Valley’s common ground, uncommon solutions: A regular column by Jenny Toste in The Bee

I recently saw a tweet from former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin sharing an article about rebuilding a better “California for All” after the coronavirus pandemic.

After weeks of daily COVID-19 updates, I was happy to think about the future. It reminded me that every challenge presents an opportunity, and while some of us may be thanking our lucky stars for surviving the pandemic thus far, so many others in this region of extreme poverty are not. As we work to rebuild our economy, how will we create a brighter future for everyone, especially when some point out the economy wasn’t working for certain communities before?

When I was leading the team at ValleyPBS, we knew we had to tell the story of how this area is the “Appalachia of the West.” I’d spent nearly two decades in broadcast news and communications, having gained a love of politics and journalism growing up just outside Washington, D.C. I was fascinated with learning why people believed the way they did, and I prided myself on presenting each side accurately and letting the viewers make up their minds.

I’ve had the “Fresno calling” for the last 16 years. As a newcomer, I appreciated the Valley and wanted others to know how great it was, too. After living in big cities like New York and San Diego, I loved the relative lack of traffic and affordability. Going to college in Texas made me grateful for the lack of humidity here, and having the mountains and beaches only a few hours away made this paradise.

Championing the Valley became a common thread throughout my career. In addition to doing the weather on morning shows for KSEE 24 and CBS 47, I enjoyed highlighting our region’s unique events and businesses, as well as the actions of our local organizations and government. At Fresno State, I touted the nationally accredited education you could get right here at home, as well as the programs the university offered to help everyone succeed and impact the Valley.

Therefore, I was excited to help our local PBS affiliate tell the Valley’s stories on another level. We lead the nation in many areas, such as agriculture, veterans issues and cultural diversity, and we should promote those positives. We also lead the nation in areas where we need to work together to find solutions. Issues such as poverty, water supply and contamination and immigration are affecting the whole country, and if we can find solutions to those issues here, we could help not just ourselves, but the entire nation. That is a huge opportunity, and even PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff agreed our Valley’s stories could become national ones.

Last year, I joined other local business, government, nonprofit and faith leaders in working on some of these issues through Fresno DRIVE — “Developing the Region’s Inclusive and Vibrant Economy.” Swearengin, who’s now the CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation, capitalized on the governor’s interest in Central California and his visit to Fresno for the California Economic Summit. She led this group to put together a ready-to-fund plan to address racial equity and support our region.

Most important, people of all backgrounds and political persuasions came together to address these areas. A rising tide raises all boats, and there were win-wins for both individuals and businesses. For example, if you teach new career skills to an underemployed person, you can help fill a need in a local industry while also helping that person earn more money to support his or her family.

Similarly, one day when I was at ValleyPBS, I spent the morning with a conservative farmer who told me how we need to help people earn more money — that the disparity between the haves and have-nots could not keep growing. Later that night, I was at an event with a Democratic congressman who was telling me the same thing. Ah ha, I thought. Common ground!

In my new monthly column, I am going to continue this work of telling the Valley’s stories. Rather than ending with a problem, I will highlight those who are working to find answers and point out areas of commonality upon which we can build solutions. As much as that farmer and U.S. representative may disagree on most things, that area of overlap is an opportunity to do something great that our Valley — and nation — so desperately need.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM.