take every dime from it, make you a tumbleweed town. That's what you need.

My name is Diane Smith. I'm a District 3, and I also resident of Southwest Fresno, and I'm also a member of HEAP. A little short history here. I remember the time when redevelopment came into Southwest Fresno and said they were going to redevelop a lot of things. There was increment tax dollars that was taken. The property was taken, and it sat vacant. Not because of us, because redevelopment did nothing. People from redevelopment actually came out and talked to people and told them that you would be dead, when they're seniors, in six months because we're going to take your property. That's why I have no faith in redevelopment. The land's empty, not because of the residents, but because of the city. The city has a habit of putting stuff on hold. Now what are they doing? Specific plan Southwest Fresno specific plan developed because they said we wanted these things is actually going to gentrify West Fresno when you put in a magnet core on marks and 180 you're putting in a magnet core on the north and 41 You're talking about the Shahadi project going in? Looking at all those things. People aren't stupid. The city is not transparent. We can look at those things and see that we are going to be gone because the decision is being made without all of the people in Southwest Fresno. I don't care if you're talking about Chinatown. I don't care if you're talking about downtown. That's District 3. gentrified us, you took downtown, moved it out to a fashion fair, taking most of our businesses then, then you gutted Chinatown, and now you're coming for the rest of us. So whether you get any money or not, my concern is I don't care. Housing is needed, but you're putting it wrong, and the housing you're putting over in southwest Fresno are out of the reach of most of the people over there. When you're talking about raising your tax base, that means that the people that still own homes, if they do at the end of all this, are going to be paying higher taxes that they probably can't afford. So That's my opinion.

Any further public comment on the 9.15 a.m. RDA item on the surplus lands? Seeing none, we're going to close public comments. City Clerk, do we have that visual available for reference? Oh, it's up. There we go. So these are the APNs for everybody to be able to see. Council Richardson, does that satisfy your curiosity or just a request?

Yeah, we can just explain to the public what we're looking at real quick, please.

Good morning. This item pertains to disposition of land generally between Freeway 41, Ventura, M and P street that is subject to both city council and the county oversight board approval, oversight board approval, excuse me. The surplus land act requires that before an agency can dispose of land, it must be declared either surplus or surplus exempt. So of the nine parcels before you today, six are each under one half acre. they meet the requirements for exemption. And there are resolutions one through three on the agenda to declare them exempt. If they're approved for exemption, they would then become subject to the request for proposal through the city's municipal code. Any proponents for uses on the exempt land would need to submit a proposal through an RFP unless that's waived by the council. The Surplus Land Act also exempts properties that are transferred to another local, state, or federal agency. A portion of one of these parcels has served as the entry point and public access for the Fifth District Court of Appeal and is being transferred to the state of California, meeting the requirement for a declaration of exemption. A transfer agreement will be prepared, and that will come back to council for its consideration, and then it will ultimately go to the county oversight board.

Thanks, Marlene. Council Member Perret, you're punched up.

Executive Director, are these the last remaining parcels under the successor agency?

Yes, except for a couple that are 9 feet wide and 100 feet. So, yes, yes.

What happens to the successor agency after we dispose of all of the properties?

We would be filing for last and final when the other obligations are fulfilled, non-real property obligations.

Understood. Thank you.

All right. What's the estimated timeline, Marlene?

Excuse me?

What's the estimated timeline, you think, on final dissolution?

I think it'll be a year out at least.

From now? Okay. All right. A year out. So that puts us in 2027?

Yeah, at least.

So 16, 17 year dissolution. All right. Some kids will be driving that were born back then. Yeah. All right. I don't see anyone else punched up. We took public comments. I'll entertain a motion on this item, on the 915. All right, a motion, we have a second. Any opposition from the council? Seeing none, it passes seven, zero. Mayor, I'll entertain a motion on the second vote. So moved. I'll second that. I'll second by council member Arias. Any opposition? It's approving. All right, that's both votes. They both pass for the 9.15 a.m. RDA item. Thank you. All right, we got a couple more timed items here. We're gonna move on to the 920 text amendment application. Let's see here on the housing elements and let's see here on this specific application. We'll do a, yeah, oh, there you are. Yeah, come on down. Presentation, please.

Good morning, Council President, as far as the members of the City Council. Adrienne Osidore and Gilbert with the Planning and Development Department. We do have, it's about an eight slide presentation this morning, or I'd be happy to share a summary as well. Please share a summary. Okay, great. So the purpose of this text amendment, it is text amendment application P26-01326. It is being prepared in order to bring the development code into compliance with the housing element and state law. That is California government code section 65583.2c. So I would like to note that the provisions of this text amendment are currently permitted through state law today. So we are preparing this text amendment to bring our development code into compliance with both state law and the recently adopted 2023 to 2031 sixth cycle housing element so just to get into the specifics of the text amendment it does propose to amend sections 15-1002 1102 1502 5102 and 6802 of our municipal code The text amendment will apply to qualifying projects in the RM2, RM3, CMX, RMX, CR, DTN, DTG, and DTC zone districts, but it does not propose any changes to zoning. So this text amendment, really what it allows, as it's permitted through state law, and our housing element specifically, it establishes that on vacant sites, so just to go back a little bit further, so program nine specifically of our text amendment, it's one of the 37 programs in our housing element, it commits the city to amending the development code to permit ministerial approval of developments that provide at least 20% affordable units to lower income households.

Assistant Director, sorry to interrupt you, but... I know you mentioned a lot of numbers, you lost me after the two. For the purpose of the young people upstairs, can you just, in basic English, what are you seeking to do with approval of this today?

Yes, so we are seeking to provide ministerial approval on qualifying housing sites. These are either non-vacant sites that have been identified in a prior housing element, or a vacant site identified in two or more consecutive housing elements that provide at least 20% of the units to lower-income households. And so that is what we are seeking as part of this tax amendment. It would allow ministerial approval on those sites.

All right. Thank you. We're going to go... Actually, I've got Council Member Carbasi punched up.

Adrian, or Assistant Director, what is the...

Just to clarify, I am not the assistant director. I followed him. Supervising planner, but I appreciate that.

Director Clark, we need to have a vacancy and make this happen. I appreciate that, but supervising planner, yes. Okay, sorry. Okay, Adrienne, I'll just say it that way. Is there a map of these potential sites? Do we have that? I apologize.

So we do not have a map prepared. I will clarify it does currently apply to about 262 sites citywide. That number will change as we move into future cycles of our housing element because it will add or may remove sites. But it does currently include about 262 sites.

My only dilemma is just considering... We each know our districts well. I'd like to know what sites in my district, if any, would be affected by that.

We do know which sites by council district, so I'd be happy to provide that.

Okay. I think for me to approve it, I'd need to see that map beforehand, but I don't know if you need our votes on this or not. It would just be easier, that's all. I should have asked you beforehand. I apologize I didn't do that.

How fast can you procure that? What's that, Captain? How fast can staff procure that for us? Can we do it today?

Is that possible?

Can we do that in like 10 minutes? Five? Somebody upstairs watching? Proactive staff member is printing it out right now.

So we could bring this back at the next council meeting.

Just to be clear, are we required by law to do this? So it doesn't matter really?

So in simple terms, in my normal third grade English, so state law says we have to do this. We don't have to change the development code, but we promised in our housing element we would. So that's why we're here. So if it was in a prior housing element, it's a developed site, one time we, or excuse me, an undeveloped, Developed one time, we have to process ministerial. Undeveloped site two times, we have to process ministerially. It's just sites that have been in our housing element over multiple cycles and have not developed. It's a carrot, right? An incentive to try to get someone to develop those sites for affordable housing. And it's only if they commit to do affordable housing on the site. It's not any housing development.

What do you want to do, Council Member?

But if you would like a map, we'll work on a map and we'll get it as a supplement for next week's agenda.

Okay, I'm just one. I would like to wait and look at the map. There's no time sensitivity to this. We're just cleaning up to match the state. I know. I'd like to see a map, but you can go without me. You can proceed to the table. Okay, I'll make a motion to table this item into the next council meeting.

Motion. We have a second. Any opposition? We'll see this at next Thursday's meeting. Thank you. One opposed? Oh, two. All right, two opposed. Three opposed. Three opposed. Apparently not. So the motion passes four to three.

We'll come back.

It's a good, yeah. It'll be back next Thursday. It'll be all right. It'll be quick. All right, moving on to the 9.25 a.m. hearing to consider the adoption of our city's ATP, the Active Transportation Plan. We'll do a brief presentation on this. We had a workshop on this recently, didn't we?

9.25 a.m. item. Oh, I forgot to ask. When planning comes back, can they make Adrian a deputy director? Just to make sure.

Okay.

Assistant director, excuse me.

All right, thank you.

Oh, so yeah, we're moving on to the 9.25 a.m. item on the city's ATP plan.

Hello.

We've had a workshop on this, but yeah, we welcome a brief remarks on this as well.

Yeah, Andrea Nagler with Public Works Transportation Planning. Before you today is the formal adoption of our ATP, our active transportation plan. This is an update from the 2017 adopted ATP. Along with it, you're also considering the adoption of the CEQA exemption related to it and acceptance of the toolkit, which we call the Active Transportation Toolkit, which we use to prioritize some of the projects that come before us that are related to active transportation.

Great. Thank you. I don't have anyone punched up here. Well, I'm going to go out to public comments. If there is any public comment with respect to our 925 AM item, this is the hearing to consider the adoption of our city's ATP active transportation plan that we had a workshop on recently. Come on down.

Once again, we are objecting to it. This is a citywide. And so by being citywide, that means District 3 also. We're against it. We had nothing to say about it. So you guys going to pass it? We need to do what we need to do at the state and federal level. We're tired of it. So we're just putting you on notice, and you can put your attorney on notice. We're going to make sure that the state and the federal government realize this is what the city of Fresno has been doing. We hasn't been in any meeting, period.

All right, thank you. Any further public comment on the city's active transportation plan? All right, seeing none, I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing on the 9.25 a.m. item. Motion, I'll second that. We have a motion and a second on the city's ATP plan. Is there any opposition to ATP? All right, seeing none, that passes seven to zero. Big deal, a very big deal. It feels kind of anti-climatic because we heard the workshop already, but great, great news. So that's the balance, and it's all the timed items, I think, except for these public common items. We do have a 10 a.m. appearance by District 2 residents. Is Amelia Gonzalez with us? Amelia Gonzalez? The 10 a.m. item by Amelia Gonzalez, are you present? All right. We're going to move on to item 4A briefly, which is another resident comment. And I believe this will allow for four minute public comments. So 4A. Council Member Rick, do you want to call them out by name? Neil O'Brien, are you with us? Welcome. You'll have four minutes this morning. Welcome. You may begin.

