Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You are the light of my life. You are the light of my life. Thank you. Thank you. you you Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. It is 534. I now call this meeting of the Parks and Recreation Arts Commission to order. City Clerk, would you please conduct roll call?

Commissioner Barraza is absent. Commissioner Collier? Present. Commissioner Dolan?

Present.

Commissioner Duran?

Present.

Commissioner Kucharski is absent. Commissioner Miller? Here. Vice Chair Ward. Present. Chair McCoy. Present. We have a quorum.

Thank you. Is there a motion to excuse the absence of Commissioner Barraza?

So moved.

Thank you, Commissioner Dolan. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Miller. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion passes. Is there a motion to excuse the absence of Commissioner Karcharski? I make a motion that we excuse her. Thank you, Commissioner Kalia. Thank you, Commissioner Miller, for the second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. Motion passes. We will now begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Will everyone please stand? Ready? Salute.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. We will start with the approval of the agenda. City Clerk, are there any changes or proposed changes to tonight's agenda?

There are no changes.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Thank you, Commissioner Dolan. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you, Commissioner Miller. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, say no. Motion passes. We will now move on to the approval of minutes. Are there any changes to the minutes or proposed changes to the minutes from May 18, 2026? There are no changes. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the minutes?

Motion to approve is submitted.

Thank you, Commissioner Dolan. Is there a second?

I'll second it.

Thank you, Commissioner Kalia. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed say no. This item is approved. We will now move on to subcommittee reports. Does the EAAC subcommittee have an update we would like to provide to this commission? We will hear the updates on the agenda when it comes to any updates to the EAAC. We will now move on to member reports and comments. Commissioner Duran, do you have any member reports or comments for this commission?

Nothing for me. Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Miller?

Nothing for me. Vice Chair Ward?

None. Thank you.

Commissioner Collier? Nothing at this time. Thank you. Commissioner Dolan? Nothing for me. Thank you. Thank you. We will now move on to city administration and park staff reports and comments. Does anyone from the administration side have any reports or comments for the commission?

Good evening. Yes, I just wanted to update everyone that Parks Department is in the process of transitioning Granite Park under City's operation based on last week's court decision, just as a general update. Thank you.

Will that become City Park land? Yes?

Yes, and as a matter of fact, it's currently in our Parks Master Plan. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Does anyone from the parks staff have any reports or comments for the commission?

Chair, I do. Thank you. Aaron Aguirre, parks director, just wanted to inform the commission as well as the public. We kicked off Camp Fresno today, so we sent roughly 40 youth up to the Sierras, ages 11 to 14. They'll be there overnight. They'll come back, and then we'll send another group up later this week. In addition to that, we officially kicked off our aquatic season. So our pools are open effective today from 1 to 5 p.m. So the 10 pool sites we have throughout the city. And then next Monday, the 22nd of June, we'll kick off our swim lessons. So there's seven sessions throughout the summer, starting, as I mentioned, the 22nd and running through the early part of August. So there's still capacity for the parents who want to get their kids enrolled. We encourage you to visit our parks website. The information is there on how to get your children registered, and we look forward to having them there. That concludes my remarks. Thank you.

Thank you. I have a question. Have we opened the cooling centers yet?

We have not. So once we reach 105 degrees or above, we would open them. So we're not there yet.

It feels like it. It feels like it. I'm just asking. I feel that that's wrong for us to wait to 105 when it feels like it's 105 outside. So I'm really worried about the in-house community with being able to come in and cool off for a little while. being able to get some water and things like that. And maybe if we're providing a snack for them, be able to provide a snack because people will be passing out in this heat. I was at an event this weekend, and a couple of people passed out at the event. And it wasn't even a really big event, but it was big enough with a couple of vendors, and you had a couple of people passing out. So just want to throw that on there and come on the record and say that we shouldn't have to wait. for the temperature to become 105 degrees to open up our cooling centers when summer officially starts on Sunday, if I'm not mistaken. So just wanted to throw that out there.

I also want to add that on our city website, under the city manager page, there's... It says heating and cooling centers. And if you click on that, it lets you know when they're open because we're following the ordinance. So we notify with, and we get, we update it every 72 hours. We update it every day, 72 hours out.

I understand. But for some of us who are not text friendly, I think this is the platform for me to be able to ask when they'll be able to be open. So I do understand that we're following the ordinance, but I just felt that it was me to state my opinion. Thank you. We will now move on to unscheduled communication. Is Mr. here? I might have butchered up your name, but please come up. Hi. And you'll have three minutes. Thank you.

Good evening, Commission. I'm Adam Balakian, facilitator of Community Tennis Roading Park, where we bring over 100 players to play tennis every week, making us one of the largest and most consistent groups using Roading Park at night. I wanted to show some pictures to the Commission and also to the people in the crowd. These are the current restrooms out at Roading Park. They've really been looking like this for years. And these photos were taken during the evening when most of us are out there. And it's not just me. We surveyed our community, over 55 people. 85% said that they gave it a one out of five stars for the bathrooms. And 89% said that they have left early because of the conditions. So our first concern is that the bathrooms are not maintained properly at night. Our understanding is the last cleaning of the bathrooms is 2 p.m. in the afternoon, and we're seeing the results here at night when they're not being cleaned in the evening. They've gone unattended for hours, and you can see the condition. The other concern, which we've been raising for a while, is that the bathrooms are too far away from the courts and they're facing away from the courts. So this comes down to two issues, first being location. They're so far away from the courts that people have to leave the core area and the lights and all that and the group as a whole in order to be able to use the restrooms. And the other issue is that they are facing the wrong way towards the roadway, not the court. So no one can see what's actually happening at the bathrooms and around the area. So unless these issues are addressed, no one knows what's going on with the loitering, if someone's being harassed, if someone needs help. No one can address those issues because the bathrooms are so far away from where all the activity is at the park at night. We were told that the design for the new bathrooms is finalized and that the plan is the prefab restrooms. So we're not against that. I think it's a good idea to have those and to upgrade the bathrooms, but we are against there being the spending of money on the bathrooms if they're going to remain far away from the courts and facing away from the courts, and then the maintenance issue is not addressed as well. Otherwise, we're going to be in the same position that we are now. So here's what we're asking. First is maintenance. These photos are not an isolated incident. They reflect what happens when the restrooms go uncleaned after 2 p.m. And a new prefab building isn't going to fix that if the maintenance is not upgraded and the bathrooms are not taken care of. It's not just the structure. We're asking for additional cleanings. We'd love to see them cleaned at 5 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. and for them to be stocked properly and for there also to be some oversight to discourage loitering around the bathrooms at night. And then long-term, we're asking for the bathrooms, when they do redo them, to have them move closer to the tennis courts and facing towards the tennis courts so they're not in no man's land where no one knows what's going on over there and there can't be any real oversight of the bathrooms. And you can see these courts are an important community space, and we really do want this project to work. So we're asking for this commission to help us get one clear answer. Can we get the placement and the orientation of the bathroom chairs?

