Fresno council hears public pleas to fully fund eviction defense, moves dozens of budget items to reconciliation

Fresno City Council continued its annual budget hearings June 10 with more than a dozen public commenters urging added spending on tenant protections and mobile-home repairs, and with councilmembers filing dozens of new and revised budget motions across parks, transportation and development. Council members later voted to approve the collection of motions for reconciliation, while stressing that final funding decisions will be made during a reconciliation process next week.

Public commenters focused on housing protections early in the hearing. Giovanna Morales of Leadership Council said the council’s increased allocation so far is welcome “but we do urge the city council to allocate the full 2,500,000.0 to the EPP.” Rosa de Leon of Housing Coalition Empower California Action told the council “2,000,000 is not enough. We really need to make sure that we are investing in keeping our tenants safe.” Kyle Lopez Schmidt, executive director of South Tower Community Land Trust, asked the council to fund implementation work for a tenant opportunity-to-purchase policy the city included in its housing element and to boost the Eviction Protection Program (EPP) to $2,500,000.

The comments repeatedly asked that: the eviction protection program be funded to $2.5 million; mobile-home rehabilitation be increased (several speakers suggested $3 million); and that the council add roughly $1 million to begin implementing a local tenant opportunity-to-purchase (TOPA) program. Speakers described rising rents and stagnant wages and argued that those trends make legal counsel and rehabilitation funding urgent to prevent displacement.

Councilmembers spent the bulk of the meeting proposing, amending or reiterating motions in their districts. Motions recorded on the transcript include park and recreation allocations (for example, $207,000 for swing sets at Logan Park and a placeholder $207,000 for Orchid Park), infrastructure and safety items (a $100,000 design budget for a road diet on California Avenue between Clovis and Fowler, and a $1,200,000 motion for protected left‑turn phasing at Bullard and Van Ness), staffing and program proposals (reactivating the city youth commission, a $100,000 LGBTQ+ nonprofit grants program) and planning or grants work (up to $150,000 to create an agricultural land mitigation fee program, and a motion to add $1,250,000 to planning and development for EPA community-wide assessment and Brownfields revolving loan fund work).

Several councilmembers asked staff for clarifications during the motions. Councilmember Vang asked whether an indoor gymnasium could be added to the 49‑acre Peach Park master plan and was told redesign and design costs would be required; staff cited a design/soft cost estimate of about $800,000. Public Works Director Scott Mosher explained that installing protected left‑turn phasing at older, infill intersections typically requires new conduits, larger poles and deeper foundations, driving higher costs.

At the end of the session the council voted to “approve the entirety of the motions across all districts made throughout these budget hearings.” The motion passed with a recorded outcome of 6 to 0. Council members and staff repeatedly clarified that the vote puts those motions into the budget “hopper” for reconciliation: the mayor’s office and budget staff must next identify how to bring the proposed changes into balance. Assistant City Manager and other staff told the council they face roughly a $51 million gap that will be reconciled before final adoption; council members said a reconciliation sheet will be posted next Tuesday identifying which items can be funded.

What passed on June 10 was therefore a procedural approval to move the motions forward for reconciliation, not a guarantee of final funding for each item. Council members and staff said some items will require grants, developer reimbursements, or additional council action before construction or program launches can begin.

The hearing also included multiple staff briefings and requests for information. Staff told the council that a new bus stop requested at Kings Canyon and Minnewaha was ready to be installed within 60 days if United Health Centers installs required elements; that the city can add temporary asphalt safe routes to school for about $100,000; and that items such as the agricultural land mitigation program could be advanced now for an estimated $100,000–$150,000 and later rolled into program fees if the council chooses.

The council adjourned the hearing and set a target of voting on the final budget at next week’s meeting, when reconciliation will determine which of the motions approved June 10 receive actual budget allocations.