PRAC delays Measure P arts grants after community raises transparency and bias concerns

The Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission on Sept. 15 postponed action on the 2025–26 Expanded Access to Arts and Culture (EAAC) grant recommendations after a night of intense public comment in which artists, nonprofit leaders and panelists urged the commission either to release awarded funds immediately or to investigate alleged bias and process problems in the grant review.

The decision came after more than 50 members of Fresno’s arts community spoke during a public hearing, including leaders from the Fresno Philharmonic, Fresno Arts Council and several emerging arts groups. Vice Chair Ward and the PRAC cultural arts subcommittee outlined steps to increase transparency, and City Attorney Andrew Jans said his office was monitoring the process and would help move it forward while preserving openness.

Why it matters: Measure P is a voter-approved funding stream intended to support parks and cultural programs across Fresno. The EAAC grant round is in its second year; applicants and panelists say delays or reversal of funding would cause immediate harm to organizations that have already planned seasons and contracted artists.

The PRAC did not vote to release the recommended awards at the meeting. Instead commissioners and staff agreed to bring the subcommittee’s recommendations back to the full commission at a future meeting after additional public review. Vice Chair Ward said the subcommittee will hold publicly noticed, open meetings so the public can view and comment on the materials the subcommittee considered.

"Sunshine drives out the darkness," Vice Chair Ward said in the subcommittee report, describing plans to open the panel-review process and to involve the public in upcoming subcommittee meetings.

Fresno Arts Council executive director Lilia Gonzalez Chavez defended the Council’s work and asked the commission to release funds, while also acknowledging calls for improvements. "We are a community of great need. Our individual artists and emerging arts organizations need help to grow, and our established organizations need support to sustain and stabilize," Gonzalez Chavez said, noting the city’s economic context: "Median household income is $67,000, and the poverty rate hovers at 20 percent." She said the Arts Council has tried to both support individual artists and incubate new programs.

Fresno Arts Council program manager Andrea Mell said the second-round process produced 195 eligible applications and relied on 32 volunteer panelists; she also described procedural changes since the first round, including a letter-of-intent step and other clarifying policies approved by the City Council. "Panelists do not recommend funding recipients, amounts, or overall allocations," Mell said, adding that the current delays place "undue hardship on this round of intended grantees."

Several performing arts leaders described immediate financial pressure if funds are withheld. "Our professional musicians depend on the income they earn at Fresno," said Tom Dyrthick, president of Professional Musicians of California, AFM Local 12. Stephen Wilson, president and CEO of the Fresno Philharmonic, said the orchestra and other grantees "are in desperate need of the 2025 Measure P grant funds" and warned that delays would harm seasons and planned programs.

At the end of the public-comment period, City Attorney Andrew Jans said the city attorney's office had reviewed questions raised in letters to the commission and would work to balance transparency with legal constraints. "We are going to do everything on our part to move the process along," Jans said.

What the commission directed and next steps: the cultural arts subcommittee will schedule publicly noticed, open meetings where members of the public may review the same materials the subcommittee considered and offer comments. The subcommittee report also said the PRAC may take future action to convert the cultural arts subcommittee from an ad hoc body into a standing committee subject to the Brown Act; the city attorney confirmed that voluntary public meetings are permitted under the current structure.

Commission Chair Kim McCoy thanked speakers and noted the number of people who had turned out. "When you're passionate about something, you show up and you make your comments," McCoy said. The commission’s agenda-setting process will determine the date when the grant recommendations return to the PRAC; the subcommittee signaled a goal of bringing recommendations back for commission action in October, but the commission did not set a firm date at the Sept. 15 meeting.

Community reaction and concerns: public commenters expressed a range of positions. Many grantees and established cultural organizations urged immediate disbursement to avoid program cancellations and staff layoffs. Other speakers — including current and former panelists and fiscal sponsors — asked for a pause to investigate allegations they described in detail: panelist training gaps, staff comments during scoring sessions that some said reflected bias, insufficient public visibility into panel scoring and potential conflicts of interest.

Several speakers proposed specific fixes: stronger panelist bias training, clearer rubrics and scoring guidance, blind review steps, better documentation of geographic reach (ZIP-code–level service data) and a standing subcommittee with broader representation. Some speakers asked that penalties be considered if awarded grantees fail to demonstrate the service-area outcomes promised in their applications.

What PRAC did not do: the commission did not rescind or formally overturn the Fresno Arts Council’s scoring, nor did it vote to rescind awards; instead commissioners postponed a final decision and directed additional public review. No formal motions to approve or deny individual awards were recorded at the meeting.

Why a pause is risky, according to grantees: multiple speakers warned that withholding funds would cause immediate harm. "Delays and pauses will negatively impact intended grantees who are counting on even modified funding to continue operating or to kick off project planning," Fresno Arts Council staff said. Local nonprofit leaders and artists told the commission they had already incurred expenses or scheduled artists and venues based on the recommendations.

Looking ahead: the PRAC and the Fresno Arts Council said they will use the coming weeks to schedule public subcommittee meetings, gather additional public input and return recommendations for PRAC consideration. The City Attorney's office said it would continue to advise both the Council and the commission on how to preserve transparency while meeting legal and ethical obligations.

Ending note: the commission closed the hearing after more than three hours of public testimony. Commissioners said they heard the community’s urgency and concerns and pledged to use regular and special-meeting processes to resolve unresolved questions before final action.