fresno elections 2008

Any incoming office holders will face serious fiscal challenges over the next four years. The subprime loan meltdown and looming recession will adversely affect property tax, sales tax and other revenue sources for local government. Preliminary estimates for the FY 2008-09 budget are showing a deficit of $14 million to $20 million. The city has about a $16 million surplus that will cushion most of the deficit the first year. Ensuing years will become more problematic.

There will be three ways to balance the city budget: decrease costs, raise taxes or fees and increase revenues. I will advocate a zero based budgeting where each year the entire city budget and all departments must examine their costs and justify each line item expense starting from a zero base. It is too easy to go on year to year without seriously examining the operation of each city department. A careful, analytical analysis of the city budget should reveal some duplications, inefficiencies, and waste. With a $1 billion budget a 1% savings would be $10 million. The general fund portion of the budget has steadily escalated over the years to about $250 million. Although I would want to protect as many city jobs as possible we may have to seriously evaluate outsourcing certain city services that can be done at a substantial savings while delivering the same level of service. In the event certain city services would have to be cut my priority would be to maintain public safety services.

I will never say never but I would see tax increases as the last answer to solving budget problems. The city has already embarked on a mission to increase fees and fines. The fire department now charges all rental property owners annual inspection fees whether or not there are any problems at the property. A large amount of police department resources are now devoted to traffic enforcement to increase fees from traffic citations. There are other examples and these types of fees balance the budget on the backs of small business and tax payers. The fee increase I do agree with is the recent increases to development fees that had been unchanged for many years.

The planning department operates on the enterprise status where the revenues generated from permit fees, plan check fees and development fees pay for department expenses. Although there is an inherent potential conflict of interest in enterprise status it can be successful if properly run. Expanding enterprise status to other city services could be a way to generate more revenues to offset rising costs of government.

The city can aggressively try to raise their revenue sources through successfully promoting business. My detailed description of developing a 500 plus acre industrial park in the economic development questions would generate millions of dollars in new revenues for the city.

I can offer the same example from my answer to the economic development question of improving city revenues through filling vacant hotel rooms and generating more revenues. Once elected, I will have time to fully understand the entire city budget and operations and be in a position to find other potential solutions to the budget problem.

Mayor Autry has a good heart and the best of intentions to make Fresno a better city. Grand visions and dreams do not make a better city. You need well defined, achievable goals, a specific long term plan to achieve those goals and a confirmed financing source. Mayor Autry’s idea of a downtown lake or a trolley car system between the Tower District and downtown are grand visions but they are premature. First of all, we do not have the financial resources to pay for these types of costly items. A second issue to consider is the water shortage we have. The revitalization of downtown will follow a pattern with building blocks put together in sequence. There will be a proper time for a downtown waterway when the right building blocks of commercial, retail, and residential development are in place.

The current makeup of Fulton Mall will never succeed. Small Ma and Pa business and some government buildings is not enough to regenerate interest in downtown and the mall. The current property owners do not take care of their property. The recently discussed Fulton Mall Improvement District where the city loans money to property owners is a potential solution to improving the appearance of the Fulton Mall. Each owner would repay the loan through assessments against their properties. The improvement district concept could also be expanded to include the entire downtown area. This is, however, not enough for the Fulton Mall. To attract people downtown you need a regional attraction like a major retailer or factory outlet store. I do not believe in destroying historic buildings. We need to maintain an historic image of downtown preserving the original architecture.

As I mentioned earlier, the right building blocks of commercial, retail and residential components must be developed to insure the success of downtown. The residential component is critical to make downtown a vibrant 24 hour part of our city and not an abandoned area after 5:00 PM.

Forest City’s proposed south stadium project would have a profound impact on the resurrection of downtown. I have met with Forest City officials and I am familiar with their proposed project and the overall plan for the area. The fact that Forest City, one of the largest retail developers in the country, is showing an interest in our downtown area should provide an incentive for both the private and public sectors to offer their support. Their mixed use development offers over 650 residential units including rentals and single family homes for sale. This is the missing component in downtown today. I have heard estimates of up to $99 million to cover the cost of the infrastructure improvements to make this project go forward. In a time when government revenues are declining this will be a challenge. It will be no easy sale to the taxpayers of Fresno. We have a legacy of failed projects. We cannot, however, retreat from taking future risks is there are substantial rewards. As a businessman I know that you have to make investments and there is never a certainty of the outcome. What is needed is a careful analytical study of this project and its fiscal impact on both downtown and the entire city. Ultimately, the potential return on investment must be sufficient to justify the costs and risks. We cannot borrow ourselves into a sea of debt with an uncertain revenue stream. I believe the solution will be a combination of State and Federal assistance and local bond financing to cover the anticipated costs.

