Mayor failed to land college
Mayor Ashley Swearengin’s tenure will come to be defined by a handful of victories and defeats. We know the mayor made the revitalization of downtown Fresno one of her primary endeavors.
Unfortunately, when we review her political career in Fresno, I believe it will be defined by her failure to keep the Assemi pharmacy college in downtown Fresno.
Convincing the prominent local developer to build the college downtown would have completely altered the dynamic of the area. The presence of hundreds, if not eventually thousands of students in downtown Fresno would have compelled the type of investment that Mayor Swearengin coveted. This amounts to a catastrophic failure on her part. How she let this happen is beyond comprehension.
Joe Yrulegui, Fresno
This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 7:58 AM with the headline "Mayor failed to land college."