fresno elections 2008

I appreciate Mayor Autry’s willingness to put forth ideas on downtown Fresno and the Fulton Mall. His ideas have generated more discussion and the formation of several interest groups such as the Cultural Arts District Committee and the Downtown Coalition. We are now not devoid of ideas or of studies and plans to implement those ideas. What we are lacking is bold leadership. We need a summit where the City Council, the Mayor, all interest groups and stakeholders come together, dust off all of the reports and studies that have been done over the years and, together, negotiate an action plan for downtown and the Fulton Mall that very day. I plan on pushing for such a summit. I believe we can move forward on downtown issues just as we did when the City and County committed to a 10 year plan to end homelessness last fall. I support Mayor Autry’s ideas for a river and a fountain district, but I believe they can be funded by private enterprise, not the City. We can make downtown more than an 8 to 5 government center by increasing housing downtown, by having homes above retail shops like other urban centers and by giving incentives to property and business owners one by one. I am skeptical about Fresno’s current model to grant exclusive rights on large blocks of property to specific developers and, at the least, believe we need to hold such exclusive rights developers to strict timelines or forfeit their agreements. Regarding what we can do for the Fulton Mall: the Fulton Mall is already more than an 8 to 5 government center. It is a bustling retail area on weekends and can be further enhanced with event tie-ins with the arts and Chinatown districts, with more homes above retail shops, with guided walking and bicycle paths and increased attention to maintenance and façade development via the PBID once again being discussed. Further, we need to bring the Mayor, Council, all stakeholders, restaurant and nightclub owners and potential owners together to see how we can restructure our debt, keep downtown evening facilities open and provide free parking to patrons after 6 pm like we have everywhere else in the City.