Since the demise of Roeding Industrial Park there have been no concerted efforts to develop a major, 500 plus acre industrial park in Fresno. If you compare completed industrial parks in Southern and Northern California to Fresno we are not competitive. These other parts of the state offer completed, landscaped, and paved parks with direct access to freeways and railroad spurs. You are offered a turnkey business opportunity. When you come to Fresno you are shown a vacant lot filled with weeds and the promise that one day the freeway will be extended there and the park will be built. Developing a first class 500 acre plus industrial will be one of my top priorities when I am elected. This will require a major commitment from the city to help assemble the land and find the financing for the infrastructure. A completed, successful park would provide an enormous economic benefit to the community in both jobs and creating new revenues for the city.

Tourism is the second leading industry in Fresno County behind agriculture producing $990 million per years. This is an underdeveloped industry with a lot of potential. We have three major national parks at our back door. The Convention Visitors Bureau or CVB has been ineffective in the past. The city, the county and the EDC have not cooperated in developing a cohesive plan and promotion. Recent changes in leadership at both EDC and CVB have given me confidence that the right team is in place and we can make substantial improvements in our promotion of CVB in Fresno. Let me offer you an example of how much additional revenue could be generated from hotel taxes alone. If you could fill half of the vacant hotel rooms in Fresno it would generate an additional $10 million per year in new revenues.

For years, I have heard talk of making Fresno more business friendly and improving the permit and plan check process. I know firsthand from being a businessman that these improvements have never materialized. Nothing is easy to do in Fresno. A simple tenant improvement project can take weeks to navigate the plan check process and get a permit. There is poor coordination between departments. Our primary source of jobs is existing business. We need to offer the incentives and means for existing business to be successful. One idea I would like to promote is to pre-zone certain parcels. This would be an enormous benefit to assembling the land for an industrial park or finding solutions for affordable housing. Processing a tract map and entitlements can take one to two years and this is simply not going to work.

The Redevelopment Agency or RDA is the primary vehicle for rejuvenating downtown and older neighborhoods. The RDA is a state mandated agency that is an adjunct to the city council. City council members are the board members who direct this agency. Other methods to improve older neighborhoods include the “no neighborhood left behind” program started a few years. I do believe it is important to maintain our older neighborhoods not only for the residents who live there but also to encourage more infill development. In the next four years, it will be difficult to fund many worthwhile projects in Fresno. I do believe, however, that we need to keep maintenance of older neighborhoods high on our priority list.

Running Horse offered a promise of a PGA golf course and a large, upscale residential development in West Fresno. From my many years of experience in real estate, I knew that the success of Running Horse was problematic at best. In the best real estate market in the past 100 years the luxury homes could not be sold. I believe we need to be more realistic in future developments trying to restore neglected areas like West Fresno. We need smaller, first time buyer home tracts in areas like West Fresno that will offer residents the dream of home ownership at affordable prices.

From a simple economic point of view, simply reducing the production of new homes will greatly diminish future sprawl. A no growth policy would solve one problem but exacerbate other problems. We currently have an affordable housing problem in Fresno. The price of existing homes will rise substantially if we discontinue building new homes. I It would also dramatically increase rental housing prices because no new multifamily units would be built. We also have a growing population, primarily by new births, that will need future housing. The other negative outcome would be a loss of thousands of construction related jobs tied directly to the housing industry.

The best way to prevent sprawl is to follow the 2025 General Plan. This blueprint for the future redirected growth from a continued outward expansion to “in and up”. It also moved growth to the Southeast and Southwest. The 2025 General Plan and LAFCO have set the future growth area for Fresno. It has been too easy in the past to simply expand outward into agricultural areas and neglect infill. I would like to see an agricultural green belt established around the perimeter of Fresno. The San Joaquin River sets a natural barrier to the North and the industrial area to the South serves as a buffer. The Western and Eastern boundaries (below Clovis) would be best suited to an agricultural green belt. There will have to come a time where we simply draw a line in the sand, via an agricultural green belt, and provide a firm outward expansion boundary.

Market forces drive the real estate market. Simply put, most people want to live in the suburbs because of perceived amenities and lifestyle. Why do people want to buy in the suburbs? They want a quality school system that both Clovis Unified and Central Unified offer. They want drug stores, super markets, fast food outlets and other conveniences close to where they live. They also want to be close to entertainment venues like Edwards Cinema and Save Mart Center. Finally, they want to feel that their neighborhood is safe and that the city is properly maintaining their neighborhood. There are two ways to encourage people to buy in infill projects. First, the overall project must be appealing to a prospective buyer. The city can enhance the housing tract by improving the surrounding area and developing supporting retail and commercial development in the area. Improving the image of Fresno Unified will be essential to attract families with school age children. An underperforming school district alone will dissuade many buyers from purchasing a home. The second method of encouraging people moving into infill areas is to offer incentives to both developers and buyers. Offering developers financial incentives such as expedited processing of tract maps, high density bonus, and reduced fees will enable the developer to produce a less expensive home. Buyers can be offered incentives too including special financing or tax credits for solar power.