Would any other member of the public like to speak on any issue within the jurisdiction of this commission? You will have up to three minutes. As a reminder, if you would like to comment on a scheduled workshop or discussion item, now is the time to make those comments. If you would like to make a comment regarding any of the scheduled hearings, comments will be taken when each item is heard. And I do have some cards.

Thank you.

Under unscheduled communication? OK, I'll call you. OK, thank you. First speaker will be Chris Kent.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment. My name is Chris Kent and I'm a Fresno resident. I came to talk about the importance of public access to quality tennis courts. I grew up in Fresno and I fell in love with tennis here. I started playing tennis in high school and as a student in the Central Unified School District, I was lucky because we had access to free open courts at Central East Campus. We played every day till the lights went out. And having the opportunity to play kept me out of trouble, kept me engaged in my community, and likely contributed to better outcomes for me across the board, physically, academically, and more. I eventually moved and spent over a decade in Sacramento, but I moved back in 2022. And I want to share a little bit about how access to tennis has changed in Fresno over the last 20 years. In the last 20 years, our community has lost a tennis club. I don't know if you all remember Dan Gamble's club over on Blackstone. dating myself a little bit there, but that's gone. The few courts available at parks across the city are in varied states of disrepair. If you drive around, you might see courts with missing net straps, missing nets, and of course courts that have been replaced by pickleball courts. And most importantly for me, because I still live within the Central Unified School District, the courts that I spent my youth on are no longer available to the public. The district has decided to close those courts off to the public, leaving today's surrounding communities, students and taxpayers like myself, with no options. I frequently drive to Clovis to play on courts in Clovis Unified Schools. And not everyone can afford that trip or make it. That brings me back to why I wanted to talk to you tonight about the importance of free access to quality tennis courts. Things have changed. There's not the same level of access that I had when I was growing up, and the city has an opportunity to step in. and invest time and resources to meet the public's need. We've more than demonstrated that there's a desire. There's a need for it. People are interested. They want to get engaged. The bathrooms are an issue. We heard about that. Also, lights. I emailed the Parks Department about lights at the Roeding Park tennis courts last week. They don't come on until after it's already well past dark. And my USTA team has actually decided to not play at Roeding Park anymore until that issue is taken care of. So the city should invest in community. Programming as well people are doing it for free right now at roading and that's great But I think we've proven that there's interest And we deserve a city supported solution that can be sustained for our communities Now but also for the next 20 years Thank you.

Thank you Next speaker Yingla Wilson

Hello, good evening, commissioners. My name is Ying-Lak Judakot-Wilson. I'm a former Division I tennis player at Fresno State, a former semi-professional tennis player, and also a founder and CEO of Equity For All. Last month, the parks director stated that the city of Fresno does not currently offer any tennis programming through its park system. As a former Division I athlete and a former semi-professional tennis player, I found that a little disappointing because I see tremendous potential for tennis to help young professional or young people build confidence, develop life skill, and create healthy habits that can last a lifetime. Tennis is more than just a sport. It teaches discipline, perseverance, goal setting, and personal responsibility. It creates lifelong opportunities in educational pathways, community connection, and healthy physical activity. It is also one of the few sports that people can enjoy throughout their entire lives. Through my work with Equity for All, I focus on helping young people access opportunities that support their long-term success. Tennis and storytelling are two powerful tools we use to help youth build confidence, amplify their voices, and expand their educational and career possibilities on and off the court. And this is why Equity for All partnered with Community Tennis Roading Park and the Roading Park Tennis Club to launch the program Game Set Goals Tennis Series. Each Sunday night throughout the month of June, students in grade four through six receive free tennis instruction, equipment, mentorship, and activities focused on personal growth, goal setting, and future aspiration. Our goal is not only to help students develop their tennis skills, but also to build a confidence to pursue their future goals. For example, yesterday after the tennis portion of our program, we asked each student to draw what they want to become when they grow up. Is that time?

No, you still have a minute.

Oh, yay. And then we gather in a circle, and we give every student the opportunity to share their goals and aspirations with the group. One student shared that they wanted to become a police officer. Another dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Another hoped to become a professional athlete. And another wanted to be a singer. And that's what our program is all about, a gamesicle tennis series. I believe this program demonstrated both the value of tennis and the interest that exists within our community when these opportunities are made accessible. I would like to extend an invitation to all the commissioners to come visit our program and see it firsthand. We meet Sunday evening throughout June, and we would be happy to welcome you. And if anyone here tonight has a child entering fourth, fifth, or sixth grade, I encourage you to bring them out. We still have two Sunday remaining in June, and the program is completely free.

Thank you.

Tell me again what time your group meets on Sunday?

It's gonna be 6.30 to 8.30 every Sunday in June.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, and I do have one sheet for the program information, and I would like to pass it on. Thank you very much.

Next speaker, Camilla Sutherland.

Thanks.

Good evening, dear members of the Parks and Recreation Council. Roding Park Tennis Club respectfully requests the City of Fresno's support in re-establishing a cooperative partnership for the care and programming of the tennis courts at Roding Park. As a local 501c3 nonprofit based in Fresno, our club is committed to supporting public tennis use, upkeep, and growth of tennis at Roding Park. We understand that the city is working within limited staffing and financial resources while still being responsible for maintaining extensive park facilities across Fresno. In that context, we believe Roding Park Tennis Club can serve as a reliable community partner by providing volunteer assistance with court cleanup, basic beautification support, and tennis programming that brings positive activity into the park. The city previously used and adopted a park model in which non-profit groups provided volunteer cleanup and maintenance while keeping parks open for public use, and we believe a similar approach could be beneficial again. Roding Park Tennis Club is prepared to help in the following ways. Organize volunteer cleanup days for the tennis courts and surrounding areas. Support basic upkeep efforts such as litter pickup and general court area beautification. coordinate tennis clinics, as you just heard, youth programs, community play days, and other tennis activities at the park, work alongside the parks and recreation staff to identify needs, communicate regularly, and support shared goals for the courts, and help strengthen community engagement and positive park use through consistent programming and volunteer presence. Our goal is not to replace city services, but to complement them. We believe a strong partnership between the city and the local volunteers can help preserve the courts, expand recreational opportunities, and keep Roding Park active, welcoming, and well cared for. We respectfully ask the Council to consider reinstating or adopting a DOPTA Park-style partnership for Roding Park tennis facilities, meeting with the Roding Park Tennis Club representatives to discuss a particular volunteer support program and a plan, identifying a city staff contact who can help coordinate park needs, volunteer resources, and approve programs and activities, establishing a clear presence for the club-led cleanup and events in tennis. We would welcome the opportunity to work together on a simple, effective plan that benefits the city, the park, and the Fresno community. Together, we can help preserve Roding Park's tennis courts and expand community access through volunteer services and tennis programming. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Next speaker, Gabriel Lazario. Lozano, I'm sorry, pronounced your name wrong.

