Fresno city leader criticizes Fresno County communication breakdown over COVID-19 money
Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez on Friday criticized county-level officials for what he described as a communication breakdown in the local government response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chavez said he submitted a formal letter asking for details of Fresno County’s plan to spend its $81.5 million in CARES Act funding, federal dollars sent to local governments to support areas hurt by COVID-19.
However, Chavez said, he never got it.
Why that information wasn’t released to Chavez remained unclear Friday, but Fresno County Chief Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau provided many of the details sought by Chavez in a recent interview with The Bee.
“I think this says a lot about the lack of communication between the city and county,” Chavez said. “There needs to be a better collaboration.”
Specifically, Chavez said, he wants more specific information on the demographics of people who test positive for the virus.
The Board of Supervisors approved $40.8 million in federal relief spending this week, and county administrators are supposed to return to detail the plan on July 7, according to county spokesperson Jordan Scott.
The county was also provided an extra $15 million from the state as part of the federal relief.
Fresno County’s CARES spending plan
In a recent interview, Rousseau said the county plans to spend money to ramp up contact tracing, staffing, testing and protective equipment for county workers. He said the spending figures were “squishy” numbers that could change since the economic outlook remains uncertain.
Aside from “hundreds of thousands of dollars” being spent on advertisements and public service announcements, Rousseau gave a breakdown of other spending plans.
That includes $5 million each toward testing and contact tracing; $7 million to improve teleworking infrastructure as employees have had to mostly work from home; $2 million countywide to sanitize county offices; $5 million in homelessness assistance.
The figures don’t represent all the spending that is planned. But Rousseau said the county is waiting for budget negotiations and to determine whether more federal aid will be approved. He said the county faces a revenue loss between $30 and $60 million due to the coronavirus shutdown’s impact.
He said if the federal government does not approve more relief or gives flexibility in what CARES Act dollars can be spent on, the county will have to consider budget cuts or use one-time money from its general fund.
“We’re a month or two from making those decisions,” Rousseau told The Bee in a recent interview.
County officials also have spent some money to help rural-area clinics beef up testing and contact tracing in remote parts of Fresno County, Rousseau said.
He also said the county wants to be mindful of how it spends the money since it can’t be used to replace lost revenue.
While the relief money expires in December, Rousseau said he wants to have funds available if the virus worsens and more costs are added in the coming months.
“We don’t want to go hog wild with this money,” Rousseau said. “We’re all expecting the feds to come and audit us.”
‘Good communication’ between city, county?
Chavez noted the list is incomplete and said he’s been asking for detailed specifics.
“They’ve given broad numbers and they’ve done this to me before,” he said. “Every time I’ve asked for information, it really hasn’t been provided for the city.”
The coronavirus relief spending plan also doesn’t address Chavez’s request for demographics, he said. That information is vital, Chavez said, because it could help city leaders direct their own coronavirus testing and spending plans in the months ahead.
County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said he believes the city and county have a good relationship.
“My perception is there’s good communication between the county and city,” he said. “The county is happy to talk about what we’ve done publicly.”
Magsig said the county’s administration is responsible for making the spending plan and the supervisors will vet it and make tweaks.
Recently, as part of the relief aid, the county announced the recipients of $5,000 grants for small businesses. The county allowed 1,000 businesses who met certain criteria to get the grants. The grants were distributed evenly in each county district.
The spread of the coronavirus has only sped up in recent weeks. The central San Joaquin Valley reported close to 400 new coronavirus cases and three deaths in updates on Thursday. The majority of cases continue to be seen in Fresno (4,374), Kings (2,284) and Tulare (3,705).
“COVID is definitely a challenge for all of us,” Magsig said. “The county is trying to be as methodical as possible.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 6:31 PM.