We currently have a ratio of about 2.8 acres per 1,000 people. The 2025 General Plan expands that ratio a little to 3.0 to 1,000 people. The national average is closer to 5.0 acres per 1,000 people. When I was a member of the Fresno Planning Commission we reviewed several tract map applications in the Roosevelt/Sunnyside area. This particular area of Fresno required that all new developments earmark 5% for parks or green space or mitigate the cost. Through the efforts of all commissioners we were able to move forward a plan text amendment to the general plan to require that all future developments citywide have the same 5% requirement. This requirement encourages developers to develop more green space in their subdivisions including linear parks.

Fresno has grown to the point where we could use another regional park such as Woodward Park. Frankly speaking, I think it will be very difficult to achieve in the next four years with major budget shortfalls. In fact, any new park will be hard to finance. We need a long term strategy to solve this problem. We also need to be more creative in the development of parks and green space. A good example of innovative planning for green space is the new Francher Creek development in Southeast Fresno. Using the natural feature of Francher Creek, this development was built around that natural feature with connecting trails to the mixed use community.

Developing new parks will have to be financed primarily through developer fees. We need to seriously assess the fee structure to insure that enough revenues are generated for new parks. Grant monies can also be used to augment developer fees and should be seriously explored. The remaining problem is finding the money to maintain parks once we build them. The city is having a major problem now maintaining median islands, parks, and our streets. Special assessment districts may be one solution to providing an ongoing revenue stream to cover the cost of maintenance.

For the most part, I support the efforts of the Fresno Police Department to fight the gang problem. Their aggressive round ups of Bulldog and other gang members not only keeps our streets safe but it saves lives. It also gives some gang member a chance to get out of the gang. With approximately 7,000 known gang members in Fresno we must be vigilant in our efforts to contain these gangs. We also have a major population of ex-felons that continues to grow as a state prison system sends them back into our community. I also support the angle bracelet tracking of gang members and other criminals.

As a firm supporter of law enforcement efforts to tackle gang problems I also realize that there is another approach to resolving the gang problem. Successful intervention at an early age can prevent some youth from ever getting into gangs. It is estimated that it costs about $1 million to process a young offender through our criminal justice system. From a pure economic viewpoint, a successful youth program that costs $100,000 would certainly be a bargain if it successfully keeps kids out of gangs.

There is a clear a nexus between the problems at Fresno Unified and problems of crime and unemployment in Fresno. The city recreation department has implemented some innovative after school programs in collaboration with Fresno Unified. I have seen a presentation of these programs and I am very impressed. The city must support and collaborate with Fresno Unified to try to keep kids in school and out of gangs. I am a strong advocate of vocational training in our primary school systems. There are many kids who could have successful careers in trades such as plumbing, auto mechanics, carpentry and other trades but they have no formal training in their schools. We need to offer incentives to keep kids in school. I am also a strong advocate of mentoring programs for our youth as exemplified by the program developed by the Fresno Business Council.

I do not support an independent police auditor. There are several levels of existing overview for the police department starting with their internal affairs division. You could argue that internal affairs is not objective because they want to protect their own. The next level is the grand jury and the Fresno County District Attorney’s office. Both can conduct independent, objective investigations of the police department. The final level would be the State Attorney General’s office. This would move the jurisdiction completely out of Fresno.

Adding a police auditor and support staff would create another expense for tax payers with a cost that will easily exceed $100,000. In an austere budget how do you justify additional bureaucracy at city hall to tax payers?

The selection of a police auditor would be a very politicized event that never satisfy all of the different interest groups affected. For example, if a white male was selected many African Americans would feel they are not represented.

The City of Fresno is currently considering the creation of a new, independent public utility district. This district would cover most of Fresno. Ostensibly, this offers the opportunity to save millions of dollars for customers. It has been estimated that this new district could save taxpayers about $7.7 million over 15 years. The primary reason for reducing costs is the new district would qualify for lower, tax exempt interest rates on bond financing. Current city bonds cannot be refinanced because they have exceeded the maximum number of refinances. It is estimated that refinancing could free up as much as $138 million for new projects in Fresno.

The only salient question is how this new district would affect the city’s 600-700 utility employees. City employee representatives are obviously concerned about what will happen to the city employees affected.

In addition to the potential cost savings, the new utility district will have an independent board of directors elected by the voters of Fresno. An independent board will be more removed from the politics at city hall and provide more attention to the utility issues. I would support this new district if careful evaluation can confirm the potential costs savings and that the new district can integrate the city employees with comparable wages and benefits.