Good morning, Mayor, City Council, and staff. My name is Neil O'Brien. I'm a homeowner at Manchinette Court. I'm here today with an appeal for contract enforcement and accountability on Republic Services' repeated failure to provide basic waste collection at our complex. For nearly a year, Manchinette Court has endured chronic failures in trash collection and recycling by Republic Services. This has continued despite placement on a monitoring program that has failed to correct the problem. In May 2026 alone, only two out of nine scheduled days were successful. That means seven out of nine scheduled service days were absolute failures. On some days, drivers never showed up. On others, they inspected dumpsters and left without emptying them. This is not a lapse in service. This is a systemic failure. Most troubling, residents have no alternative provider for waste collection or recycling collection. We are captive customers receiving inadequate service without an alternative. And I have some videos documenting these failures. How come the videos ain't playing? These videos are especially troubling. On May 1 and May 5, the Republic drivers ignored these dumpsters. They did not slow down. They did not stop. They did not inspect them. They made no effort to provide the service. They merely just drove by the dumpsters, passing them completely. This was not a mistake. It was a refusal to collect. On multiple occasions, Republic drivers stopped, peeked into the dumpsters, and drove away without emptying them. The clearest example occurred on May 8th when a driver got out, inspected the dumpster, then began to leave, but when he noticed our camera, he returned to the dumpster to pick out a single piece of cardboard and left without collecting the dumpster. All of these videos, they never collected. Republic Services ignored multiple emails. Even after meeting with supervisors, there is little reason to believe the conditions will improve. The company claimed they had assigned new driver to the route. It had not. The driver was the same individual I had recorded failing to provide the service the day before. The company also stated there were new route supervisors assigned. They had not. They were the same. Republic representatives emphasize that their trucks have GPS and cameras and equipped with artificial intelligence. Yet they asked me to provide my security footage and have never produced their own recordings or GPS data to me upon request. At the meeting, supervisors explained that artificial intelligence system is used primarily for billing and fee assessment. Yet it does not appear to improve service quality or miss pickups at all. More than a year after these problems began, Republic Services continues to offer the same repeated solution that has continually failed, which is photo monitoring. This is more than an inconvenience. Residents are being billed for services we are not receiving. The missed pickups have led to overflowing bins, foul odors, sanitation concerns, and increased pest activity. They have also attracted trespassers as night searching for recyclables and other items to take. The burden of documenting these failures have fallen squarely on residents like me, who have spent dozens of hours reviewing security footage, making calls, sending emails, and attending meetings to establish what we already know. The contractor, Republic Services, is not providing the service for which residents are being charged. When I contacted the city, the city manager said to me or herself in an email, we have been down this road with the Republic several times. For more than a year, residents have submitted complaints and received temporary assurances and watched the same problems we incurred.

Thank you. It's four? Yeah. Thank you. All right. So that completes our timed items as well as the scheduled speakers. Council Member Carvasi, you're punched up.

Forgive me. I know we normally don't comment afterwards, but I just want to thank the gentleman for being here. As a council member who represents an area that's covered by Republic, Unfortunately, over the years I've been here, we've had continuous complaints from residents. And what happens is we work with someone at Republic, the situation gets better, and then until it doesn't again. And about three or four times this has happened over my tenure. In one case, we had a situation where they seemed to be ripping off some of our seniors for very minor overages. And again, these little things, the agreement was made before any of us were on the council. But I hope we'll have an opportunity to fix it. Because even though they're not in my district, there's another operator for south of Ashland. And I've never heard anything from my colleagues about them that's negative. So we've got to do something to fix this issue. Otherwise, I mean, this gentleman's here today. But how many people don't have the gumption to come here and give us this information, but they're tired of this treatment? So let's get something done. Thank you. Yes, sir.

If I may, or Council Member Carbasi. Next. Isn't this clearly under the authority of the city manager to declare them out of compliance and violation of their agreement and proceed with next steps? I mean, for how many years are we gonna continue having that operator under city contract?

Yeah, we've put them on notice. Well, since I've been city manager, it's only been once. And just like with any contract, they have an opportunity to cure their defaults. And as the council member stated, they understand that we're very serious on compliance issues with the contract. And then they bring in new staff, higher level staff. They bring people in from corporate. and they get their act together, and then the staff, the really good staff that's here, somehow they have a changeover again, and the staff leaves, so we do, we follow up. You know, it's important that we also receive complaints because We do audit and monitor the complaint log that the Republic is to provide to us, but it's always helpful. And I know both D2 and D6 over the years have brought things to our attention so that when they get to our level. And so I understand the frustration of the residents of, you know, attempting to resolve the issue at Republic's level. And unfortunately, the manager, I'm going to cut you off.

This isn't agendized to talk about Republic right now. Okay, good point. We're getting close to violating the Brown Act. Good point, thank you. Let's stay on topic.

So I'll just leave it as we're aware and we're trying to do.

My only point was to clearly indicate to the public that's under your authority and you can determine violation of contract and bring it forward.

All right, anybody have anything else that is Brown Act compliant? All right, that wraps that up. All right, so that's four A's done. We're gonna move on to taking public comments on items that are on the consent agenda or contested consent agenda or the closed session agenda. So I do have a large stack of cards. I'll take them in the order that I got them. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK. AGAIN, THIS IS PUBLIC COMMENT SPECIFICALLY FOR THE CONSENT AGENDA OR AN ITEM THAT WAS PULLED FROM THE CONSENT OR CLOSED SESSION. ANY OF THOSE ITEMS YOU'D LIKE TO COMMENT ON. SO WE'LL BE HERE FOR A LITTLE BIT WITH RESPECT TO THIS LARGE STACK OF CARDS. FIRST CARD I HAVE IS FOR NICHOLAS LEE.

Thank you. City council members, thank you for seeing us and being here. I do feel a great amount of sympathy for you guys. I know you do a lot, and you have to make decisions that hurt things. Item 020 is very close to my heart. My partner, they recently got an art grant last year for a mini school bus that we did attain. We got the grant for it. spread art all around Fresno and do an amazing thing, and these are individual artists that do these kind of things. Right now they're talking about increasing the budget for larger art foundations up to $350,000, which is awesome and sounds really great, but what it does is it takes the art budget that we have, the amount of money that we have, and it's going to give it all those big organizations first, and most of those are not going to trickle down or go to either smaller organizations or individual artists. So if we do this, we are going to hurt individual artists in Fresno, real people that do art, that make our everything work here and do the beautiful things that we love. So please, please look into your hearts and go, if you want to help Fresno help individual artists and not just large organizations, please do not approve that budget and leave it as is so that there's a chance for people to actually get their budgets for arts on the individual level. Thank you.

All right. Next speaker is going to be Patrick Farney.

Hello, I'm Patrick Farney and I am a homeowner at 1542 East alluvial Avenue. And this is regarding Republic services, lack of service, really. And actually, I'm hearing from you guys that you have other people in your district that have the same issues that we have. And despite this abysmal record of service, Republic Services has continued to charge our community in full as though every scheduled pickup took place without issue. We're paying for a service that we are not receiving. I want this council to understand our community is not an isolated case. Our property management company has said that another property they manage has the same exact issues. They reported nearly identical problems, missed pickups, and full billing. The same pattern, the same company. How many other Fresno homeowners, renters, and businesses are paying in full for a service that they are not receiving? With respect and urgency, we're asking the council to take the following steps. Number one, launch a formal city-level inquiry into Republic Services billing practices across all of Fresno's service areas. Number two, Review the terms of their contract and examine whether the repeated non-performance constitutes a breach and whether the city has leverage to demand refunds, penalties, or even cancellation. Number three, open a public process for other Fresno residents and businesses to report similar billing problems with Republic Services so that we can see the full scope of this issue and that it can be understood. We are prepared to share All of our documentation, camera footage, billing statements, and correspondence with any city council member, city official, or journalist who wishes to review it. We urge you to act. The residents of Fresno are counting on this council to hold its contracted vendors accountable. Thanks for your time.

All right. Next speaker I have is going to be Burnett. again, we're doing a public comment on consent agenda or contested consent or the closed session agenda. Welcome.

My name is Brunette and I'm with the heat for Southwest Fresno community. And once again, we want to make it clear Any funding, federal or state, for District 3, anything that you're building for District 3, we are against it. We were not included. We could care less what the mayor, what anybody else want that's on this board. We were not. Those are federal guidelines. You must do that. And this board has not done that. So we are against it. Anything, District 3, even this building is in District 3. So any funding, period.

All right, thank you. Next speaker I have is going to be Chris Foxen.

Thank you, council members. I'm Chris Fox. I'm the general manager of Granite Park. I wanted to speak here today to discuss the future of Granite Park and what we believe is a very uncertain future at this point. I want to take you guys back to the original goals of Granite Park when Central Valley Community Sports Foundation made that agreement with you way back in 2015. We wanted to eliminate blight, we wanted to get a failing asset off the books for the city, and we wanted to create a thriving complex where Fresno residents, Central Valley residents can come play. Anybody can clearly see that's exactly what has happened. We run leagues Monday through Friday, every single day of the week. We run tournaments every single weekend, and we're booked every single weekend this year. Our attendance rivals only that of Chukchansi Park, a professional organization. We can clearly see that the goals of Granite Park and the goals that you guys set out for when we took operational control has been met. Still hasn't been easy operating Granite Park. Just this month, our owner and president, Terrance Frazier, contributed close to a quarter million dollars to make sure this property was open, maintained, and safe for all the people that come to it. Ask yourselves if this next operator that you guys do will have this level of commitment to this park like Mr. Terrance Frazier. But despite all that, we hear a lot of accusations, including that we pocketed billboard revenue. The intent of the billboard revenue was to go right back into Granite Park. It was supposed to be for operations. It was supposed to be for debt service. It was supposed to be for maintenance and things like that. Anybody can clearly see from our 990s, which is readily publicly available, and I'm sure you guys have all seen that that's exactly what we've done. The thoughts of the comments of us essentially being pocketed, are widely outlandish. In regards to our insurance, our insurance was good for the first eight years, but suddenly wasn't good in 2025. The city applied a new standard on us indicating that our excess policy had to have a standalone endorsement for primary and non-contributory basis. We've always followed form. And for layman's terms, that means that our excess policy adopts the terms, conditions, coverages of our GL policy. And that was never in question. But the city wanted an own endorsement, which we worked on and eventually got through across the finish line. Three minutes is definitely not enough. I'd like to close with saying we need to hear from you council members on where you guys stand on this eviction. You should not be silent. Silence is not leadership.

Thank you. Next speaker is going to be Armin Kurmanian.

Good morning, everyone. I'm actually not sure if this is when I'm meant to be making this comment, but.

This is for the consent agenda, contested consent. It's like a general comment, so. Yes, okay, so I'm, yeah, well, the CART has actually pointed out the animal center.

Yeah.

Do we have any actions on our agenda today? Yeah, we're going to get to this by the afternoon.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, thank you. Okay, so a lot of items on the agenda today, yeah. Put that one over here. Next speaker is going to be Wally Robinson. Wally, do you have any comments on the consent agenda or the contested consent or the closed session agenda? Is Wally here with us? All right. Not here. Next speaker is going to be Diane Smith. Diane Smith, are you with us? All right, next speaker is going to be Ariana Chavez. Ariana? I thought I saw her earlier. Ariana? Oh, there you are.