All right. um i wanted to ask some questions uh is there is there term limits for the appointees on the parks commission do they rotate like do you serve two years three years the second thing how many times can you miss during your calendar year you don't have to answer that right now but just wanted to know And if we can take attendance on who's missed there. The other thing is that I know you're going to be giving grant money out and stuff like that. One of the things I like for it to be done is to do the organizations or individuals applying for the money that we do background checks on. the people. And the reason I ask that is because I think that it will avoid what we had happen last time. So I think that that would be a good thing. And then I'd like to see, I applied for some jobs through the Parks Department. I didn't even hear one word back. So as a United States Navy veteran, And the resident who's paid his taxes, who votes, I would at least like to hear, receive a notice that says no. Or, you know, we thank you for your application, whatever. I think that's very impersonal. I think it's very unprofessional. And I think it's just this downright disrespectful not to receive, especially what I've given to the city, walking for Measure P. you know, and working at the Peach Park site, you know, what I've given to not receive at least a note. And let me tell you, some people, I've heard some people talked about my teeth. Well, let me tell you what happened with my teeth. I used to work in a psych ward, and the nurse got attacked. I went in against three patients, pulled her out. They were beating her head on the door, and I I took two of the patients down, the third one separate punched me, I blew my nose, my eye went in and down, and I chose not to get the teeth down, so that was part of the problem. The other thing, so it's not that I don't want to fix my teeth, it's that I can't. So just that needs to be said, because I think that's pretty disrespectful. The person or persons that have said that should come to me and I would have told them that. The third thing is I would like for Mr. Barraza to receive a proclamation. I believe that all the appointees to this commission are done by the mayor's office. I would like for him to receive or recommend that he receives a proclamation for the Peach Park site. We did so much work on that site. And I think he's well deserving of that, to get a proclamation from this city of what we've given. And you guys just don't understand. We ran a nonprofit. We ran a park site. Even with Measure P, the city has problems finishing the project. And we advocated for Measure P. And a lot of people in the administration didn't want Measure P. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, Aaron Bird.

Hello. Hi. So I'm Erin Burr, the Executive Director of Arts Enrichment for All. And while most of the time when I'm up here, I'm discussing EAC as a fiscal sponsor and all of the things that are going in there. But today, I just had some questions about another round of funding that was sent out. It was the Youth Scholarship Fund. We applied in February with a March timeline of grant awards, but that timeline has not been met. And as we've gone through spring community outreach events and we're out in the community talking to families, one of the big things that we're hearing over and over again is that this summer there is a strain for activities for kids to do that are financially feasible. And so my question today is if that youth scholarship grant timeline will be awarded prior to the end of this fiscal year, or is that being rolled over? And what are we doing to make sure that we can ensure our families and our kids are taken care of this summer so they stay out of trouble, like we've all heard here, and they have a safe place to land where they feel supported and seen and heard? And so while we have been extremely busy, and I appreciate everything the Parks Department is doing with EAC, it has been an absolute feat. And all of that you guys have done has been amazing. I don't want also this pool of money that our community needs to go by the wayside because we had another thing happen. Just some updates around that and how do we support as a community making sure the most needing kids in our community have those resources. So thank you so much, and I'll talk to you all soon. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, I have a card here, Dr. William Contenti. Do you want to comment because you have an item that you would like to comment and would you also like to comment under unscheduled communication? You want to do both? Okay, so I need a card for unscheduled communication as well. You could come up under unscheduled communication.

Let me fill this out real quick.

You can go ahead and make your comments, and then you can fill it out later. Thank you. Hi.

Dr. William Contenti. I'm a paying member of the Roading Park Tennis Club. And this is, I learned a lot last month. I was here for the first time. And there's a lot of great things that have already been covered. So I'm not going to rehash all those. Again, there's a lot of needs there at Roading Park. I'm learning more about how the funding for the city of Fresno, and there's not a tennis or sport director that's in charge of Roading Park Tennis Club and soon to be Roading Park Pickleball Courts. If you're expecting them just to open and be controlled and monitored and there's not going to be an influx of quite a few people as we've seen at Cedar and Sierra, at the Rotary Park, I think you're very, very misinformed. So there's going to be a lot of people. What I would recommend, and that's why I was going to come back for the Measure P, because I am not real informed on how much money is available and how much the Measure P... I don't know if it's structured similar to Measure Z that's done amazing, amazing things at the zoo. If we could get a director of sport position, a paid position, to manage the Rotary Park, a tennis facility and pickleball facility that's being built. That would be in your best interest. I think a great use of that Measure P funding. But we need some type of guidance. The tennis club, 501 Foundation, they're doing a wonderful job running tournaments, offering youth programs that used to be very, very regular. There's not that. I think we need somebody, quote, in charge. And I don't think we have, we have a great board, but somebody that that's their job to oversee everything that's being done there. If you want to continue, and I wasn't aware, that there wasn't somebody watching all the tennis courts. There's two still there at Cedar and Sierra at the Rotary Park next to the Pickleball Mega Complex. There's a lot throughout the city. So if we had a paid position either through Measure P or through the city budget as Parks and Rec, I think that would be a great use of money or funds. I have no idea how to set that up. That would be up to you guys. or you ladies as a Parks and Rec board to do that. But you have so much interest and so many good people willing to work and create youth programs, manage the facilities you have, improve the security, lighting, bathrooms, yada, yada, yada, everything else that's already been discussed in the last meeting. You need somebody in charge to do that. And I'd like to come back after I've heard more about the Measure P funding to maybe create that position or help guide you in that respect. Again, the Roding Park Tennis Club can do a lot for you, but I think you need somebody in charge of that facility at Roding as well as all the other tennis courts. Thank you. Thank you. I'll fill this out and bring it back up.

I can just put it over here because you made the same, you made your comments for both. I'll probably come back. Okay, you can come back and just fill out another one.

I will do that. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Do we have anyone online?

yes cynthia p you have three minutes for unscheduled communication good evening and thank you miss mccoy and parks the commissioners and board i came on last month in regards to the pine grove shelter and i did make a call to try to reserve my tables for my outreach of And I was told that they have no idea when those are going to open back up, that shelter. That was very discouraging. I was told different in an email. Shortly after the last time I came on here, I was told they were going to be opening up in July. It's summer. And like Ms. McCoy said, it's hot. And we have very many people in the community that utilize that. I use it for my church outreach for our unhoused. and have been for up to 10 years. Last summer, we had to use canopies down at the bottom where Cedar Grove is, and we made it work. We had to. But this is unacceptable. We have a new playground that was renovated just to the south of that location within steps. I mean, they might want to get up there and have a little picnic up there and sit with their family. We haven't been able to have that for over a year and a half now. Due to minor structural damage at the south top end of the frame of it, it's very minimal. And so, like I said, it's very discouraging. Now, I'm going to comment on two other things as I was listening that are of concern. Mr. Balakian, I am in agreement with the bathrooms at Roding Park. And just to the south of the Pine Grove Shelter, that bathroom I've had to make a couple calls over the last 10 years, a couple, but still they do need to be cleaned. and and that needs to be on a regular basis especially on the weekend or when you they know that facilities such as a tennis club uh is using but anytime just for the whole community we should always have those clean and up kept and maintained but i'm in total disagreement with i don't know if you said they're going to renovate the one facing the insurance or if you're going to build a new bathroom that is not a great wise choice of our funding in my eyes at all and uh i would hope that doesn't happen and as far as you putting it out there that they basically don't feel safe walking to that bathroom because it's facing that driveway that walkway and they can't see their people at the top Well, I go back to what my mother taught us and what we teach our children. Take a buddy with you. Walk in a group. Take a buddy with you. It's always safer. We know that in this day and age, regardless of the location and your phone. And the last thing is I want to commend you and Ms. McCoy for bringing light to something that has been troubling for me and many advocates and not rich workers in the city of Fresno. And I'm getting choked up even thinking about it because we've had so many.

