How do Fresno’s finances look post-pandemic? Mayor Jerry Dyer presents hopeful plan
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer unveiled on Wednesday his $1.4 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year with a focus on restoring staffing levels in public safety and cleaning up the city through maintenance and beautification efforts and serving the homeless population.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that hurt city revenues, Dyer and his top staff appeared upbeat and hopeful about the city’s finances.
“Although there’s many fiscal uncertainties that remain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am extremely confident, as is City Manager Tommy Esqueda, that the city of Fresno is poised to rebound, financially, faster than any other city in California,” Dyer proclaimed.
Overall, the new budget adds over 150 new employee positions to various departments.
Money from the federal American Rescue Plan and Fresno’s new parks tax will help the city invest in neighborhoods for years to come, he said.
Other highlights in the budget include a new Office of Community Affairs to increase government accessibility for Fresno’s diverse communities, money for a new senior activity center and extra positions in the Planning and Development Department to expedite services for smaller projects.
Dyer said through this budget his team is focusing on a new “We work for you” culture at City Hall.
The Fresno City Council ultimately adopts the city’s budget at the end of June, guaranteeing changes. The council will deliberate over those changes for two weeks in June during public budget hearings.
Police
Shootings, homicides and violent crime all increased dramatically in 2020 and continue to rise this year, city numbers show.
Plus, hundreds of Fresno officers battled the COVID-19 virus, with two high-ranking officers dying, Chief Paco Balderrama said. The department also faced calls for police reform and “defunding” the police in the wake of the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
That’s made recruiting officers hard, the chief said.
Since 2020, 77 officers left Fresno PD, Balderrama said. There are 60 vacancies, and an additional 80 officers are out on long-term absences. That leaves daily staffing under 700 — lower than staffing 10 years ago.
In an interview with The Bee, Balderrama said he created an employee services investigative unit to manage workers’ compensation claims and follow up with employees and their doctors if they’re out on extended leave for an injury or medical reason.
To combat those numbers, Dyer tasked Balderrama with hiring 120 officers in 15 months to bring the number of officers up to 850.
The city already offers a $10,000 signing bonus to officers from other departments who make lateral moves to Fresno PD. Now, the department also is offering a $1,000 bonus to current officers who successfully recruit new hires, Balderrama said.
“Our at-risk and minority communities are telling us they want to feel safe. They want better protection, not fewer police officers,” Balderrama said during the news conference. “The requests in my police budget are not outlandish, extravagant or unnecessary. They are realistic needs: staffing, equipment, training and growth. Our community deserves a safer city. We need more than adequate. We need exceptional. We need cutting edge.”
The new budget also calls for hiring 10 new community service officers to handle lower priority calls; four new dispatchers; four crime scene investigators; and two new investigators for background checks.
While Dyer said the violence prevention program Advance Peace isn’t specifically mentioned in the budget, he’s committed to working with the city council to expand it.
Fire
Fire calls also increased in 2020 and continue to rise.
The budget adds 42 firefighter positions for the fire department, which has been desperately understaffed for years. Those extra positions will bring the fire department up to minimum daily staffing requirements, ultimately improving firefighter health and safety as well as response times, Fire Chief Kerri Donis said. The positions are funded through federal grant money.
Currently, the fire department operates with the same staffing it did in 1980, Donis said, despite a city population double what it was then. Of all metro fire departments in the country with similar populations, Fresno Fire Department has the least number of firefighters on duty each day, she said.
The new budget also outlines a new medical aid model that will maximize resources. Instead of sending a fire engine and crew out to medical calls, there will be three squads of two firefighters each to respond to medical aid calls.
“This really is a bold step forward that advances this fire department in a big way,” Donis said. “This is the type of leaps and big moves that need to take place to really move the needle for our fire service.”
Homelessness
The city will continue on its current path of buying motels and converting them to homeless shelters, Dyer said. So far, the city has used state and federal funding and a partnership with Fresno Housing Authority to purchase five motels and convert them to shelters.
In addition, Dyer plans to establish a Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART) to partner with community-based organizations to serve as the primary point of contact with the city’s homeless population. That team will consist of existing staffers from city sanitation crews,. code enforcement and the police department, he said.
Since California Gov. Gavin Newsom has made homelessness a top issue, Dyer said he’s hoping the city can leverage state money to continue creating more shelter for unhoused people.
Neighborhoods and beautification
As mayor, Dyer has made it a priority to clean up the city, whether that means cleaning up trash on freeways or neighborhood cleanup events.
In the upcoming budget, Dyer plans to continue the momentum by adding three new graffiti abatement crews. A new agreement with the California Department of Transportation will work to remove graffiti along the city’s freeways.
Dyer is using American Rescue Plan money to catch up on deferred maintenance such as tree trimming and street repairs. The budget includes over $12 million in street repairs, $3 million in repairs for cubs, gutters and sidewalks and 14 new positions for street and landscape maintenance, said Scott Mozier, director of public works.
“The mayor’s budget provides very strong investments in restoring and enhancing our present neighborhoods,” he said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 2:02 PM.