I believe there are multiple comments from Arte Americas. I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank the Council for their work on this issue and for their discussion of Measure PE AAC and invite you all to enjoy our closing reception of Humanizar Historias, an exhibition focused on the work of local artists and community members. And looking forward to continuing our work with members of our community and building collaborations as we move forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker is going to be Erin Bird. Erin? Okay, I'll put that on schedule. Thank you. Good afternoon. Next speaker is going to be Heriberto Campos. Heriberto, are you with us?

Hello, my name is Eriberto. I'm the visitor service assistant at Arte Americas. And I just want to thank you, council, for your donation or extending the Measure P grant to us because, again, a lot of people come to Arte Americas because they see it as a house. Luce a casa. And this is really important because as a child of immigrants, I never thought art was meant for us. So being able to be in this position, greet volunteers, greet visitors, and hear their stories, I am so grateful for that opportunity and the opportunity you guys gave us. So I hope to see you guys sometime. The 26th is our closing reception, and I'll be there. Thank you.

All right, next speaker's gonna be Dr. Karolina Simonovic. Sorry, can you pronounce that? Passing? General comment later or just passing? All right, thank you. All right, next I have Esmeralda Soria.

Good morning, Council. I am here today as a taxpayer, resident of the City of Fresno, and on my own personal time. I want to begin by saying how proud I am of my husband, Terrance Frazier, and the entire Central Valley Community Sports Foundation family. For more than a decade, they stepped up when others would not. They took on Granite Park, A park that had been sitting idle, locked up, overgrown, and underutilized, and transformed it into a destination for Fresno families. And a place of opportunity. This is not just about one person. It is about the thousands of children, families, athletes, coaches, local businesses, neighbors, and community members who have benefited from CVCSF's investment in Granite Park. More than 1.5 million visitors have come through those gates over the last 10 years. More than 40 full-time and part-time employees have had jobs and opportunities there, many who might not have been given a chance anywhere else. Let's also remember the financial reality. Before this partnership, the city was spending approximately $180,000 a year simply to maintain a closed facility. The nonprofit reopened and operated at Park while receiving just a mere $150,000 annually from the city, far less than what it costs to operate a facility of this size. You all know that. So I ask yourselves, what is the end goal here? Why the obsession by some with Granite Park? After years of litigation, enormous public expense, and countless hours spending fighting a nonprofit, what has Fresno gained? Even after the eviction, the legal disputes continue. There's an appeal pending. Initial lawsuits remain unresolved. The fight is not over. Meanwhile, our city faces a housing crisis, increased homelessness, aging infrastructure, public safety concerns, economic challenges that deserve greater focus and attention. Instead of supporting a curfew criminalizing young adults, why not invest those millions of dollars that we're spending to provide positive opportunities? opportunities for our youth, maybe jobs, maybe late night evening programming for safe alternatives. I really don't understand the obsession with Granite Park. Fresno has bigger problems. Fresno has lost $600,000 to an international phishing scam, $1.8 million through failures in oversight of Measure P. That is $2.4 million in taxpayer money, and those are just two examples. What's more, when it comes to Granite Park, City Hall has chosen to spend years in litigation against a nonprofit that has been actually providing services for Fresno families, while the city has not. Imagine what could have been done with those taxpayer dollars instead. I ask all of you guys, leadership is not about defeating people. Leadership is not about prolonging conflict.

Thank you, Esmeralda. Thank you. Next speaker is going to be Robin Green. Robin, are you with us? Robin Green.

I'm Robin Green.

I'm a member of New St. Paul Community Baptist Church, and I'm half of my pastor. My name is Reverend Pammy Henry Sr. I'm a pastor of New St. Paul Community Baptist Church, located in Oakland, California. I have known Mr. Terrence Frazier for over 15 years, and during that time, he has shown a desire to help anyone in need or for support. Mr. Frazier is a donor, giver, and a fighter for the community and does so with kindness, grit, and tenacity. I can assist to this statement because he insisted the church and me financially in a effort to improve the church on keep. Through this generosity, he assigned roofers and painters and worked hard with me and other contributors to make a difference in overall improvement of the church. It's my understanding that Mr. Frazier has been managing the overall operation of the Granite Park for over 10 years. The coordination and work he performs in this capacity is why the park continues to bring people together for various types of recreations. This is what working hard is all about, giving, helping, and bringing people together in the community of Fresno, California. Please keep this in mind. Going forward regarding the park and the way it's needed to keep it open, you have a hardworking man who gets 100% and more to make the park a place for people to come and enjoy various recreations, sports, outings, and feel unsafe as a community. Thank you for taking this time to read my letter, and I hope it helps you to see the character and the type of person Mr. Frazier is. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you.

You still have a minute. You still have a minute. Robin, you still had a minute. The first ping is a one-minute warning. Renard, can you give the one minute?

Randy Park, Mr. Frazier.

No, no, you had a minute left.

Okay, thank you for asking the time to read my letter, and I hope it helps you to see the character and the type of person that Frazier is. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me for any additional information regarding this letter. Pastor Fleming Henry Sr., my pastor's motto, if I can help somebody as I travel along the way, my living will not be in vain. Thank you.

All right, next speaker is going to be Rod Wade. And again, for our first time public commenters, and we have a lot today, the first bell, which means you have a one-minute warning, and the double ping thereafter means your time is up. The clock is also above us. You can kind of see time yourself.

Excuse me. Got asthma. Growing up in southwest Fresno. Uh, just came in to speak on behalf of Granite Park and Terrence Fraser. Uh, I can't really say what I wanted to say, but they've been a big help to what we do in Southwest Fresno, especially with the work I do with the, uh, average use that we work with. We've taken them to the park, had games, had neighborhood games, potluck dinners for free. I'm also part of another organization, Fresno United. You're aware of that. We do food giveaways. The last six years here in Southwest Fresno, Ebenezer Church of God, Terrence and Esmeralda was our first sponsor to give us our first $1,000 to keep food in Southwest Fresno. During the pandemic, we've been up and running. Turkeys, everything's given. A lot of the time, out of our own pocket, community members' pockets. These last couple of years, Terrence has been pitching in. helping us get turkeys, over 150 turkeys for needed families in southwest Fresno. Christmas, once again, out of our own pockets, buying toys and gifts for the at-risk youth that live in our communities. These last couple of years, TAN's been providing funding as well as that. Just came down and helped us get some money from the Central Valley Food Bank to keep the food bank up and running, keeping us able to supply food to families in the community. The park is a big asset. You know, we take people over there to Southwest Fresno, we don't have that. We got to take kids somewhere else to see something else. And it's the same because the life expectancy over here is 20 years lower than what it is in other parts of town. They go see them big fancy parks and the big buildings and stuff. Now they want to be baseball players. They want to be athletes. They want to do something different instead of running in the streets doing crime. Without different outlets, you're going to have a bunch of people that don't have nothing else to do but take care of their families the only way they can. I've had employees and kids work at Granite Park, but they wouldn't otherwise have the opportunities to get jobs. Just because I knew him and he knew me, and it wasn't a background check, it wasn't here, come on, I'm going to put them on doing this. They can come work part-time doing this. They can come get a check to take care of their families doing that. It's little stuff like that. It's not even the big stuff. It's little stuff like that they give regular people through the next day, with these people living week to week, check to check, month to month. Without those opportunities, what you expect inner city kids to do. You know, without other people helping, helping us, like him and Elsmeralda have been doing over the past years, maybe I'm not sitting up here helping them, because now I got to do something else because I can't afford to pay my bills. That's all I want to say, man. Don't take it from the good. Take it from something else.

Thank you, Rod. Next speaker is going to be Chef Supi. Chef? So chef and after chef will have a lease, you are.

Good morning, good morning, good morning. You probably, you know, probably recognize me as the chef at club one casino, right? I'm a former chef at club one casino. Now, you know, I went to Granite Park and trying to open my own business a little bit and trying to sell Teriyaki tacos, vegetable tacos for you, okay? But just being a part of Granite Park really opened my eyes a little bit for the community, right? Because I used to work with Teriyaki Mom for 20 years, five years at Club One. It was just corporate things going on. When I went to Granite Park, it was just about the community. It's about the kid. It's about what touched my heart is I'm a coach. I was a head coach at Clovis West, and I was a head coach at Central. I was a head coach there, and I'm all about the kids. And seeing the kids day in and day out, every weekend, playing baseball and just bringing light to them is a joy. honestly, I just came here just to, it's not about me. I just came here just to make sure that the park is still up and running, right? And with Terrence, he's doing an amazing job. Like, you know, whatever you guys got behind the scene and everything else, that's between you guys. I just want the direction of the Granite Park and have him being the leadership of it, you know, go far, far, far, and far, and just making sure that The kids benefit from it. I still remember till today that my son caught the winning touchdown in a championship game when he was seven years old at Granite Park. And that still hit me till today. And it still lingers with me. And when I bring him to that park on the weekends and just have him, he's like, Dad, you remember I caught the winning touchdown? I said, you did, son. You did. You did. Like I said, it's not about... You know, just put everything to the side and just have this man run Granite Park. That's it. Like, that's it. That's the bottom line. Like, he's done an amazing, amazing job. Like, you know, I'm not with Kyle Kirkland. I'm not with Terrence. I'm not, you know, I'm not. I play both sides of the field already, right? So what I'm here for is about the community and about the kids. And I want you guys to see that. Okay? Thank you for your time. You guys have a blessed day.

Alicia R. And Alicia will be followed by Lisa Torresitos.

Hi, I'm Alicia with the Labyrinth Art Collective in regards to consent item 2.0. I'm also a citizen of Fresno, born and raised. I have some comments about the EAC process, or what we'd call air quotes process, and being in the city in general. A few of us today have put out a statement on behalf of the grassroots organizations who have fought hard for equity. No to trickle down grant making. Measure P funding should strengthen Fresno's entire arts ecosystem, not concentrate public dollars among a few large institutions. A proposal is being discussed that could allow a handful of organizations to receive up to $350,000 in Measure P funding. We're being told that giving more money to large institutions will somehow benefit everyone else. Artist-led community projects need funding. Grassroots organizations need funding. Neighborhood programs need funding. Culture bearers need funding. When a few organizations get more, everyone else gets less. Measure P belongs to Fresno's cultural ecosystem, not just its largest institutions. Public dollars should create opportunity, not concentrate power. Fund the ecosystem, not the hierarchy. Let's talk about that $350,000 for a second. PRAC, the commission, spent months gathering data and countless dozens of comments in regards to equity in the process. And the ninth hour, so the PRAC recommendation was 150 cap, $150,000 cap on all grants, including organizations that make over a million dollars. So the 350, that would only be available to those larger revenue institutions. I don't begrudge them existing. I've patronized them. However, I am sick of their behavior because this is entitlement. I also want to point out that this last-minute committee with Miguel Arias, who also has a personal relationship with Lilia Chavez, who also was on the board of the Arts Council, no longer because of this embezzlement case. Let's talk about how Ariana likes to talk about being the only Latine, I'm sorry, I'm Chicana, organization, and at the same time is actively pushing for this inequity, which rules out people in her own community. Disgusted. disgusted with the handful, I'm talking maybe five to 10 organizations that would be allowed to get this $350,000, which is about half of the pot. What are we talking about here? You guys have been sued up the ass for Brown Act violations, for racial discrimination, and we see how you regarded folks in the community earlier. Come on, get it together, y'all. This is disgusting. And the people are getting tired. We can spit rhetoric up here all day long, and people are wanting to throw up in their mouth because this is a bunch of bullshit. You guys keep on doing whatever you want, and you show up to these community meetings, show in your face. Lion. We've had it. Do the right thing.