Thank you, Cynthia. We have no one else online.

Thank you. I will close unscheduled communication and we will now move on to workshops. ID number 26-854, workshop, Brown Act training, city attorney's office. Will someone from the city attorney's office please begin the presentation?

Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Hi, I'm Amanda Freeman. I am probably a face on a screen, I'm guessing. I'm a special assistant city attorney with city attorney's office. I want to make sure you can see my face and soon to be my presentation. Is that working?

No.

OK. Well, it'll be a lot of me talking if we don't have a, I do have a PowerPoint that will go up.

I'm not, um, I can't co-host so that you could share a screen if you'd like.

Okay. It's my, um, I just want to make sure I'm projecting somewhere before I start sharing the screen. Thank you. Okay. Is my PowerPoint showing? Yes. Great. Okay. Thank you so much. So again, hello, commissioners. Hello, Director Aguirre. Hello, TJ. I'm not sure who else is in the room. I believe my colleague Brent is in there as your counsel now. So my role here today is to take you through a brief Brown Act training and ethics overview. I have done this training a few times, and so each time it's a little different depending on the needs of the legislative body. So PRAC's needs are a little bit different than, say, PC's or the Planning Commission or any other bodies, but I'm here to help provide you with overview of information. It's not incredibly specific, and I'm always available for questions. So with that said, let's get started. And again, please let me know if there are technical difficulties because I can't tell on my end. So because the whole commission is there, I just want to say that if you do ask questions, please keep it hypothetical. As you will know or will know at the end of the presentation, one of the tenets of the Brown Act is that we can't really discuss substantively anything that's not on the agenda. And so while the Brown Act is on the agenda for today, and we can talk about it, any examples of questions that you have as commissioners should wait for a future agenda or advice from staff. So this is general overview. And it's not specific legal advice. But we are here to advise and to help and make sure that things are done in alignment with the Brown Act at any time. So please don't be shy about reaching out. We'll talk about the Brown Act first, and then we'll talk briefly about ethical considerations. So the Brown Act. I'm guessing most people have heard of the Brown Act and are familiar with it, at least in theory. The Brown Act is a state law that was enacted in 1953, and it establishes a framework that all of the city's legislative bodies and the city council primarily have to follow an order for us as a local government agency to make decisions.

Amanda, I'm sorry to interrupt. Your PowerPoint is not...

It's not advancing?

No, you're still on kind of your home screen. I think you need to start your presentation on your end.

Okay, I'm on like my eighth slide. So thank you for telling me. That is great that you let me know. Again, I don't want you to just have to listen to my voice. So I'm going to back out and start again. And just see if I can get this. Try it again. Okay, which, are you on the slide, can you see a slide that says caution at the top? Yes. OK, and then if I advance it here, does it say disclaimer now? Yes. Oh, good. Great. Maybe we are cooking with gas now. Is that overview? Does that say overview?

Yes, it says overview.

