Fresno mayor, City Council drop fight against Measure P, in victory for parks advocates
The majority of the Fresno City Council on Thursday voted to drop the city’s protestations of Measure P, a tax for parks that has been working its way through the courts.
The council voted 5-2 to accept the ruling of California’s Fifth District Court of Appeal, which overturned an opinion from a lower court on Fresno’s parks tax ballot measure.
Measure P on the November 2018 ballot proposed a 3/8-cent sales tax that would’ve generated $37.5 million annually for 30 years for Fresno parks and cultural arts. Measure P received about 52% “yes” votes.
The lawsuit came after the measure did not get two-thirds of votes in 2018. Parks advocates argued that the vote only needed a simple majority, and the appeals court agreed.
In his first meeting on the dais, Councilmember Tyler Maxwell sponsored the resolution with council members Esmeralda Soria and Miguel Arias.
“The question is no longer ‘Was Measure P successful?’ But rather, ‘How will we as a community begin to reinvest into our broken parks system with the funds generated through Measure P?’ ” Maxwell said.
The resolution got two “no” votes from Council members Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi.
“Courts shouldn’t be deciding elections,” Karbassi said. “It’s like reversing the Super Bowl.”
The council debated the matter — which was decided by the appeals court on Dec. 17 — for about an hour. Karbassi expressed his frustration that the debate around parks is so commonly posed as a competition between north and south Fresno.
Bredefeld argued the tax is too large and lasts too long to support, adding it also doesn’t pay for police or firefighter jobs.
Arias noted measures — like those for libraries, Chaffee Zoo and others — are pointed and also don’t pay for public safety.
The court ruled that Measure P was brought to the ballot by voters, not elected officials, so it only needed the simple majority to pass. Maxwell said the California Supreme Court has suggested it will not hear the case, leaving the appellate decision in place.
Soria said the decision allows Fresno to have a fresh effort at equitable parks.
“Measure P is about too many decades of disinvestment,” she said. “People recognized in 2018 that it was an opportunity to write a different story for the city of Fresno.”
Measure P was supported by a broad coalition of community groups throughout Fresno, including doctors, politicians, businesses and nonprofits. It also had opponents in former Mayor Lee Brand, Fresno Fire Chief Kerri Donis, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, and Darius Assemi, president of Granville Homes.
Another big opponent was former police chief and newly-elected Mayor Jerry Dyer, who sat in on his first council meeting in the new role. He said he originally opposed the measure because it didn’t also pay for public safety and infrastructure maintenance.
But Dyer has changed his tune. He told the Bee on Tuesday he was happy the tax will be in place.
“I really want us to just come together and determine how we’re going to utilize these funds ... to beautify our city, to beautify our parks, to beautify our trails,” he said on Thursday.
Measure P breaks down like this:
- 46% for park maintenance
- 21% for new parks and recreational facilities
- 12% for arts and culture programs
- 11% for trails and the San Joaquin River Parkway
- 8% for youth and senior recreation, after-school programs and job training