All right, next speaker is going to be Lisa Torresitas, followed by Glenda Stancil.

Hi.

I'm standing here for the soul of Granite Park. My name is Lisa Torresitas, and God bless you all. good morning to all council members i'd like to say in defense of terence frazier close your eyes for a minute imagine this with me look around Look at the field, look at the kids running the bases, hearing the crack of the bat, and laughing in a safe, clean space. Is it easy to look at Granite Park today and take it for granted? But we must never forget what this place was before Terrence Frazier stepped up. It was an eyesore. It was a forgotten plot of dirt, weeds, and broken promises. The city had abandoned it. Nobody wanted to touch it. But Terrence saw something else. He didn't see a liability. He saw a lifeline for our community's children. Terrence shouldn't have to kiss this park goodbye. He shouldn't be pushed out of a house that he built with his own sweat, his own tears, and his own bank account. When public funds fell short, When the politics got ugly and when the legal battle seemed impossible, Terrence wrote personal checks to keep the lights on and the pitching mount safe. He did it because he remembers being a kid in Oakland, knowing firsthand that a baseball field can be the exact boundary line that keeps a child safe and off the streets. This park is not just a commercial lease and it is not a political bargaining chip. It's a safe haven. It's a place where over 2,500, I mean 2,000, I'm sorry, I'm bad at numbers. 250,000 families a year gather to build memories, play sports, and watch their kids thrive in a family-friendly environment. Terrence Frazier put his heart and soul into this complex because he wanted the next generation to have opportunities he had fought for. They can try to, well, paperwork and they can try to enforce evictions, but they cannot erase the truth. You don't push out the man who turned a desert into an oasis for our youth. Terrence has stood by our kids when nobody else would, and now it's our turn to stand by him. Fight for this park and protect the home he built for Fresno's future. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Next up, we have Glenda, followed by Jamar. Glenda, followed by Jamar. Good morning, Glenda. You will have three minutes.

First, honor to God. I'm a little hoarse because it's hot and fresh. No, I came from Oakland. And when I got off that train, I was burning up. But anyway, I'm here on behalf of the Granite Park and Terrence Frazier, my son. I'm going to tell you all, when he was in my womb and he came out, I said, you know what? This boy gonna be a baseball player, right? And guess who taught him? Me. Okay, he was five back in the days in the 60s. They just had a big old plastic bag. They don't make them now. Kids don't, they just want to be on the computer to go out and play some baseball. I taught him how to play baseball and look at him today. You know, this is good. Um, this is good. What he's doing for the, you know, the baseball, keep the keys off the streets and whatever. You know what? I had, um, I had, but help him out because he's a good guy for these kids. They could be doing something else, you know what I'm saying? But they want to play baseball. And I had a baseball team. The little kids on the block used to be bad. I said, tell you what, I'm gonna make a baseball team. We had a baseball team. We was winning every championship and the boys, they wanted to get on the girls team, you know, but thank you guys. But you know, please give them what they need at the credit park. Thank you. God bless.

Thank you. Next up is Jamar followed by Karina Salinas.

Good morning.

Good morning. My name is Jamar Rushton, and I come before you today not to speak about case law or the legalese of a contract, but to speak about the sacrifice and the value of community that Granite Park has created. Ten years ago, Granite Park was not sought after. It was not thought about. It was neglected, and it was a site of blight and homeless encampments, and the vision of one man and one organization turned that completely around. So as you consider... I want you to think about a foundational question, and that is the question of what. What are the thoughts and the actions that this city wants to take with regard to that park? What are the rationales that you all have in your minds in order to create a fiscal burden? Everyone on this panel knows firsthand that any municipality that takes a park or land or street is now taking on the responsibility to maintain said land, park, and street. So again, what is the rationale to want to voluntarily take on a fiscal burden? Another profound yet very simplistic question to ask is why? If the city possessed this land 10 years ago and relinquished it, why does it wish to reclaim it now? If the park was valuable enough to reclaim now, why wasn't it valuable enough to restore then? If the city can successfully operate that park today, Why couldn't it do so when it had it? Value is often ignored until someone else creates it. History teaches us that communities frequently invest their time, effort, and energy where others saw no value, only to find renewed interest once success has been achieved, creating a struggle to retain control over what they built. That reality should cause us all pause. This moment is larger than one organization. It is about whether we encourage citizens and nonprofits to step forward when government cannot. Whether the city rewards initiative and community investment, or if success becomes a reason for displacement rather than collaboration. In closing, the question is not whether or not the parks management is sufficient, because it is, as has been stated by the individuals that have come up to speak on behalf of the organization, but whether the programs and opportunities that have flourished here continue to flourish for years to come. Because Granite Park is more than just grass and mounds. It is a place where young people and families come together, where parents can cheer on their children, and where individuals build lifetime memories, as the individual spoke about regarding the touchdown that his son had caught. It is a safe haven. It is mentorship. It is a second home. And what is hoped for is that when this saga is finally put to a close and individuals remember this, it isn't because of the contentious nature, but that individuals put.

Thank you. Next up we have Karina Salinas followed by Tamera Ramos. Karina, going once, going twice. Good morning, I'll have three minutes.

Thank you. I'm here to speak on behalf of Granite Park and Terrance Frazier. I played in 2002 when Granite Park first opened. I was part of the park, being out there and playing, and it was a great park, but it didn't last. I watched those fields be destroyed. People dig holes, the fencing being stolen, and the park was just rotting. That's all it was doing. It was abandoned for about 10 years, and then I heard that someone was putting work into it, and that was Terrence Frazier. And Terrence revitalized and restored Granite Park to what it is today. And I helped run the league, some of the leagues there, and I love Granite Park. And I also love Terrence Frazier. Just on Friday alone, we have 300 slow-pitch players that come out and play and socialize, and some of them even say they do it to stay out of trouble in the community. I've seen Terrence provide classroom setups for those that needed extra homework time for his youth program. I've seen him feed all these children. I've seen him bus some of these children. And Terrence is out there with these kids talking and encouraging them as they play at his park. an incredible part for these kids to be in this community with Terrence and other MLB players that he invites to come out and talk to them. Terrence has created opportunities for many people in the community, myself included. 40 employees will be unemployed, myself included. The city of Fresno can't even take care of the parks they have now. What is the value of this park to the city? Is it money or is it really for the community? Please don't take our park. Taking Terrence Frazier from Granite Park would be a huge mistake. This is about the people in the community. Am I correct? Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is Tamara Ramos. Tamara will be followed by Genevieve Barraza. Good morning, Tamara.

Good morning.

Council members, my name is Tamara Ramos, and I have served as a board member of the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation for years. I might add volunteer every single year. I do not get paid. I stayed out of the public eye to protect my work and my family from the negative press surrounding this issue. But today, staying silent would mean failing all the other families in Fresno. And I won't do that. For years, our nonprofit has poured millions of dollars, hundreds of volunteer hours, and every ounce of heart and grit we have into transforming that park into a place where Fresno's kids can run, grow, and belong. We didn't do it for recognition. We did it because the kids needed it. And because no one else was doing it. We all know the truth. The city has too much on its plate, too much red tape, and too many competing priorities to do what we've done. Not because the city doesn't care, but because it simply isn't built to move with the speed, flexibility, and heart that a community-driven nonprofit can. If this becomes about greed, politics, or about a single man, the community loses. The city and CVCSF are not adversaries. We are two sides who care deeply about the same children and community. And like any healthy co-parenting relationship, the goal isn't control. The goal is what's best for the kids in our community. This morning, I'm imploring you to allow CVCSF to remain in operation while we appeal the judge's decision. Doing so isn't just a procedural choice. It's a statement that this council values the well-being of Fresno's children and community above politics or pressure. Council members, you have the chance to be the heroes in this story. The ones who choose stability over disruption, partnership over conflict, and children over anything else. Stand with the community and families. Stand with the kids who depend on this park every single day. I appreciate your time.

Next speaker is going to be Genevieve Barraza. And after that, we'll have Vivian Paz.

It's Genevieve Barraza. I'm here to speak on behalf of... Granite Park. I have proudly been an employee at Granite Park for more than three years. During that time, I have had the opportunity to serve in many different roles, including cashier server in the snack bar, ticket booth attendant, cook, lead staff member, event staff, and bartender. These experiences have not only allowed me to grow professionally, but they have also given me the privilege of serving our community in a meaningful way. Throughout my time at Granite Park, the most rewarding part of my job has always been about the people. I've had the pleasure of interacting with children, young adults, parents, grandparents, guardians, and seniors from our local community as well as from surrounding cities and counties. Granite Park brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and communities, creating an environment where everyone feels welcome. Granite Park is much more than a sports complex. It is a place where youth can develop teamwork, confidence, and friendship through sports such as baseball, softball, and soccer. It provides a safe and positive environment where families can come together, enjoy quality time, and create lasting memories. The park plays an important role in keeping children engaged in healthy activities and giving them opportunities to thrive. The events hosted at Granite Park are another example of its positive impact. These events organized by Terrence and his team bring joy to countless families and provide opportunities for the community to come together. Many children eagerly look forward to these events each year and they have became an important part of the community experience. Beyond entertainment, these events demonstrate a genuine commitment to giving back and supporting the families who make up our community. While I am an employee of Granite Park, I'm also a mother whose children are part of this community. My family and I look forward to attending the events and activities that Granite Park provides, just as I look forward to serving the families who visit. It has always been a welcoming and positive atmosphere filled with wonderful people, dedicated staff, supportive colleagues, and a strong leadership. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the nonprofit organization that has been running the park, which has such meaningful impact on so many lives. Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts and considering the value that Granite Park brings to our community.

Thank you. Next speaker is going to be Vivian Paz.

After Vivian? No? No, thank you.

She's not here. All right, so next speaker will then be Johannes Renzers. Johannes, welcome.