Great. OK, I'm going to assume that they're working. It should say, what is the Brown Act now? Yes. Thank you so much for telling me. Nobody wants to listen to me talk for that long without something else to help. So the Brown Act is a state law that helps us understand how we, as a city, can do the people's business in a transparent manner, including public input. And the goal of the act is to ensure that the public is informed about the views and discussions and considerations of the public. And it governs, and this is important, it specifically governs meeting of legislative bodies. And we'll talk a little bit about what those words mean here in the next slides. So I am not a fan of reading PowerPoints necessarily, but I do appreciate this quote from the legislation. And it's that the people of the state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people in delegating authority do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for the people to know. So that's part of the government code under the Brown Act. And I think that really sets the tone for what I will talk about today. And one thing I just remember is that the point of the act is to promote trustworthiness and responsibility by being transparent. So with that said, let's talk about what I was referring to when I mentioned that the Brown Act governs meetings of legislative bodies. So legislative bodies for the city include the city council and then advisory and standing committees that are created by the city council by charter, ordinance, resolution, state law, or federal law that are not ad hoc committees, which I'll talk about in a second. And importantly, individuals are subject to the Brown Act's requirements once they've been appointed to the position, even if they've not yet formally been sworn in. And that becomes important when we talk about meetings here in a second. So the Brown Act requires that meetings have to be available to the public, and they must be at physically accessible to the public, meaning that they're held within the jurisdiction, and in our case, that's the city. They need to be ADA accessible. We cannot require people to sign in to participate and make their comments. We cannot require people to state their names or their addresses, even though we can ask, but that's not a requirement to make a comment. And we must involve the public. The public is allowed to comment on each item on the agenda before the Commission considers it. I'm sure most people are familiar with this next one, which is just that we cannot prohibit criticisms of the city. And, you know, there is a line beyond which something there's, you know, or past reasonable decorum, but just normal criticisms of how the city operates are completely acceptable and part of the public's First Amendment rights. Public comment time is typically limited, as you've experienced already today. Sometimes when there is a particularly contentious or exciting item and there's a ton of speakers, it can be further limited in the interest of the commission being able to complete its business in the meeting time allotted. So with all that said, what is a meeting? This is probably the most important part of today's training. Because everything revolves, the threshold question for a lot of the Brown Act alleged violations is, well, was there a meeting? What is a meeting? So a meeting is defined as any congregation of a majority of the members of PRAC at the same time and place to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon anything that is within the subject matter of PRAC. I will say that if we keep in mind that this legislation was passed in 1953, with technology today, the requirement that we're in the exact same time and place has evolved, and I will talk about that a little bit. But use of technology to be in the same, you know, we'll just say electronic space can count as creating a meeting, and that's pretty important. So the meetings that we want to avoid, the prohibited meetings, are meetings that occur outside of a noticed, agendized meeting. So that can include an in-person meeting, which is where a majority of mission members are talking about something that's under PRAC's purview outside of a noticed meeting, but it can also happen through a serial meeting, which is where one person talks to several other commissioners and all of a sudden the content of, you know, five members' opinions about something have been shared with each other outside of a noticed meeting. And that's a hub and spoke, I call that, where it's like one person, you know, reaching out to many people. And then there's also a chain style where you can have one commissioner speak to another who speaks to a third who speaks to a fourth. And a similar effect where you have more than four people talking about something that's the business of the commission. Referring to the technology loops that I was discussing a second ago, my preference in general is that everyone on the commission is not on an email thread at once. If you see something come from our office, it will usually have everyone be CC'd so that there can't be an accidental reply all because sometimes there may be one-way information that needs to go out. Calendar appointments are another great example with Microsoft software. If you reply all to the calendar invite, that will provide a meeting space. So just be very cautious. Same with group texts. There are special laws about social media interactions, and these are really important for community activists and people who are engaged and tend to be on commissions and boards. So the rule of social media, and this has been in effect since 2020, is that replying with a like, a heart, a comment, even an emoji to one other commissioner's post that's about something within your subject matter jurisdiction of PRAC is a violation of the Brown Act. And that is very surprising to most people. So our advice is typically that people on the same commission should not be liking or sharing or commenting on each other's parks-related posts on social media, if you are connected in that way. When pressed in the past, My example that I've given is that the only thing I could see that would be permissible would be like sharing an announcement with no commentary of like a meeting place and time. But quite frankly, because this is such a weird, weirdly specific rule, we would prefer that you just make your own post with a meeting place time so that there's no risk of running afoul of this requirement. But in general, You know, these specific meetings aside, you want to be conscious of, you know, just avoiding having the majority of PRAC talking about something outside of an open and noticed meeting. That's the meat of that. So I'm talking a lot about the subject matter jurisdiction of PRAC. Well, your bylaws state that the purpose of the commission is providing fiscal accountability, and citizen oversight relating to the development of parks within the city. So that's quite broad. So it's really anything park related. I would say this would also extend to, you know, Measure P funds and grants. It says the commission will hear, review, and make recommendations to council regarding the expenditure of the Measure P account created by Measure P to ensure the purposes of it are carried out in the manner intended by the citizens of Fresno. So that's nice and broad. And just keep that in mind when you're talking to each other. So there are some exceptions because this is a pretty broad prohibition. So social exceptions. Members of the commission may be in the same social place or training, learning some other, maybe Just some required city training is a good example. But as long as everyone's not discussing PRAC or parks or Measure P or something else within the jurisdiction of PRAC, that's not a meeting. You're just in the same place at the same time, and that's okay. Similarly, if there's an example where PRAC may have occasion to have a closed session someday. I can't think off the top of my head why that would be, but those are limited exceptions to the Brown Act where the body is allowed to go and have a meeting behind closed doors if it's related to litigation or personnel matters or certain very discrete exceptions. And of course, attorney-client communications are allowed. there is a way where staff can have one-way communications with commissioners about something coming before the body that's not a hub and spoke. If staff or someone's talking with commissioners but not sharing what other commissioners are discussing, that's not a hub and spoke or a meeting. It's just communication between staff and the commissioners. So, yeah, that's a nice – Hopefully reassuring that you can exist and not be violating the Brown Act while you're doing the work of the commission. So there are specific agenda requirements in the Brown Act that the commissioners as individuals should not be responsible for, but I'd like you to be aware of what they are. The Brown Act requires the public to know the time and place of the meetings and what's going to be discussed in order for them to choose whether they want to come and participate or provide comment. And that's a requirement of the law. So the time of the meeting, brief description of every item that will be discussed on the agenda, and the time for public comment needs to be on there. And importantly, we discussed this before, but items that are not on the agenda may not be discussed substantively or acted upon. The most appropriate thing, and this happens all the time when public comment brings up salient issues that need to be discussed, the best thing to do is to put that on the future meeting agenda. Typically, commissioners don't engage with the public comment portion because of this limitation. And yeah, that's just the cleanest way to avoid a Brown Act violation. So those are the basics of the Brown Act. The enforcement of the Brown Act, just very briefly so we know, is typically the repercussions for violating the Brown Act, especially regarding having unauthorized meetings, are that the decisions made could be voided, which is frustrating when everyone's spending their time and energy to come to decisions and move the business of the city forward. There are extreme situations, I don't anticipate anything like this here, but where there are intentional violations of the Brown Act in secret meetings, criminal sanctions may be warranted. The most common situation is someone says, hey, knock it off city, don't violate the Brown Act, and the city has to respond and then say either, okay, you're right, we're going to, you know, we're just going to change what we did that wasn't right, or maybe not have an admission, but to say, yeah, we'll change what we're doing. Or the city will say, we all agree, and then they can file an injunction in court. And the attorney fees will go to the prevailing plaintiff. So the takeaways of the Brown Act is that as public officials, all of you commissioners are representing the people. of the state and the city and the people have entrusted you to manage the government affairs in an accessible and transparent manner. And so it is a statute that's designed to help us know how to accomplish the above. Okay, so are there any questions? I can pause and stop sharing for a second if anybody has questions.

No questions so far, but we will hold questions until the end of your presentation.

