Development is a central issue in the race for City Council District 6, which represents one of Fresno's fastest-growing areas.
Candidate Michelle Jorgensen is attacking opponent Lee Brand's voting record on the Fresno Planning Commission.
Brand served on the commission from 2001 to 2006, when an aide for Mayor Alan Autry asked him to step down because of the potential for conflict as a City Council candidate.
Brand, co-owner of a property management company, has established himself as a front-runner in the June 3 election because of his commission experience and because he has been campaigning for council for two years.
Realtor Matt White also is running in the race to replace Jerry Duncan, who must give up the northeast Fresno council seat after serving two, four-year terms.
Information about local candidates and campaignsJorgensen, an attorney, says Brand's record on the commission shows a bias in favor of developers. That's not surprising given that Brand is a developer himself, she said.
Brand calls her accusations "reckless." He says he has a record for fairness on the Planning Commission, as indicated by endorsements he has received in the council race from some community activists and environmentalists.
The developer label doesn't fit him either, Brand said.
His company, Westco Equities Inc., primarily manages apartments in the Valley, although it has built some homes and apartments, he said.
White, Brand and Jorgensen agree that the next District 6 representative will help shape development and its effects, such as traffic.
Although White isn't concerned with growth controls, he does have a strong interest in attracting business to Fresno.
Specifically, he wants to recruit environmentally sensitive businesses, such as those involved in solar energy, to Fresno -- a natural fit, given the area's agricultural economy, he said.
Jorgensen said she favors a "smart growth" approach to development.
Developers have been given too much freedom to build where they want, creating urban sprawl and taking farmland.
She said her parents lost their Fresno-area farm to development.
She criticizes Brand for his support of the 2025 General Plan approved by the city in 2002.
The plan created rules about where different types of development could be built, which supporters said would help slow sprawl, including in the north.
Jorgensen said the plan still allows developers too much flexibility about where they can build, and council members and planning commissioners haven't shown a willingness to oppose developers.
Brand, however, said the building plan has been followed as envisioned, creating a smarter development pattern in the city.
Higher-density development is getting approved in the city's core, he said.
White said he supports the city's approach to development. "We're growing very well," he said.
Jorgensen said a 2005 vote is another example of Brand's bias.
Brand cast the lone dissenting vote when the Planning Commission ordered a developer to pay a fee for intersection improvements.
The commercial and industrial project at Shaw Avenue and Highway 99 was expected to bring additional traffic.
"This sends a bad message that the city of Fresno is not business friendly," Brand said at the time.
This week, Brand said the Planning Commission wrongly charged the fees in response to a California Department of Transportation lawsuit against the city over impact fees.
Brand said it was unfair to charge the fees in this case, when Caltrans was not applying the fees equally.
Brand said he doesn't favor interest groups.
He said he voted against two out of the three biggest projects proposed in District 6 during his time on the Planning Commission:
In 2002, Brand was the lone vote against a shopping center at the northeast corner of Shepherd Avenue and Champlain Drive.
He agreed with a number of residents who said the development would bring traffic and safety problems.
In 2004, Brand opposed a rezoning request by developer DeWayne Zinkin for the proposed "Fresno 40" commercial project at Audubon Drive and Friant Road.
He said at the time that the project needed residential construction, too.
The commission approved the project, but it has been held up in court since then.
Brand said he voted in favor of the third biggest project proposed in northeast Fresno in his years on the commission -- Copper River subdivision.
Although critics called it an example of urban sprawl, sitting on the edge of the city, Copper Ridge is a good project, Brand said.
He said Jorgensen apparently agrees, given that she and her husband recently bought a $1.3 million home there. He called her a "hypocrite" for opposing sprawl and living in Copper River.
Jorgensen said she typically opposes subdivisions such as Copper River, but if they're built, they should follow its example, by providing a number of services that cut down on the need to drive to other areas.
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