Here’s how leaders will spend millions in COVID-19 relief money in south Fresno
The Fresno City Council on Tuesday approved a plan for spending federal COVID-19 relief money, which will add a significant amount of funding to the city’s poorest southern neighborhoods.
The council’s plan for the $92.8 million includes spending on two health clinics for southwest and southeast Fresno, a food distribution program and an expansion of testing for the coronavirus, to name a few efforts.
Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi presented a plan last week to spend at least $30 million in the southern part of town, which has been historically underprivileged and hit particularly hard by the pandemic.
The idea was to use $20 million in southwest Fresno and $10 million in southeast to improve technology infrastructure, sidewalks, sewers, parks, public transit, air and water quality and other efforts, including attracting grocery stores and others business.
City staffers brought a plan to the council on Tuesday that incorporated some of those requests.
Both Bredefeld and Karbassi expressed frustration that the newly proposed plan only became available for review about an hour before the meeting started. Ultimately, the council unanimously approved the plan.
Officials said some of requests from Bredefeld and Karbassi, like infrastructure and a grocery store, would be difficult to justify to the federal government or take too long to finish. The money must be spent or connected to a contract by the end of the year.
Many of the plans still benefit the southern part of town, according to Tim Orman, the chief of staff for Mayor Lee Brand.
“The majority of this money, maybe 75%, is going to be in southeast and southwest Fresno,” he said.
Still, Karbassi said he would have liked to see the money go to areas that would immediately benefit people in southern neighborhoods and have long-term effects, like technology infrastructure.
“I think we need to push the envelope,” he said.
Cities like Mesa, Arizona, and Chicago each spent millions of relief dollars on technology upgrades to benefit students in low-income neighborhoods.
Councilmember Luis Chavez, who served on the committee to draw up the proposed spending plan, said the committee had to balance what was eligible for the federal funds with the needs in the southern part of town.
“Based on the framework we’ve provided, this is the best and easiest way to spend,” Chavez said.
The council can vote to change spending at any time, officials noted.
Here’s the adopted spending plan:
Community investment
- $10 million — Purchase two facilities to be operated as health clinics by qualified operators for no rent; one facility in southwest Fresno and one in southeast Fresno
- $5 million — Grant to UCSF Fresno to provide three mobile testing and health screening units focusing on southwest, southeast and central Fresno
- $5 million — Expand testing capability, primarily in southwest and southeast Fresno and create contact tracing capacity
- $5 million — Residential housing retention grants
- $5 million — Provide grants to assist with food purchasing and delivery to vulnerable population
- $4.5 million — Purchase hotels or motels with 100 to 200 rooms to be used for transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness amid COVID-19
- $4 million — Rehabilitate city-owned parks and community centers (much of them in central, southwest and southeast Fresno) to meet COVID-19 safety protocols
- $4 million — Save Our Small Business grants
- $2.4 million — Childcare vouchers for essential workers and vulnerable populations
- $500,000 — Grants for small farms
- $110,000 — Contract with the Economic Development Corp. and local chambers to educate business on safe practices during the pandemic
City expenditures
- $4.25 million — Upgrades to city facilities to accommodate social distancing, add barriers for public counters, fix signage and other improvements to improve safety during the coronavirus
- $2 million — Expand and improve the capability of city employees to work from home
- $1 million — Personal protective equipment like masks
- $1 million — City expenses spent to respond to COVID-19 through June
- $1 million — Estimate of additional spending through December
Essential city services
- $25 million — Salaries for city employees who have provided services to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the community
- $13 million — Contingency for unforeseen expenses
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