Thank you, Council. My name is Johannes Reinders. I have spent most of my professional career trying to stop the brain drain in Fresno. Every high school student, every professional, every small business owner, and every art and culture bearer moving to the Bay Area, moving to Los Angeles after they grew up here. I have three years of experience in public engagement, equity, and tribal affairs. six years of experience in the grant writing process and the grant solicitation process professionally. And I'm a former staffer of this city council. I say all that to say that I understand what the the small business owners and the culture bearers and artists have said, when I oppose consent item 2-0, you must not pass consent item 2-0 unless you lower the general operating grant maximum to 150K, like your parks department recommended and like your constituents demanded in the overwhelming public comment that's in writing. And again, you must not pass Consent Item 2-0 unless you remove the means testing for fiscal sponsors. Just like the Parks Department recommended, and just like the public comments on record in the Cycle 3 process overwhelmingly support. The public notices. First of all, the public notices that you're holding this council meeting without any Zoom or phone commenting process, deliberately, because every other single meeting that I've attended in these chambers, PRAC, Historical Society, all of these, they do have Zoom. They do have a two-way way to comment virtually, which is equitable and accessible. That is deliberate, and that is noted. the same way that the public notices when you have closed-door budget subcommittee meetings. That is noticed when you specifically cut out your opinion being viewed by the public, and you get sued. You lose our taxpayer dollars. The public notices that. And the public notices when you do that both for things you sued before, and you're going to be sued again for this. This is not just doing backroom deals with Arte Americas. It's not just doing backroom deals with Downtown Fresno Partnership. Now it's on record. there is hundreds of public comment that your parks department spent money and time, and I suppose you're wasting all that money and time in their feasibility study, their best practices study, by just going behind, speaking with Arcturian Manicus privately, and then making the decision that's best for them, making the best decision that's best for Downtown Personal Partnership. This will cause brain drain if all of that funds goes to just the 12 organizations that have the budget high enough to go for the 300,000. These actual small organizations that do the work, they will leave. We will have brain drain. They will go to the Bay Area. They will go to Los Angeles. You cannot pass to zero. Thank you for your time. You'll get sued.

Thank you, Johannes. Next speaker is going to be... Hester Hensley. Hester. What is Hester? Again, we're currently on public comment for consent agenda, contested consent, or anything on the closed session agenda.

Good morning, Council. My name is Hester Hensley, and I'm here in regards of our residence, Southwest Fresno. As you know that we have been overlooked and under Look for years in our town. I'll say our town cause we're not no, no one Fresno cause Southwest Fresno don't look like the other parts of Fresno if you notice. But what I'm trying to say is that you have a lot of things going on in Fresno, but you don't have anything that's beneficial to Southwest Fresno and it needs to change. When I look at Southwest Fresno, I think about back in 1970s, in the 70s, when you took Irwin Jr. High School out of Southwest Fresno. I know you probably don't remember because you're pretty young. But when you took South Irwin Jr. High School, our student... I'm getting to it.

What item are you here to speak on? I'm sorry.

Okay. I'm going to get to that.

I'm asking you a question. What item are you here to speak on today?

Okay. Anyway...

All right, we're done here. We didn't benefit from that. You can come back during general public comment unless you have an item to speak on that's on the consent agenda or contested consent. All right, history out of order. I'm going to ask you to sit down, please, unless you have an item to speak on with respect to consents or a closed session or contested consent agenda. No, you may not, unless you have a comment here with respect to, again, consent. Oh, okay. All right. That's fine. Turn the microphone back on. Thank you for identifying. Hester, will you please, all right, come back and speak into the microphone for the record, if you're speaking on the closed session agenda.

Well, you said I couldn't finish, so.

Well, I asked you to identify what you were talking about. You were not speaking in relevance to anything on the agenda.

I'm speaking about Southwest Fresno.

Well, that's not on the consent agenda or the contested consent agenda.

Well, downtown Fresno. Fresno, okay.

All right, Esther. All right. I'm going to ask you to excuse yourself unless you have a specific item you want to talk about.

That's fine. But you did get the message.

Thank you.

As long as you got the message.

Thank you.

My problem is for the last three decades.

Esther, you're out of order. All right. Our next speaker is going to be David Suarez. Esther, you're out of order. David, come on down. After David, we're going to have Madeline.

Good morning, Council President, Council Vice President. My name is David Suarez. I'm a resident of District 1. I'm the marketing associate for Granite Park, and I want to tell you what I've witnessed since I've been there since 2019. Excuse me. I should have drank some water before this. I have seen countless number of people go through that park. people that have grown up with this park, people who have found successes, failures. I have seen jobs created. I have seen people given second chances. I've seen two NFL first rounders play at that park in 2020. I have seen the bounce back that this park has had since the pandemic. When we needed facilities open to get people outside again, Granite Park was there. It was this foundation that led that way. It was the idea that we need to bring this park from resurrection from what it was before. And I saw it off the 168. It was filled with rocks and dirt where the soccer fields are. It was filled with weeds where the mounds were. And it has transformed into what I believe is a gem for the city. It brings teams from the coast from the South Valley, from the North Valley, from Los Angeles, from other states to come here, spend their money that goes into tax dollars to pay for the funding for a lot of the things here in the city. This foundation has done everything possible to bring this community together from live entertainment, sporting events, food drives, toy drives, so much. I don't see where the city is going with this park. I don't see the vision for it unless it's going to be sold to somebody else. I don't see them building the relationships that the foundation is doing with directors to help kids play on the field. I don't see that vision from the city right now. But what I do see is what we do have today. And so that brings me to my request that I'm asking this council to intervene and allow CVCSF to continue operating Granite Park until our appeal is heard. I appreciate everything that you guys do, and I know that this decision is gonna determine a lot, but I ask you to please listen to the appeal, or to wait until the appeal is completed, and let CVCSF continue its operations. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Next speaker is gonna be Madeline Fraser. Madeline? Madeline Frazier, are you with us? And after Madeline, we'll have Joseph Rodriguez.

Hi everyone, my name is Madeline Frazier and I'm here today because Granite Park is more than just a piece of property. It's a place that has changed lives and changed the city of Fresno for the better. While the park was in the city control, Granite Park was abandoned, neglected, and an ugly space that was a breeding zone for criminal activity for over 11 years. The city did nothing about it. In addition to that, it cost the city and taxpayers a minimum of $100,000 annually just for it to sit there with untapped potential because it was too much of a burden for the city to take on. At one point, the city even discussed demolishing the park because no one wanted to take it on. All this is also from the city manager at the time, Bruce Rudd, back in a 2013 ABC 30 interview. This is the city's own assessment of Granite Park before someone was willing to invest in it. Terrence Frazier saw the potential where others saw a liability. He invested years of his life and owned resources into transforming Granite Park into a place where children can play, families can gather, and our community can thrive. Today, Granite Park welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. It creates opportunity, community, and dreams. But what concerns me most is what happens if the park is taken away. This isn't just about one lease, it's about 36 hardworking employees who could lose their job with bills waiting at home. It's about the revenue Granite Park generates for the entire city of Fresno. The park hosts tournaments, games, community events that bring visitors from all across California. These visitors stay in our hotels, eat at our restaurants, shop at our businesses, and invest money into our local economy. Granite Park's success benefits all of Fresno. Beyond the economic impact Granite Park brings to our community, it also hosts free events for families, youth, and those in need. It has welcomed professional athletes, including Super Bowl champion Xavier Worthy, giving children the chance to meet someone they admire and believe their dreams are possible. It hosts 4th of July events, Toys for Tots drive, free food giveaways, and countless of other community events that unite the city. I ask you to think about the message that this sends. America was built on the back of marginalized communities who have continuously put in hard work and sacrificed everything just to have everything systemically taken from them, from those in power. Please do not continue to let history repeat itself. Do not continue the pattern of taking from the people who did the work when no one else would. The city had years to invest in Granite Park and they didn't. Keep Granite Park serving the community that it was meant to serve. I respectfully ask you to preserve this partnership and allow Granite Park to continue changing lives here in Fresno. Our family has put in the time, the city hasn't. Thank you.

Next speaker is going to be Joseph Rodriguez. Joseph? And after Joseph, we'll have Crystal Rocha.

Hi, council. It's me again. I'm glad to be here. I'm glad you guys are all here. You look like you're doing well. And I'm going to spend my minutes talking about Measure P. I wrote something down outside just right now. Here it is. The changes you guys want to make to Measure P, raising the cap, shame. Shame on this council for wanting to raise that cap. What you don't realize is that the people of Fresno don't want this. It's a very select few that actually want that cap raised. What that's going to do is that's going to take away from all these small nonprofits that want just a little slice of the pie. The bigger the slice of the pie for these big nonprofits that are making over a million dollars in a fiscal year, They want $350,000. How poorly run are those organizations that they can't stay open with a million plus dollars that they're making. They need 350,000 to keep the lights on. The people of Fresno put you in those seats. We voted for you guys. We voted for you guys so that you would listen to us and our concerns. And these are our concerns. Please take care of the community. And we're not just talking about the people making millions and billions of dollars that you guys want to bring into town. There's a bunch of people here not making a lot, and they need help. They need help to keep the lights on. They need help to find places to build. These nonprofits, they're small. And what giving the bigger cuts to the bigger nonprofits does is it takes away from the opportunity of any of those little nonprofits. $350,000 is a lot of money. If you guys think 150,000 is too little, raise it to 200,000. Where's the compromise? Where's the negotiation? It's a three-member committee that went against all of what these people wanted, all these meetings that we had. I showed up to a couple of those meetings, and I felt like I was heard. I felt like I was able to speak. The PRAC, the people who are on the PRAC, they're wanting to do the best for what they feel is the best. How come that was all changed? We didn't pass Measure P to give handouts to well-connected organizations that know how to use their connections to get what they want. The amount of entitlement and greed surrounding Measure P isn't surprising because this is Fresno. Backdoor meetings and wheeling and dealings happen in closed door meetings. That's just how things operate. The mayor even admitted to this, meeting with council members two at a time behind closed doors to iron out the city budget, skirting the rules of law. Come on, not making it on public record. Now the same thing's happening with the fate of Measure P. We ask that these recommendations not go through. Please change it back. If not to 150, something lower than 350. It's only going to go to 10 organizations before the money runs out.

Thank you. Next speaker is Crystal Rocha. Crystal? Is Crystal with us?

I'm the president. I have to step out for a press conference on measure C.

