Right now, Fresno needs a firm hand at the wheel. Have at it, Mayor Jerry Dyer
Ten months after being elected mayor of Fresno, Jerry Dyer is actually mayor of Fresno after being sworn in Tuesday morning.
And not a moment too soon. In case you haven’t noticed, things in California’s fifth-largest city are rather dire. Now as much as ever, it needs a firm hand at the wheel.
That’s not a swipe at Lee Brand, whose fiscal prudence during his four years as mayor and eight on the city council kept Fresno on solid financial footing. More so that desperate times call for strong, vigorous leadership.
Which is the quality Dyer most embodies, right? Above all else, the former police chief and first-time politician is a figure of strength.
Even Dyer’s detractors would agree — despite their indignation, or outrage, over how that strength was deployed in so many incidents involving the Fresno Police Department.
But let’s be straight about something: Now isn’t time for a soft touch.
The pandemic rages on with little sign of diminution despite the carrot of a vaccine. Our hospitals are stretched to their breaking point. Encouraging mask wearing, staying home and non-essential business closures isn’t enough. Fresno needs a mayor with the fortitude to enforce penalties for egregious violations of these measures.
As someone who caught COVID-19 at an election night dinner with other local politicians, experienced symptoms and has apparently recovered, who better than Dyer to caution against such careless behavior? Let’s hope he does, and with gravitas.
In Fresno, the new year rang in with a barrage of bullets. Five days in, the city had already seen 14 shootings and five homicides. People are frightened. They need a leader who not only can encourage peace but restore order. (If only the city didn’t drag its feet over programs designed to prevent cyclical gun violence.)
Street racing and sideshows on Fresno streets have gotten out of hand, and not even four needless, senseless deaths at a major intersection could curtail the mayhem. The city needs a full-scale crackdown on these miscreants. No arguments or equivocation.
Speaking of miscreants, are police going to let maskless morons disrupt our grocery shopping while screaming about their “rights” to act like complete dolts? Congratulations Fresno, since it’s one of the rare times a trend came here before Los Angeles. Of course it would be one that gives the city a black eye.
Mayor, police chief or a combo?
A common concern I hear about Dyer becoming mayor is that he will continue to act like the chief of police. In the long-term, absolutely. He needs to focus on his mayoral duties. Right now, though, until things calm down, I don’t mind if he has his hands in both buckets. At least until the new chief, Paco Balderamma, gets up to speed.
The pandemic, shootings and homicides, street racing — those are just the five-alarm fires. Dyer also must address the litany of problems that have simmered in Fresno for years, if not decades.
In an extensive July interview with Fresnoland editor Dympna Ugwu-Oju, Dyer correctly (in my view) identified poverty as “the No. 1 issue we face in Fresno.” More specifically, the poverty that has had “devastating impacts on people of color, primarily Black.”
Dyer’s solution involves attracting the sorts of businesses that provide livable wage jobs, beyond just the “opportunity jobs” that pay $15 an hour. Which, of course, is a pledge every Fresno mayor has made since I moved here in the late 1990s.
Over the last 10 months, Dyer said he’s spent a lot of time listening. Even his most vocal critics in the community were given “two or three hours” to air their views and past grievances. Dyer said he did not defend himself. He just listened.
Diversity training for city staff
Likewise, Dyer said all 3,500 city employees will be required to participate in “listening and learning sessions” designed to teach them about Fresno’s various ethnic groups and the history of discriminatory practices that created today’s checkered conditions.
“So they can understand their co-workers better and their community better,” Dyer said.
Besides listening, Dyer has been reading. A recent column about the Fresno Grizzlies and the financial drain of Chukchansi Park elicited an email in which he articulated a vision for a bustling downtown with mixed-used development around the stadium and enough residents (10,000 was the number he threw out) to support a vibrant dining and entertainment scene.
“No more sitting on the sideline waiting for people to develop downtown,” Dyer wrote. “We have to be intentional about this, pursue investors and developers, share risk, set forth expectations and timelines and hold folks accountable for projects. No more buying buildings and sitting on them for years.
“We also need to fix our city hall business climate so we can expedite development. Folks don’t want us to roll out the red tape, they want us to roll out the red carpet and we will. Our culture will be one that demonstrates ‘We work for you.’ “
That all sounds great, Mr. Mayor. But first, do something about the pandemic, the shootings and the mayhem on Fresno’s streets.
Since his election in the March primary, it’s been unclear how much pull Dyer has had behind the scenes at City Hall. Not anymore. He’s the boss, and boy does Fresno need one.
