Pro Measure P: Fresno can have parks and public safety

Fresno is on the verge of becoming a world-class city, and we have a choice to be bold and change the narrative this Nov. 6th by voting yes on Measure P.

For far too long, we have ranked at the bottom of many community health scorecards, most recently 94 out of the 100 most populated cities when it came to parks. We can no longer continue doing the same thing and expect different results. That is why more than 35,000 residents from throughout the city petitioned to add Measure P to the November ballot.

Measure P will provide funds for clean, safe neighborhood parks, resources for recreational and arts programs, and get us closer to building our first senior center. Not having a single senior center in a city of 530,000 residents is a shame — we deserve better.

This action was a result of decades of past leaders telling our young people, moms and dads, and seniors that we don’t have money to invest in them and they need to wait after there are enough resources for other city priorities. In the meantime, our parks have deteriorated, become magnets for crime and the homeless, and accumulated millions in deferred maintenance. If we continue to wait, the price will only get bigger. Funding from Measure P will make essential repairs to our city’s parks, including restrooms, playgrounds and sports fields, and better access for people with disabilities.

Measure P ensures safety improvements in all parks by adding lighting and security cameras, funding rangers to patrol, preventing graffiti, and reducing homelessness. Usable parks and recreational programs are also essential to keeping children and at-risk youth engaged and out of trouble. As a youth advocate, I personally appreciate that Measure P will also create much-needed job opportunities for our youth, giving them a real alternative to gangs.

I agree that our city’s top priority is public safety. Over the last four years, I have voted to support investments for police and fire. As a result, 70 percent of our general fund is dedicated for police and fire, while only 4.5 percent goes toward parks and recreation. This year, I led the effort to make sure we fund more emergency dispatchers when revenues become available. Councilmember Bredefeld and I agree that revenues from sales of city property should go toward urgent public safety needs, including adding the needed emergency dispatchers.

To be clear, Measure P will not take away resources from public safety. It will allow the city to add more officers to reduce crime and homeless in our parks. As some suggested, we don’t have to choose one over the other. Our city and kids need us to do both.

Measure P is a transformative investment for our entire city, especially neighborhoods like the ones I represent. To achieve this, we must commit to no longer settling for less. Regardless of your zip code, everyone deserves safe and well-maintained parks. Fresnans have worked together before to solve big problems. Remember, we fixed our highways and saved our Chaffee Zoo, a movement started by a 10-year girl, Angel Arellano.

Like Measure C and Measure Z, Measure P includes strict accountability and citizen oversight, ensuring funds can only be spent as approved by the voters. It requires the City Council to approve all contracts associated with this measure, giving our elected mayor and council the final check and balance.

Opponents of Measure P claim $2 billion over 30 years is too much to invest in our children, seniors and parks. However, Measure C, passed in 1986, spent more than that on our highway system in only 20 years. In 2004, Measure Z passed raising $110 million which saved and transformed our Chaffee Zoo into a world-class asset for our city that serves local families and creates an economic boost for Fresno. Since then, both of these investments have been overwhelmingly renewed by our voters.

Similarly, the investment in our parks will generate economic and social returns that our neighborhoods desperately need. Clean and safe parks will attract more private investment and help increase everyone’s property values. This will help grow our general fund that will primarily go to public safety.

Measure P will also ensure we can get our fair share of Proposition 68 —state parks bond money, otherwise Los Angeles and Bay Area cities will take our share, leaving us further behind. If Measure P fails, we will be left with a worse and more expensive choice. We need to invest today.

As a city leader, I admire the courage and boldness of the diverse, bipartisan coalition that stepped up to change the status quo. They all dared to dream that we, too, could have a world-class parks system. This issue is about believing that Fresno can be the “All-American” city again.

I dream of waking up on Nov. 7 and reading the headline in The Fresno Bee, “Fresno choses to be an ‘All-American City’ by investing in parks.” Join me in making this dream a reality and vote yes on Measure P.