Hello, my name is Crystal Rocha. I'm an artist and advocate here in Fresno. I went to some of the meetings for Measure P to speak my mind on what I thought just as a citizen, how these things could go. I spoke about guidelines and caps and nonprofits participation in it. Sorry, I was wrestling with my son out there. I'm here as an artist and as someone who sees this process of taking a lot of people's voices and thoughts and putting it into this machine where it reaches this state and the 150 cap is now changing to three. I'm against that. I don't think that should pass today. I think if it means going back to the drawing board and really considering what the people have spoken to, then I think we need to do that. I understand that these larger organizations would benefit from a 350K, but at the end of the day, what that does is leaves crumbs for these emerging arts and organizers to work with. I did apply for cycle two and our project didn't get selected. It was my first time writing a grant, so I have a lot to learn and I'm looking forward to all the rest of the years we have with Measure P. But we have to start it on the right foot. I think that's very important moving forward that there's opportunity across the board and it's not this like pyramid where the people at the bottom are fighting to exist. The people at the bottom are these artists and organizers who are doing these like nuanced projects and works that people at the top aren't even dreaming about. because it comes from the people who are building from the ground up that have the vision and have the will to put these things forward. And if the cap is set at 350 instead of the people's recommendation of 150, it takes away from that dream growing. And it's very important that we set a positive precedent moving forward now that the city has the chance of like like controlling measure p we need it to be done responsibly and with the people's voice at the center of it because if you disregard all the work that has gone into um this process then you disregard the people and i just want to caution the council to be careful with that because Because when you go against the people, we rise. And thank you.

All right, it is 12, but I think we've got a few more cards. So I'm comfortable taking this to about 12.30 if needed. Any more beyond that, we'll have to resume after lunch. But I'll try and get through this. Next speaker is going to be Tricia Baeza.

Good morning. I'm here for 2.0. My name is Tricia Baeza. I'm a resident of Fresno, and I'm also the founder of Pacifica Arts Project. We're a tiny little nonprofit dedicated to sharing Polynesian cultures through art. When Measure P was passed, I was encouraged by other leaders, artists, dancers, like myself, to move forward with 5013C, because we were not. And a year and a half, we did so. As a new nonprofit, we've accomplished more in our first 18 months than we even thought we could with our Cycle 2 funding. We've been able to provide affordable and free cultural workshops and opportunities that bring arts and culture to Fresno to people who otherwise wouldn't have access. Our organization would sincerely like to thank you for that opportunity. I'm here today to ask you to preserve the EAAC cycle three funding guidelines as recommended by the PRAC, which includes the cap at 150. The word expanded and expanded access to arts and culture is important. Measure P was designed to expand opportunities throughout Fresno, not concentrate resources among only a few organizations. Smaller and newer nonprofits, just like ours, already face challenges and compete for funding. We do not have full-time staff, not one. We are all volunteers. We do not have grant writers. We do not have development departments. We don't have dedicated fundraising teams. Yet we are often deeply connected to the communities that we serve and we bring unique educational and cultural programming. The $150,000 recommendation was developed through our community engagement and thoughtful discussion. I would appreciate a transparency about why such a significant increase is being considered here today. I respectfully urge you to uphold the PRAC recommendations to maintain the $150,000 cap so that Measure P funds can continue to reach the broadest range of organizations and community possible. Thank you.

Elizabeth Laval, you're next. And after Elizabeth, we'll have Michelle Precy.

Good afternoon council. First of all, I just want to offer true and sincere thank you to city staff, the city manager, council, prac, and all of the community members who engaged in this process toward the EAAC guidelines for cycle three. With the statute, it does have separate pots for general ops organizations that may have a bigger budget, but that equals bigger responsibility. On this other side, with the project grants, the amounts were increased as a base, which was a good positive thing that came along. And we were hopeful, which you did, take a look and say that, yes, you have a bigger share of the pot for general ops, but you have a bigger responsibility. I think that the city was handed a huge mess, and they've done their very best, although it hasn't been perfect on all sides, including ours, to remedy cycle three in a timely way. It's my hope that we will have everyone participating and giving this chance. This is the calmest and most fair distribution. Remember, the statue calls out in its words, not mine, stability for the larger organizations as well as being able to expand access to arts and culture. Our organization will go from sponsoring one organization in the first cycle to, we sponsored four in the second cycle.

I'm sorry Elizabeth, I have to pause you. Our CMAQ went down and we have to try and get them back up before we can continue. Hang tight. They're headed over to the room to see if we can get them back up and going. Meanwhile, if there's anybody in the chamber who has not yet filled out a yellow card and wants to speak on either consent agenda or the closed session agenda or contested consent, please fill out a yellow card. I think I've got pretty much everybody, but if there's any stragglers out there, feel free to fill one out the back and bring it up. We'll try and get you in here. But meanwhile, we're just waiting to continue the meeting until CMAC is back up. Elizabeth, if you want to take a seat, I mean, you can stand there if you want, but if you want to take a seat, I can call you back up as soon as we get some clarity on if we can get it back up quickly. All right, so Zoom is still going. And per legal counsel, we may continue. Zoom is still going. That will change after July 1st, once the law is updated. But today, we can carry on. If you're okay with continuing, you won't be on CMEK. That's okay. You won't be on TV. You're on Zoom.

Been there a lot of times.

All right. I'll...

How many minutes are you giving me back?

You still got a minute and a half here. That's great. Please continue.

I don't need more than that.

All right, thank you.

Okay. To re-get back into the conversation, we are here representing many, many organizations, large and small, clearly not all. But there are a lot of organizations in this community that are benefiting on the smaller side in expansion of arts and culture to many communities. As I was saying in cycle one, we received more money and we were only able to fiscally sponsor one. In cycle two, we received much less money, but we fiscally sponsored four. In this coming cycle, we plan to fiscally sponsor at least 10 projects. These are all in Southwest, High Needs, Southeast, and Central area. There is no way that anybody that works in a nonprofit fetal is entitled. To be called that is unfair. We're honored. Put it on the record before. We're not entitled to the funds. We are honored. And when we see the projects that we can share, and the reach we have to reach out to everyone, everyone sitting in this chamber and beyond. I just want to say thank you for the process, and I'm just hoping everyone will give the Cycle 3 guidelines a chance as they're written and ready for adoption today on the consent calendar.

Thank you, Elizabeth. Next was Michelle Pricey. And after Michelle, we're gonna have Tom Goodwin.

Hello, council members and city staff. Thank you for giving us this platform today. I'm Michelle Ellis-Pricey, and I'm the executive director and chief curator at the Fresno Art Museum. And yes, we are considered an established nonprofit organization. We have been part of Fresno's art scene for 77 years. 70 of those years have been adjacent to Radio Park. In central Fresno, we are surrounded by a de-gentrified neighborhood. We've had issues with Radio Park, which are now being wonderfully corrected. And we do not make money as a nonprofit. We have to find it. We find it with our members. We find it with our donors. We find it with grant opportunities. And we hope that every year we can meet the expenses that are required of us to maintain a 30,000 square foot fine art museum for the city of Fresno. I need to remind everybody that there's a $6 million plus pot for Cycle 3, and $150,000 for an organization like the Fresno Art Museum would maybe give me two months of... Budget relief, if I'm given half of that, we're never given the whole amount we ask for. The cap is the most we can ask for and support with our budget. We typically get a third or a half of that in cycle one and cycle two. We revise our budgets to accommodate the amount we were allotted. And we are grateful for this opportunity. It's a competitive grant. We are just not given $350,000. We have to compete for it. And we love to compete for it. We love that the arts in Fresno, because of Measure P, have become really evident to everybody. And it's just not the five or ten major arts institutions. But it is the individual artists. It is Art Hop. It are the projects. And Fresno needs this. People come to visit us all the time from outside the city. And they expect Fresno to have these opportunities. We're a big city. And to be a great city... We need all of the arts institutions. And I hope today you will agree that we are deserved of the 350,000 cap to support our major institutions. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next speaker is Tom Goodwin. Tom will be followed by Brian Marsovino.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Tom Goodwin. I'm here on behalf of Terrence Frazier and his staff at Granite Park. And I just want to make a real quick statement as far as something about me. I grew up here in West Fresno, down Kearney Boulevard, and the park I frequented was Fink White, Fink White and Frank H. And just for the fact that I remember that means that it's a special place for me. I would ask you guys right now to remember a park that you guys frequented when you were kids and how it made you feel. And that's basically what Terrence Frazier and his staff are doing now. What you guys just did for yourselves when you thought about that was make a memory. Terrence Frazier is making memories for young boys and young girls. Terrence Frazier and his staff are making a structure for young boys and young girls. Terrence Frazier and his staff are giving young boys and young girls a chance to dream and become something that they might not have had the chance to do had they not had this park. You know, you've heard all the things, how bad the park was and how much Terrence has rejuvenated it. And, you know, obviously that's true. But for me, you know, the baseball part is big for me. Baseball part is big for me. Terrence Frazier, I met Terrence Frazier back in 1987. He had a jerry curl, he had the bag over his head, and he was dripping. And I was like, who is this guy? Forty, almost forty-something years later, Terrence Frazier is my friend. And where do we meet? We met on a diamond. So let's give these kids the opportunity to meet their future friends, to have their dreams come true, to learn some structure, and at the end of the day, become the young boys and young girls that we want them to be as they grow. So thank you for listening. I appreciate it. Honestly, I know you guys have a tough, you know, you guys are in a tough position. You know, everybody's throwing things at you, throwing things at you, trying to hit you, trying to hit you. If you have any sort of athletic background, you know what that's like. It's easy to sit out here and say what we're saying because we're sitting in the cheap seats. You know, hey, why'd you swing at that pitch? Why'd you call that play? It's very easy. You guys have a tough decision, but you guys can also make the right decision. You guys are educated enough to make the right decision. You're taking all of the things that you've heard into consideration. But Terrence Frazier is the right man, and his staff is the right, people to run Granite Park. He's a baseball guy. He knows what it's about, and he will get the best out of these young men and women. So thank you.

All right. Brian Marsupian, and Brian will be followed by... All right, we're going to pause here for a moment. We lost quorum. All right, so Brian Marsubian, and he'll be followed by Sahaswati Samasi.

Good afternoon, Council. I appreciate your time. It's the first time I've been in here. It's beautiful. My dad was the deputy city manager at one point. He also, back in the day, started the Parks and Recreation Department here in Fresno. I was born and raised in Fresno. And the parks and recreation are a big deal to the community and the kids in the community. Like Tommy just said, I've known Terrence for almost 40 years. I've never spoke at a city council, nor did I want to ever speak at a city council. But I felt like the need to come this morning or this afternoon and speak on behalf of Terrence and what he's doing for the kids is... I met Terrence in 1988. We were on the same baseball field together. I do know his heart and his character. I know that he is the man in the arena, and a lot of people like to take shots at him. But I know the man behind that, and I know what he's doing for the youth and for the kids in this community. I've coached baseball, volunteered pretty much my entire adult life. being around kids and mentoring kids is extremely important. It's not just about the wins and losses. It's about developing the relationships and watching them grow and become young adults. And... I feel like I've done a decent job, but I haven't done anything near what Terrence has done as far as how many kids he's actually reached in this community as children and as they've grown up to be young adults and parents and into life. And so I know you guys have a tough job. I would do respectfully ask that you would wait until the appeal process. Let Granite Park be Granite Park. Let Terrence do what he does best. and just support him, because he's done an amazing job, and he's an amazing man. Thank you.

All right, we'll have Swati Samaski with us. And after that, we'll have Michael Lynn Lewis.