Okay. Thanks so much, Chair. And again, I appreciate it. This is a very strange way to do a presentation where I can't see your faces. So thanks for bearing with me. So the second part of this presentation is also, this is actually even a little bit more brief, but I do want to touch upon ethical considerations because all of the commissioners are subject to the state conflict of interest laws. So the main law is the Political Reform Act, and the basic law, the basic tenet of the Political Reform Act is that decision makers, which includes all the commissioners, may not make, participate in making, or influence a decision if it is likely to materially affect your financial interests. So for the sake of brevity, pretty much every word in that phrase has a whole state regulation defining what it means. I'm going to give you an overview so that if you're working on things that may affect your financial interests, it at least raises a flag for you and we can discuss and help you with an analysis about whether you need to worry about it further. I'm not going to go into the minutiae of each regulation for you guys. But if a decision maker is conflicted and no exception applies, then the routine is that you just close your conflict on the record and you recuse yourself from the matter. So that is very common. It is not something to be Ashamed of it's this happens all day, every day with legislative bodies. People are announcing their financial interests, their conflicts and recusing themselves from the matter so that they don't violate the political reform act. So what are these financial interests that I'm talking about? So sources of income to you over $500 in the year before. Um, your real property. So your house, um, any, maybe a leasehold interest, you have other properties, you have, um, investments like single stocks, generally not mutual funds or blended funds, but if you own, you know, a whole bunch of AT&T stock and that's AT&T funding a park or something, we should at least flag that and do an analysis. Um, your business interests and your business, uh, leadership positions. So if you have a business that has a $2,000 or more investment on your part, or if you're a leader, a CEO, or something of a business, then, um, that business interest is one of your financial interests. Gifts received. So if you've received gifts over $500 from someone or an entity in the past year, they are considered your financial interest. And then the catch-all is this personal financial effects. Basically anything that's going to affect your personal finances negatively or positively by $500 or more could be an interest that we should discuss. One special rule, and this is for those of you who may have political goals, excuse me, if you are running a campaign, sources of campaign contributions to you over $500 may create a conflict. Excuse me. I apologize. Give me just a second here. Okay, we'll see if I can talk again. There are specific thresholds applicable to each of the... Hold on. One more second. Wow, I promise I'm not expiring over here, but it might sound like it. So there are specific thresholds for each of the financial interests that I was just mentioning above, such as the $500 source of income in the year ahead previous or the $2,000 real property threshold for it to be a financial interest. But my goal here is for you to understand that these are the categories of financial interests. And if something that you're working on as a commissioner may have an effect on one of these, um, because it's really close to it, say if it's real property, there may be, there's a park for consideration. That's like half a block from your house or something like that. We want to help you analyze whether you have a conflict so that you can recuse if needed, or if maybe there's an exception that applies. So I believe that most of us are familiar with the form 700. We file it by April 1st of each year. This is the public form where we disclose our financial interests that we just talked about in the previous slide. So we list our financial interests. We file it with the clerk under penalty of perjury. Anyone who cares to can come and be like, okay, you know, what does Amanda, what does she have that are her financial interests? So that maybe If she's working on that topic in the city attorney's office, she should recuse herself. And the same applies to you as commissioners. So we file the form every year. We also file it within 30 days of assuming office or leaving office. So when you start your time as a commissioner or when you leave your time as a commissioner. So another related ethical law that is pretty important. And luckily, I don't think it's going to apply too frequently to PRAC is Government Code Section 1090. This is a very heavy-handed code section. Basically, the rule, it's about complex of interest in making contracts. And PRAC doesn't make a lot of contracts in its own capacity, which is great because it's very sometimes challenging to comply with this law. The rule is that a decision maker may not have a financial interest in a matter. And if they do, unless it falls within one of these exceptions, the city just can't make the contract. And unlike the political reform act that we just described, there aren't financial thresholds involved. So there's no description of what makes a financial interest count. If it's more than what they call de minimis, which is kind of a vague term meaning pretty small, then the interest might prevent the contract from being created. There are a bunch of exemptions that I will not go into here. But again, this is just another thing. If you are doing something with PRAC that could affect your finances or your property or your business in some way, please be sure that you flag that for us so we can help advise you. And lastly, we have common law conflicts of interest. And this is just kind of a catch-all. It is possible that you may not have a specific financial interest in something, but you are so involved or passionate or otherwise caught up in it that you cannot be unbiased about the matter. And in that case, the law requires the city to avoid the appearance of impropriety, meaning that in some cases when someone is, you know, cannot be separate themselves from a matter, they need to recuse from it. Very fact intensive. This is not a, you know, This is one where we have to do an analysis each time because this is, you know, obviously could be very, very broad, but I don't believe that's the intent. The intent is there is a high bar. But it's just something else to think about. If you're working on something and you're curious about, you're like, wow, this is something that my family has been working on for six generations. Like we don't have any financial interest in it, but it's something that we have put in thousands of hours on or something like that. Then please, please flag for us. So lastly, if you do need to recuse, what do you do? So you disclose why, and there is certain language around, depending on the type of conflict, during your PRAC meeting, immediately before the item is considered, you recuse yourself from the vote and you leave the room while the item is considered. And there are a couple of narrow exceptions to that. But it's pretty easy. And the important thing about conflicts is to remember that your duty is not just to not vote, but to not influence the item, which can be a little bit more broad and less intuitive. So we'll go to questions here. I want to thank you for your attention. I'm going to stop sharing the screen so that if anybody has questions, I'm happy to answer.

Well, I want to thank you for that presentation. And I will go ahead and start bringing it back to the commission to see if they have any questions. I'll start with Commissioner Duran. Commissioner Miller? No, thank you. Vice Chair Ward?

None, thank you.

Commissioner Kalia? Aye.

about the common law, disqualifications required even if no conflict under state law. Could you elaborate on that?

Yes. So thank you, Commissioner. As I was alluding to, that's almost the hardest one to define because it's not statutory. It's made up in case law. It's hard to quantify and it's fact specific, but I would say if there is something that you are working on as a commission that is very near and dear to your heart, or there's, you know, some extreme interest, this is beyond being an engaged person in the community who, you know, cares enough to be on the commission. You know, that's kind of the base level. You're all there. then you might want to discuss it. An example I've come up with, it's not good, but I'm going to give it to you anyway until I come up with a better one, is that in a former life, before I was an attorney, I used to do salmon restoration. And so I imagined that I had spent 30 years of my career restoring a creek or something like that. And I was a commissioner and I was voting on a matter that would affect that creek positively or negatively. Because I have this very involved, passionate history with this project, I would consider recusing myself. It is a little bit hard to put a fine point on it. And, you know, your counsel, Brent, might have more. He might have examples, too. He's done this kind of work for a long time also. It could maybe help. But I would encourage you, if you have something for you that goes above and beyond, you know, being an engaged citizen in Fresno and someone who's passionate about parks, to please talk to staff or us and we can tease out if there's an interest that we need to worry about.

Thank you for your answer.

You have any more questions, Commissioner Collier? I guess not. Commissioner Kercharski, do you have any questions? No, thank you. Commissioner Dolan.

Amanda, thank you for the presentation, and I have no questions.

I have no questions, but just one request. If possible, the next time we get this training, can we get it in person, please, and be able to receive the PowerPoint printout so we can follow along and make notes and just have it for our reference?

Sure, absolutely. That's noted. Thank you, Chair. And again, I do apologize. I think I almost choked it up silently over here, but hopefully it wasn't too loud in chambers. Thank you for your attention. Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation. Have a good evening.

Take care.

All right. We will now move on to discussion items, ID number 26-856, update on the expanded access to arts and cultural grant programs. Will someone from the Parks Department please begin the presentation?

