Mayor Autry was the new mayor, and Jerry Duncan and I were newly sworn in members of the Fresno City Council in 2001. We inherited a city budget that was $500,000 dollars in the red, the beginning of the California "dot-com" state budget crunch, a state legislature that was about to rob cities to plug the state budget deficit, and no City plan as to how to solve these challenges or plan for the City's future. I suggested that we needed a financial plan, and the mayor and council directed staff to develop the Opportunities and Solutions Summit.
City staff first determined the challenges/issues (we saw them as opportunities) facing Fresno and then put these issues into the form of a question that could be addressed at the April 20, 2001 Summit Conference. Issues and related questions were as follows:
1. Downtown Revitalization
a. Empowerment Zone Designation (How can Fresno qualify for Empowerment Zone Designation?)
b. Downtown Housing (How can Fresno attract downtown residential development? What state and federal funding is available to address housing needs in the downtown and inn-city areas?)
c. Federal Courthouse (What can be done to expedite approval of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Fresno?)
2. Economic Development
a. Roeding and South Industrial/Business Parks (What state and federal funding is available to provide required infrastructure for Roeding and South Industrial/Business Parks? What resources are available to train the workforce to fill these jobs?)
b. Attracting High Tech Industry (What resources are available to implement the required infrastructure in an effort to attract these high-tech companies to Fresno? What resources are available to prepare Fresno's workforce for high-tech employment?)
3. Transportation
a. Railroad Track Consolidation (In addition to local funding, what state and federal resources can be obtained to facilitate this project? How can the BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad participate in the funding of the consolidation effort?)
b. Alternative Transportation (What opportunities are available, through state and federal agencies, to achieve alternative transportation goals? What funding or opportunities are available for sidewalks, signing, enhanced crosswalks, roundabouts to encourage pedestrian traffic, bike lanes and simple street crossings for people with disabilities?)
c. State Highway 180 (What steps can be taken and what funds are available to facilitate the fast-tracking of Highway 180 to Interstate 5?)
d. Airport (What funding sources are available to Fresno International Airport to assist airlines with cooperative advertising to attract and maintain airlines to Fresno?)
The April 20th Summit included elected officials and technical experts from the local, state and federal level. The opportunities/issues (to include questions) had been made available to the attendees. They were, therefore, prepared to provide solutions/answers.
It is clear that eight years later many, not all, of the solutions were implemented. The Summit was successful in that it provided solutions--a road map so to speak--to meet both short and long-range goals for Fresno.
I would encourage both Mayor Swearengin and the Council, none of whom were in City government in 2001, to reprise the Opportunities and Solutions Summit. Some of the "opportunities" may still need addressing today. Other solutions to today's "opportunities" might be more important.
It should be remembered that even though the 2001 Summit issues were not today's state and local financial problems facing the mayor and council, elected leaders were very cognizant of the budgetary challenges. That is why Mayor Autry and that council left Fresno with a balanced budget, to include a $17 million dollar reserve.
Another Opportunities and Solutions Summit would, I believe, be a prudent way for the City Council to plan for the future while taking care of the present.
Contact Council President Cynthia Sterling and Mayor Ashley Swearengin at 621-8000 or City Manager Andy Souza at 621-7770.
Coming events...1) People are interesting: Standing on Fresno's corners for nine years. 2) What's in a name...Fresno?
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