All righty, can you hear me? All righty, hello, council members. My name is Sahasa Wadisom-Soxy. I am here speaking on agenda item 26.820, which is the council members' recommendations for the EAAC grant under measure P. And so, mind you, I just came back from Sacramento last night. I do not have anything written down, so I apologize ahead of time for any hiccups or misspeaks that I have. But anyways, so after the Fresno Arts Council embezzlement scandal, the Parks Department, there was already a lot of mistrust there's already a lot of mistrust with the arts community, the arts and culture community with the with the city and the Fresno Arts Council. And the Parks Department worked, and in the process of creating the cycle-free guidelines, the Parks Department worked closely with community, taking in community feedback and recommendations and doing much research in their own time. The proposed guidelines by Area, Spexel, and Bang go against everything that the community has worked with our officials for, essentially. There is a pool of nearly $6.5 million for this grant. When you raise the cap to $350, this essentially monopolizes only these legacy organizations to have this money, and then everyone's left to fight for the rest of whatever the scraps are, 150 would allow over 40 organized, 150 like the PRAC recommended would allow for over 40 organizations to be funded. And like not even ignoring, even without the raise of the cap, It's very obvious to me that you aren't listening to community. Why aren't you addressing the other issues of what does political agenda or political activities include? What do religious and or evangelical procedures include?

Thank you. Next speaker is going to be Michael Lynn Lewis. And again, if you'd like to speak, please fill out a yellow card and bring it up here to the front as well. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chamber. I'm here to speak for Terrence Frazier. I was sitting here today just observing. I wasn't going to say anything, but after I've heard what was going on, I'm here to speak on behalf of actually a partnership. recently in the past few years seen where the city has actually come in when there's a problem you come in and you work with the person and you fix it just like with the food vendors down the tower district when those things happen to them the city rallied around the City Council rally around those people and help them be able to thrive in their businesses. So I'm asking with this whole issue with Granite Park, would the city please start looking into how to form a helping relationship? I hear how people don't want this park to go down. I don't want to see another abandoned project in the city of Fresno. I remember the... the Metropolitan Art Museum that we lost because something happened and the city didn't come back and rescue it. So I'd like to see us for once start to work with the people no matter what the problem is. If the issue is too, too far gone, yes, we'll abandon it. But I don't see a problem at this point in time where we can't work with the issues that are going on at Granite Park and to save it for the community. I do know Terrence Frazier. I have worked with him a little bit on certain things. He's been a great guy to work with. When I first met him, I didn't know who he was, and I went and asked him, who are you and what do you do? And he was gracious enough to let me come down to his office and show me all of his projects. And I don't think there's too many business people in this town that would do that, to talk to a stranger. So I'm asking you to form some kind of partnership or help to solve this problem so that the community can continue to thrive and survive. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker's gonna be Christina Soto. Welcome, Christina, you'll have three minutes.

My name is Christina Soto. I'm a resident of District 3. I'm a former PRAC member and I also sat on the application review panel for EAAC funding during cycle two, and I'm here to speak on the guidelines. As a former PRAC member and member of the EAAC application review committee during cycle two, I'm sick and tired of seeing this council and this administration sell out the community to special interests, wealthy donors, and developers. They unilaterally oppose the voices of the community and dismiss the recommendations of the PRAC, Months of work and community engagement to increase an already over-inflated, I'm sorry, last year, the same thing happened where the cap was raised from 300 to 400K at the 11th hour without any other input other than that of the Fresno Arts Council and Lilia Chavez, who we all know how that ended, $1.5 million were lost. This is precisely why I stepped down from PRAC as an advisory committee. Not only the PRAC, but other committees within the city of Fresno, budget, planning, all of that. They don't hold any real power or authority. It's essentially a theater. We made so many recommendations based on the advice of the community, of leaders and feedback from community members, hours of free volunteer unpaid work for it to be disregarded and ignored. What is the point of having these committees if the city is going to ignore their expert advice and the will of the people to- impose the will of self-serving people. The city council and administration are mismanaging and misappropriating Measure P funds to pad the city budget and having, consistently having, and very proudly speaking about it in the news, backdoor conversations, secret ad hoc meetings, and making secret deals, meanwhile selling out the community and the true vision of Measure P. Measure P is about creating equity and concentrating long overdue investment in people in places that have been historically and systematically disenfranchised and ignored, specifically in South Fresno, specifically marginalized communities. The expanded access to arts and culture funding is not to stabilize organizations with million dollar budgets, it's to expand access. Furthermore, I wanna urge you to also not pass the Elm Avenue rezone. I think it's disgusting. that you have people come out and invest their time and money and tell you and be engaged and try to be civically involved for you all to just sit up here and ignore all of us. And so I just want to also encourage people to vote you out of office. Thank you.

All right. I don't have any more YOLO cards or any additional public comment with respect to the consent agenda, contested consent or the closed session agenda. Further public comments? Come on down.

Thank you, Council. Really quick, once again, my name is Alfred Aldretti. I'm here to let you guys know to please preserve the partnership for Granite Park. I myself can remember my personal memories. I did not grow up here in Fresno, but in the small town of Dinuba, there is Roseanne Viewish Park. where I shared plenty of time playing catch, running around with all my cousins and stuff like that growing up, just doing many things there at the park. As a young man, I didn't get to participate in high school sports. I was too skinny. I love football and had to wait until I was 24 to play semi-professional football, but the dream started there on that field. I can remember many days running back to my grandma's house, sweaty and tired from playing all day at the park. As you heard from all your constituents and everyone here, I think it's very important to address these community needs, tying this all back to, once again, the city's choice not to invest in the park. A quick way to save, once again, money to help invest in these community needs is by ending the contract with flock cameras. $1.6 million that the city could have used to invest in stuff like this, these community needs. So please, once again, I also ask you guys to listen to my constituents about the Measure P funding. Do not raise the cap. And to include all these other small local artists and small organizations to get a piece of that pie. Really, it's what helps make Fresno's Art Scene Thrive is all of our local and smaller artists, so please consider that. Thank you guys for your time.

All right, is there any additional public comments with respect to consent agenda, contested consent, or the closed session agenda? Fellow, I'm out of yellow cards. I don't see anyone else. All right, seeing no further public comment, go ahead and close the public comment specifically for closed session and consent agenda, contested consent. One second here. All right, we give the Council Vice President one more minute, then we're going to vote on the consent agenda.

Thank you.

All right, I'll entertain a motion on the consent agenda. First and a second by Council Vice President Maxwell. Any opposition to approving the consent agenda? Yeah, that would be now.

Yeah.

I'd like to register no votes. Okay. Please. Item two, Oscar. Item two, Fox-Fox. And... Yes, those two.

So that's items 2-0 and 2-FF for you? Correct. So Council Member Richardson registered no votes on 2-0 and 2-FF. Any additional opposition to the consent agenda? All right, seeing none, the consent agenda passes. Minus... 2P, which is pulled. We'll hear that later in the afternoon. Council, let's get back here by about 2 o'clock. This will be sufficient lunchtime for you. Thank you, everybody.

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All right, let's come back here in the session, readjourning here. What do we have left? We finished consent. We have a contested consent item. I believe it was 2P, pulled by Councilman Baradias. Are you staff ready for that one? Welcome.

Sorry, I got distracted with the red lantern photos from member Sparza. Director, can you just give us a brief update on the status of the project? Timeline for construction, renovations, what would this funding, what timeline would it be adhered to?

Yeah, happy to do it. So Phil Skye, Assistant Director, Planning and Development Department. Thank you for the question, Council Member. So before you today is... request for you to adopt two resolutions for funding. The first one's $1.6 million of permanent local housing allocation funds, and the other is $8 million in revolving loan funds. I am pleased to share with you that with these commitments, the bank has already committed to bring in the remaining financing needed in addition to developer equity. So the next step would be that the developer would assign loan docs with the bank. That is roughly I would assign or attribute 90 days to that process, meaning that the developer is prepared, and I spoke with him this morning, to break ground probably in September of 2026, meaning that the project would be completed by the end of 2027.

Those are all my questions. Council President, motion to approve.

We have a motion and we have a second. Oh, and we have council member Richardson pops up.

With that portion from the revolving loan fund, do you say 8 million?

That's correct.

What is the payment schedule, the payback schedule on that look like?

Yeah. So council member, the developer responded to our second revolving loan fund, NOFA. The terms are five years. It's a five year repayment. The developer is not required as with anybody. The way the revolving loan fund was structured was it was intended to be gap financing for construction primarily. And so we were not requesting any consistent or regular debt service schedule. And so it really can service or it really can be a balloon payment at the end of the five year term. The developer desires or wishes they can make payments along the way, but in five years, all of it is due, the interest rate is 4.81%.

Okay, all that due at the end of that five-year term from the date of issuance?

That's correct. From the date of issuance and what occurs, and the reason it was structured this way is because it provides the gap financing necessary for the developer to go vertical and then to lease up, stabilize, and all of that will happen the first five years, at which point the developer very likely will refinance and then pay us back.

Okay, that checks out. If the developer, do we have anything standing in the city that says if the developer defaults, has late payments, anything like that, that they will no longer in the future be party to revolving loan fund loans?

Good question, Council Member. There is nothing that, from a policy perspective... states that they would be disqualified from future public funding opportunities. However, in all of our criteria embedded in those NOFAs, obviously past performance is a critical component of whether or not we as staff recommend future funding.

Okay. Is that something that when you talk about revolving loan fund that gets mentioned when it comes up here to the council for decision, past action of that recipient?

I typically don't bring it. We wouldn't bring the recommendation forward if there was poor past performance. I mean, you just wouldn't hear it. We would not bring forward a resolution asking you to approve it if there was poor past financial performance.

Okay, I trust you. Council President, that's all I had.

All right. Seeing no one else punched up, is there any opposition to approving item 2P?

We need public comment. I apologize. We did take public comment.

Okay, I'm seeing none. That passes six to zero, I think. Yeah, six to zero. All right, let's move on to the, that concludes the contested consent. Let's go to general admin. We have a resolution 3A, item 3A, resolution adopting a technology disruption policy during public meetings of the city council. Very timely, given the technology disruption we had just right before lunch. City clerk, you have the floor.

Yes, we have a proposed technology disruption policy. This is part and parcel with the new SB 707 requirements. This particular policy is required to be in place and adopted by the council before July 1st. This will give us our parameters with regard to how to handle any technology disruptions after Zoom requirements go into place on July 1st.

Motion to approve. And done.

All right, I have Council Member Richardson punched up.

City Clerk, will you give the public three takeaways from this policy, three big ticket items, the way that they're going to see this actually enacted so they'll know on July 1st what's going to change?