Testing, OK. Good evening, Commission. Shelby McNabb, Assistant Director of Parks Department. I'll be providing an update on the expanded access to arts and culture grant program. So I'll start with cycle two. As I've done before, I give an update on cycle two. Cycle three then follows. So staff have begun meeting one-on-one with grantees who received $0 to enable contracting. We've prioritized the cycle two grantees that had not yet received funding, just in the interest of getting funding moving. Groups that received their 90% upfront have been contacted with information on next steps. We sent an email which included some templates and documents that we're requesting, and we are asking for final reports and expense reports to enable contracting for that group as well. Interviews and hiring efforts have continued to provide support to the team, so we are continuing to interview and take steps to hire to help speed up the process, but in lieu of that effort for now, we've engaged existing staff to start to get things moving as well. And we have received some feedback regarding SharePoint and requests to use Submittable due to familiarity. We've been using SharePoint to collect files, but Submittable, I believe, was very familiar to Prior cycle awardees so we've been working proactively to explore procurement to see if that might be an option that works better for the grantees For cycle two and then even potentially cycle three as well. So we are looking into that we've been building a custom portal, but based on some of the feedback we've received and some of the Security that it takes to be able to access city software. We're going to explore that option as well. I As part of cycle two, we've provided graphics to help the grantees navigate the contracting process. On the left there in the purple is a graphic we provided previously for grant agreements. This applies to organizations that had not yet started work and whether they received money or not if they had not yet started and then the blue is outlining the settlement agreement process and that's going to be for organizations that had started work and are on track to complete work by the original timeline so the agreements look different based on the different terms they have different insurance requirements and We are navigating which of the Cycle 2 grantees, which route they will go on based on their unique circumstances. So that's why we have been meeting one-on-one because each project has different nuances. And then you'll see there the one on the left-hand side. Some people are getting both type of agreements depending on where their project is and what work has to be done. completed in the future. So we hope these visuals have helped, and we really enjoyed getting a chance to meet one-on-one with the Cycle 2 awardees. Now, the image here next to it, the Application Review Committee, that's actually intended for Cycle 3. I'll take any questions on Cycle 2 at the very end, so I'll continue on for the Cycle 3 update. Sorry about that. That should have been on another slide. But that is just a graphic to map out the Application Review Committee formation process. Let me flip forward here, and we'll come back to that. So for cycle three, on June 4, the Fresno City Council established an ad hoc committee via adoption of a resolution. And the ad hoc committee is called the PRAC Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee. And it was established for the purposes of reviewing the draft grant guidelines for the PRAC and to provide feedback and recommendations to the full council at its regular June 18th meeting. So this was formed following the meeting in which you all expressed support for the draft guidelines and the scoring, the ARC handbook. And then we are on track to Have the item discussed on June 18th, which is this Thursday. There were some edits made within the the document So those are reflected on the council item, but going back to this graphic we also added this graphic so that it's easy for someone to be able to see how the ARC groups would be formed. And it includes involvement from a subcommittee of PRAC members who would handle the selection of the ARC members. So we will be coming back to chair for probably the next meeting to work on forming those. All right, so in the next 30 days, we will continue to meet with cycle two grantees and move forward with contracting and funding. Again, we're working closely with each of them on a one-on-one basis and are sharing materials to expedite that process as much as possible. We will continue our interviews and onboarding for staff to help fill the positions that were listed and advertised. We will launch the Notice of Funding Opportunity. There will be two of them, one for general operating support and one for project support grant solicitations on June 30th. And we will finalize dates and deadlines. So you will notice also in the guidelines that are going to Council on Thursday, the timeline is not included. That's because the timeline will be included on the NOFO documents. So the timeline that was presented to you all previously will be reflected then on those NOFOs. We will update the city website with cycle three information. So Sarah's got kind of a framework drafted out, so we'll be able to refer everyone to the website once the guidelines are adopted by council. And then we will work on developing the related documents, the application for the ARC subcommittee we'd like to work with prac on on that formation and then drafting the conflict of interest questions and all the documents and things that are listed within the guidelines So as always, for resources, there are agendas, minutes, attachments, and recordings from many of the past meetings located at the links here. And then we've also linked the City of Fresno website with more information. For ongoing updates and contacts, we will continue to provide updates to you all at each meeting. The upcoming meetings are listed there. There is a phone line, a dedicated email, and then the website linked again. How can I, do you have any questions? That concludes my presentation. How can I answer your questions?

Thank you, Shelby, for that presentation and the update. I will bring it back to the commission. Commissioner Duran, do you have any questions?

I do, and thank you for the presentation. I was wondering for when you shared about continuing interviews and onboarding for the new positions that were created, are you able to share what the breakdown would be for who has been hired and what positions we're still interviewing for?

So since we're in an active recruitment process, I don't know that I'm able to speak to that. I don't know, TJ, if you want to chime in. I'm sorry.

Can you repeat the question? I apologize.

Yeah, so the update was given that we're going to be continuing interviewing and onboarding staff for the new positions. I was wondering if we could have a number of the breakdown of for what position we're still interviewing for and then for what position we may have hired for.

I believe you guys are still interviewing for all positions, correct? Correct. You can list that you're in the interview phase of any recruitment. You just can't be specific to the actual selection process because of the civil service elements of the positions.

Okay, so we're in the interview phase. So as soon as we have an update that I can share with you, I'll share it.

So they haven't been filled. Can you say that? We're in the interview phase. That is correct.

They have not yet been filled. You can say that. They have not yet been filled.

I just read between your lines. I'm just messing with you.

Chair McCoy, I will say there's been a lot of interest.

Let's put it that way. A lot of interest, yeah. Commissioner Miller, look, I lost my train of thought.

Vice Chair Ward. No, thank you. It looks like your departments continue to put a lot of work in on this and we really appreciate it.

Thank you Commissioner Kalia Nothing at this time. Thank you Commissioner Kerchovsky. Thank you for your presentation Yes, thank you for the update Commissioner Dolan Yes, Shelby.

Thank you very much for the presentation. I I'm sorry because I do remember that we had these hiring efforts. Can you just remind me what are the actual positions that we are, the position descriptions that we're hiring?

So we have a program administrator, which would oversee the team. And then we have a community outreach specialist and a community coordinator. So these positions are being brought on to augment our grants and contracts team to enable us to do this work.

So three in total?

Yes.

OK. Thank you. That's all my questions.

I have one more question. I know this is not as part of this, but somebody brought up something earlier, and I was wondering if that could fall into this eventually. The idea that there are, excuse me, I lost my train of thought. Oh, the sports thing. Having somebody have a sports position in the community to oversee some of the things that they're talking about. They're two separate things, I know. But I'm just wondering if that's something down the road that might be considered. I know it's different. Would something like that be considered for the future?

I think when we do our recommendations again for the mid-year budget, we will be able to make those type of recommendations there to be able to send to city council.

Great. Thank you for the advice. You're welcome.

Am I correct? Okay. Just wanted to make sure. I've been here long enough to know, right? Thank you, Shelby, for the update. And I just want to thank your department for everything that you guys have been doing on Cycle 2. I know that it's been a lot of manpower, a lot of hours, a lot of questions from this commission and the public. But just thank you to you guys.

You're welcome.

All right, we will move on to the next hearing, ID number 26-857, hearing to receive public input on expanded access to arts and cultural grant program. Would any member of the public like to make a comment regarding this item? You will have up to three minutes. Do I have anyone on line?

Laura Gee, you have three minutes.

Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. I've been, I'm representing Care Fresno and a current grantee, cycle one and two. I noticed on page 11 of 26 the document in prior meetings where we are going through it and making revisions. I wasn't in the last meeting. On page 11, it says ineligible applicants, nonprofit organizations that are religious, political, or private foundations. So I don't, can you explain where we landed for that? Because you have historically had a number of nonprofit organizations that are heavy in the arts as far as application or feed on, you know, in programs. But their original designation might have been religious or faith-based or whatever with the IRS. In the case of Cara Fresno 30 years ago, that was the case. But can you explain that to me? Am I only allowed to make a comment but not have a response?

Yes.

Okay. So where can we find the most up-to-date revision of this document? If somebody could express that as we go along.

So you can find it at the website. www.fresno.gov slash parks slash EAAC. All right.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Parvin M., you have three minutes.

Yes. Do you have my Could you hear me?

Yes.

Okay. Yes, I am of the cycle one and cycle two and representing Iranian culture and art world of Fresno. Usually the direction before it was so clear and we know that what to do, but this time it is a little bit confusing. beside the website, is there any other way on phone, telephone number or anything we could call it? We are stuck in the middle and we need more help or you need some question. And another thing is that would you please put that website on the chat so I could copy it. I would appreciate that. That's all I want to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Are you able to drop that information in the chat?

