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Interim capital projects director outlines staffing gaps, $16 million capital decrease and grant-driven downtown projects
Summary
Interim director Nick Mesilla told the Fresno City Council the capital projects department faces vacancy and funding challenges while managing major state and federal grants for downtown infrastructure, and proposed operational spending increases even as overall capital funding drops about $16 million.
Interim Capital Projects Director Nick Mesilla told the Fresno City Council during budget hearings that the newly consolidated capital projects department is gaining traction but still faces significant staffing and funding uncertainties.
Mesilla said the department—formed in fiscal 2024—now houses designers, transportation project managers, utilities and construction management staff. He said the proposed fiscal 2026 operating budget includes small increases to personnel (about $657,000), non-personnel (about $218,000) and interdepartmental charges (about $661,000), while the capital side shows a roughly $16 million decrease driven by the timing of large projects.
The department is running with persistent vacancies: Mesilla said vacancies have trended down from earlier peaks but still total roughly a 14% vacancy rate, with licensed professional engineers among the hardest-to-fill positions. He told council members that if large state grant payments do not arrive as expected, the department will scale down by leaving positions vacant rather than layoffs.
Mesilla presented a multi-million-dollar portfolio of grant-funded downtown projects that the department currently manages. He cited two large externally funded programs handled through the department: GoBiz seed funding (with roughly $7.8 million proposed for the Eighth Street parking structure) and IIGC grants (27.6 million proposed for a sewer/water project near Fulton Street, and other allocations tied to Tuolumne-Van Ness improvements and two parking structures). He also described a proposed North Fulton parking structure and an Eighth Street parking structure as part of that package.
Council members asked about long-term staffing and whether the department could scale up rapidly if the city receives larger one-time grants. Mesilla and City Manager White said the department is designed to be nimble but acknowledged it is easier to scale down than to quickly scale up when a large funding tranche arrives. Mesilla also flagged materials and long‑lead procurement risks tied to tariffs and inflation.
Mesilla closed by saying the department had delivered 48 capital projects in fiscal 2024 and 71 in fiscal 2025 and expects roughly 62 projects in fiscal 2026 (with the caveat that emergency work can add 10–15 unplanned jobs). Council members pressed for more detail on how grant timing would affect vacancies and for lists of projects assigned to the department by client departments such as Public Utilities and Public Works.
Ending: The capital projects department framed fiscal 2026 as a year of continued consolidation: more in-house delivery capacity but exposure to grant timing and hiring challenges for specialized staff that members said will determine the pace of future project delivery.