Yes, with regard to this policy, one, it comes on the heels of 707, which is going to greatly expand our digital access and allow people to interact with the meeting from home as opposed to just view the meeting from home. That being said, number two, it's technology, so there is likely at some point to be some sort of disruption. We saw that today very briefly, which was a hardware failure. The state law requires us to make good faith efforts to restore technology. If we are not able to restore that within one hour's time, we can reconvene the meeting with making certain findings on the record. The hope is that we would be able to restore technology in a much shorter period of time. Number three, it also allows us to monitor and control for disruptions from people who are participating remotely in order to keep the meeting going smoothly. So people will not be able to take over the time of the council and to keep the meeting from proceeding in an orderly fashion by virtue of participating digitally.

Will there be any change to the council policy that reduces the the public comment period from three minutes to two minutes if they're participating digitally?

No, the policy will remain the same and we will be able to take public comment digitally in the same way we can here in the chamber.

That's addressed in our council rules.

Good, that'll stay the same. And then Council President, this is for you. Going forward for the rest of this year from July 1st on, will it be your inclination to push to stay here as long as we have to to fix the technological issues or to recess after that hour? And I understand it's case by case, but do you kind of have guiding principles on that?

TBD had not thought about it at this point, but it's something to ponder. And obviously, how I run these meetings and conduct these meetings is done largely you know, with input, right, from council. So, yeah, good question. We'll figure that out. Okay, I appreciate it. That's all I had. Back to you and your popsicle. Thank you. All right. Anybody else punched up on 3A? It's called a paleta, is what it's called. But yeah, it's a popsicle in English, yes. He's probably watching at home. All right. We'll go to public comment on item 3A on the resolution adopting a technology disruption policy during public meetings of the city council. Is there any member of the public who would like to comment on item 3A specifically?

All right.

This has to do, this is result 707. Yeah, if you want to speak to that. Come on down.

I don't think you guys, especially council president, has a good idea of what the Brown Act actually, the legislative intent of it. And I know this because many times you, many people have been here for years to look to council for simple things, like whether at this time public comment needs to be asked or not, which I would think you guys would know by now. But yeah, and... That's it for this.

Great. Any additional public comment on item 3A? Seeing none, we're going to go ahead and close public comment on item 3A. I'll entertain a motion and a second. Is there any opposition to approving item 3A? All right, seeing none, that passes seven to zero. And I think our, I believe, I'll double check here, our last public item of the day is gonna be item 4B, Oral Summary Reports and Approval of City Clerk's Agreements. Welcome, staff present this item.

Good afternoon, Council. Tina Griffin, Chief Assistant City Attorney. Hello, everyone. As required by the Brown Act, this shall provide the oral report or summary report prior to Council's approval of the city clerk's at-will agreement. In summary, Effective June 15, 2026, she will be receiving an annual base salary of $210,000. Benefits include all of those benefits that Unit 2 unrepresented employees receive, which are set forth in the salary resolution. Also, she will receive a $300 monthly vehicle allowance, which is afforded to all department directors. She will get a $598 reimbursement per year to cover her state bar license renewal fee, which is going to require itemized receipts for proof of that payment. And then she will get payment for attendance at one professional organization conference per year, additional subject to budgetary restraints. She will also be entitled to payment for attendance at additional conferences and related travel expenses as approved by council. If there's no other questions, that will be the end of the summary report. All right.

Thank you, Tina. We'll go out to public comments. Is there any public comment on item 4B regarding the oil agreements for the city clerk in the oral report? All right, seeing none, I'm going to go ahead and close the public comment on item 4B. Come back to council. I'll make a motion for approval. First and a second. Motion and a second. Is there any opposition to approving item 4B? All right, seeing none, that passes 7-0. Congratulations, city clerk.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

All right, let's go to unscheduled communication. I added some cards for folks who had kind of off-topic remarks from earlier. It didn't fit into the other public comment, so it's unscheduled. Armin Karamanian. Armin with us? Saying no. I don't think so either. Next is going to be Aaron Bird. Is Aaron with us? Nope. Johannes Rangers? Hester Hensley? I don't know Hester. All right, is there any additional public comment for unscheduled communication? You're welcome to speak about any relevant topic here within this portion. You don't have to have a yellow card, you can speak. So, what I was gonna say, let me see, like three minutes, okay.

So many of you guys will be leaving probably for higher positions, and it's not the same as in when you campaign to being where you're at now. So also you guys implemented the door-to-door knocking, talking to your constituents and stuff like that. For what reason, I don't know. Because when people came earlier to speak and say their will, it was largely ignored. And maybe you feel like there may not be any consequences later on. Maybe for your inauguration, we should show up and give examples of how you failed to listen to your community. Also, let me see. I have a little time. Is that a lot of times I think people are allowed to, like, implement things or do things. And it's like the city is like an experiment. Let's just see if this works or if it doesn't because there really is no consequences to when it doesn't work. Because if you worked off commission, you guys probably wouldn't make a lot. And let's see.

What else?

Still got time. What I'd like to say also is... in 2008 there was um a 10-year plan to end homelessness by it was um put forward by somebody on the board of supervisors who you may be familiar with and the mayor at the time even in the 11th hour of that that mayor at the time was still claiming that we are on our way to see zero by 2018. Today, look at it now. So I just like to say that to say people would come up here and say whatever they want to say and do whatever they want to do, it seems. And as long as it sounds good, you guys are going to pass it or whatever. But I think you guys should really have consequences for some of these things that you guys do and think there's no consequence for everybody else. Cause there is. So yeah. And um, also make sure you guys check your contracts and make sure like stuff's being fulfilled because there is a false claims act. That's it.

All right. Thank you. Uh, is there any additional public comment for unscheduled communication? Any member of the public wish to speak for three minutes?

Oh, right, of course. Kevin Arias Romero. Again, no relation to Council Member Arias. We just happen to share the same last name. First of all, good afternoon to everyone here. I don't get to come out often out here to you guys' meetings since either they're in the morning or they go into the early afternoon. But what I do, I'm like, it's to see how other cities, especially neighboring cities, are doing things so that hopefully I can take back to my little neck of the woods, which is 40 minutes from here, and see how what I learned from here I can use to, improve things that well not saying things need to be improved but things can always be done better and I learned a lot from watching you guys do the work that you guys do and you know whenever I get to see you guys out in events or here and you know I definitely always appreciate the hospitality that I get when I'm out here and I just really wanted to point that out and it means a lot because You know, whenever I speak to you guys, whether it's in a group like this or on an individual basis, it really, you know, for you guys to take the time to do that, it, you know, shows like, hey, you know, they may be from a different city and they have 100,000 things on their own to worry about. They still take the time to, like, talk to me and hear what's affecting me and my area and how I can do what I need to do. to help out so i really do wanted to thank you guys and of course i really want to give a big thanks and shout out to council member carvasi who's been coming out to mendota and um you know stepped up when you know didn't look like anyone else really would and in particular i speak about when the prop 50 election was coming up and The registrar of voters did not have Mendota listed on their list of vote centers. So, you know, we were going to have to go either to Kerman or Fireball or anywhere around us. But, of course, he saw that and he heard about it and he said, no, everyone, even the smaller communities, the outlying communities need a center so they can go and vote and exercise their rights to vote. So him, along with our mayor and Supervisor Pacheco and Assemblywoman Soria put the pressure on the county clerk's office and it was enough to that they got us a vote center and we were able to participate in that process. So thank you. I know I've told this to you, but seriously, Again, you guys have your own districts to worry about and stuff like that. But for you guys, again, to take the time out for stuff like that, it really does mean a lot. So I just wanted to really emphasize that. And to the ones that are leaving pretty soon, you probably won't be forgotten. And I still hope I can run into you guys and ask for advice and stuff on how I can do better for my own city.

Thank you. Thanks, Kevin. Happy belated birthday. Next card I have is for Lady Diana Oliva.

Yes, that's good. Good afternoon, Council. I'm Lady Diana, the founder and the CEO of Casita Feliz Latine LGBTQ Plus Center here in Fresno. And I just wanted to give you a quick thank you, gracias, for being an ally to the brown, queer, and just the LGBTQ community in general. Unfortunately, not all our political officials that represent us in the county level stand in solidarity and allyship with our LGBTQ community, so it means a lot that the city of Fresno and all of you elected officials who represent all of our constituents really stand in solidarity and allyship. And I know there was a couple of budget resolutions that were discussed last Thursday. I hope that you truly consider supporting those resolutions when the time comes. We are the only active LGBT center that is serving more than 3,000 individuals every year. We do that through our community groups, mental health support groups, our community-wide events, our galas. We hosted the very first Latino Pride Festival event at Woodward Park last October, and it was a family affair. where we had potato sack races, horseshoes, we had loteria, we had mariachis, we had folklorico dancers, we had music, we had celebration. And so when I came back to Fresno three years ago from Mexico City and the Bay Area, I wanted to fulfill a 25-year-long dream of bringing a brown queer that was safe and supportive and empowering to our community to speak there has never been one. And so now that I've moved back and I would love to kind of continue our relationship, whether that's formal or informal with the city of Fresno and with all our elected officials, because many of our brown queer individuals that come to Casita Feliz come from all of your districts and throughout the county. And so it's really important that We develop those formal partnerships in the future. But I just wanted to say thank you so very much for putting your neck out there, for standing in solidarity with us. We really appreciate it. It does not go unseen. Visibility and representation matters. And when we see our elected officials standing in solidarity with us, it means the world to us. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Lady Diana. Any further public comments on unscheduled communication? Okay, all right, I'm gonna go ahead and close unscheduled communication. I do have Council Member Karabasi punched up from earlier, accident, okay. All right, Council, that concludes the open session portion of our meeting. We've got about 10 items or so we're gonna probably pour over the next few hours in closed session. So that'll conclude, and City Attorney, if you'll please read the closed session agenda items that will be hearing this afternoon.

Good afternoon. Today in closed session we have item 5A, Conference with Labor Negotiators, all units listed on the agenda. Item 5B, Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, Addison Couto versus City of Fresno. Item 5C, Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, City of Fresno versus Gupreet Chauhan. Item 5D, Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, Joseph Perez versus City of Fresno. Item 5E, Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, City of Fresno versus Central Valley Community Sports Foundation. Item 5F, Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation, One Potential Case. Item 5G, Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation, One Potential Case. Item 5H, Conference with Legal Counsel, Anticipated Litigation, One Potential Case. Item 5I, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, one potential case. We may have reportable items after closed session.

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Good afternoon. Today in closed session, the City Council approved a proposed settlement in the eminent domain case entitled City of Fresno versus Gupreet, Shuhan, and others. Fresno Superior Court case number 25CECG00464. The settlement provides for a global resolution consistent with the city's project objectives. Under the terms of the settlement, if the court so approves, title to the subject properly will vest in the city upon payment of $532,000 plus the legally required interest on the deposit of probable compensation. $185,000 has already been deposited by the city to the State Treasurer's Office Condemnation Fund. The settlement shall be paid for Measure C and California Local Partnership Program formulaic grant funds. This motion and this settlement was approved by a vote of seven to zero in closed session.

Thank you for joining us today. City council meeting. We are adjourning the open session meeting at 426 and council will resume closed session.

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