I don't, I'm not able to.

Okay, so I will be able to give out the telephone number, 559-621-2999. Email is expandedarts.org. At fresno.gov, website is www.fresno.gov slash parks slash E-A-A-C. Do we have anyone else online? Okay, I will now close public comment. Does any commissioner have any questions or comments regarding this item? We will now move on to our next item, ID number 26-858, hearing to receive public input on allocations related to Measure P, updates to the Parks Master Plan and Cultural Arts Plan, and annual Parks Department budget and capital improvement plans. But any member of the public like to make a comment regarding this item, you will have up to three minutes for a comment. And I have Dr. William Contenti.

Hello again. So I was just doing a brief search through the Measure P budget and allocations, and it appears that there was, just from my research, there was an abundance of revenue compared to expenditures. I would recommend creating a director of sport for tennis and pickleball for the Parks and Rec through the city as a as a city position funded by the Measure P funds that would oversee the pickleball tennis at Roeding Park as well as the other neighborhood parks throughout the city. I know you're well represented throughout the community. I'm not even sure. I can't tell you how many tennis courts there are, how many City of Fresno Park pickleball courts there are, but I think that's a growing demand. And I think part of that responsibility would be for youth and senior programs, getting kids out to play, organizing regional or area tennis and pickleball youth sports activities, summer and year round. If you wanted to have one director of sport position, it would be a paid position through the Measure P funds. And then you'd have a director at Roeding Park. You'd have a director of community tennis parks. You'd have a director of pickleball under that director position. So it looked like there was funding through the budget that I saw from last year. from revenue that had come in through the tax with expenditures. So again, this is just a real cursory look, but I would recommend that a director of support all through the city of Fresno be looked at. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have anyone online?

There's no one online.

All right, I will now close public comment. Does any member of the commission have any questions or comments regarding this item? Go ahead.

Yeah. Somebody brought up the adopt a park model. I was wondering if that was still a program at the city. I remember bringing this up another, I don't even remember how long ago it was. So I was wondering if that was still an available option for nonprofit groups or other groups, or one that the Parks Department was considering looking at.

I think that's something that the city was trying to move away from because they did have nonprofits and CBOs in the parks, but I don't want to speak for them, but I do know that a lot of CBOs who were housed in the parks, in the community centers rather, have transitioned out and park staff has taken place in there.

We do have a program through the Beautify Fresno. I believe it's called Lava Park. Lava Park. And there is an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to partner with Beautify Fresno specific to park support.

Okay, great. So we should direct people to Love a Park through Beautify Fresno is probably the first option, best option for groups interested in, you know, supporting the work of the parks.

Can you give a brief description on what Love in the Park is so community members can be aware? What Beautify Fresno, if that's possible?

I'm going to see if I can look it up because I do not want to misspeak because I do not, I'm not day in and day out operating that program. The overall goal is to have a beautify volunteer effort for cleaning up the park. And then there's an agreement so that we don't rely on the volunteer cleanup efforts and then they're not fulfilled.

So it kind of supplement and enhances the regular operations that the park not necessarily being able to be housed at the park. Correct. Okay. Just very distinct difference.

This is just of the green space. Yes. Yes.

I understood it. I just wanted, I didn't want the public to be confused with what we used to have, which was adopt a park. So thank you for that clarification. Any other questions?

Yeah, I have another one. Sorry. Well, I, the last meeting, I think there was, the capital projects, there's going to be a lot coming up because of years' work, and then it's going to taper off again. I was wondering if there's any action item we could make to say we'd like to see more capital projects happening, more projects. I don't know if that's just because timing or there will be more coming. It just takes more time. But I'd like to see it not slow down. I don't know if that's anything I can have anything to say about, but I'd love to see more projects happen like that.

Yeah, and I think Commissioner Kutarski, we talked about this at the last meeting and the opportunities that the commission has. Those will come up again. I believe we start those budget hearings, I think, in September. You all will have the opportunity to make recommendations on new capital projects, acquisitions, and things of that nature. So typically at that time, we'll come to you all with projects that are in design, maybe lacking construction funding that you all could then recommend to council. and or new projects in itself, whether it's an acquisition of a vacant parcel to develop into a park, September, October, November will be the opportunity for you all to make those recommendations. And we will come back and present to you with that information so you can make those decisions.

And we're still in the phase of addressing the highest needs, so those will be the first priority parks, correct? Correct. When you say the highest needs neighborhood definition, like the 50% that we vote on, any park that fall in that category will be addressed first, correct? Because it's the highest needs.

Yeah. So we have the 50% that's allocated in the various buckets for you all to consider. And again, remember, we also have some of that highest definition from the first go around that isn't spent. So we have that categorized for you all to look at based on the initial highest needs neighborhood definition that was adopted, 33%. There's still some money left from that in addition to the new definition, the 50%.

So that 33% money just rolled over to, or is it in a separate pot? It just rolled over, correct?

It rolls over, but we keep account of it in what we call a sub fund. So we don't mix that money with the new money. So we can clearly identify how much is left in that 33%, what that needs to go towards. So.

Okay, so all that will be addressed during the budget?

Yeah, we'll outline what's left in those categories for the old definition, the current definition, and then Believe it or not, we'll be working on the next right.

It comes up fast. Thank you. Any other questions regarding this item?

It's okay. I just wanted to ask how the vacant lot decisions, do you have like a list already or do people bring them to you? How can people bring their vacant lot ideas to Parks Department for acquisition?

Are you talking about the commissioners?

Anyone, yeah, commissioners or public.

So we have, you know, remember, I don't know if you were here, I don't think you were here the first definition when we came up with the highest needs definition. We had heat maps showing kind of where park deserts were located throughout the city. That's one step in addition to the parks master plan. And then some of these specific area plans that are being adopted, we kind of look at all of those kind of in one kind of glance to see where Maybe a new park is needed based off of that data. But then, too, we also have areas that the community may come up with recommendations. They may come. That's why we have these standing hearings on the PRAC agenda. So they can come up if they want to offer an idea for a new park location. That gives them the opportunity. But again, the data that we've presented, and we'll do that again this fall so you all can see where some of those gaps are, and then how that overlays on to the highest needs neighborhood, the old definition, new definition. Just want to give you all as much information as you all can possibly have to make an informed decision.

Thank you. No further questions.

And the acquisition of these lots depends on if it's within walking miles from a community or a neighborhood, correct? And how many people will it serve in that neighborhood? Some of those equity factors are correct.

So some of those are the factors, correct? Remember, there was 15 of them. Yes. So yeah, we can definitely bring up what that looked like.

I think that would be a good review for the new commissioners that are on the commission.

Yeah, I'd be happy to do that.

Thank you. Okay, I don't have any other questions or comments. Anyone else? All right, it is 7.06. Like I always do, I would like to adjourn the meeting in Dr. Francine Naputa's memory, who's deeply missed. Thank you for coming out and enjoy your evening with your family.

So,