Chair McCoy convened the Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission meeting on Nov. 3, where Assistant Director Shelby McNabb presented a year-long overview of the parks department’s Measure P–funded programs and identified needs and opportunities to inform the fiscal year 2027 budget.

McNabb said Measure P “has created a more stable operating structure” that allowed staff to leverage state, federal and local grants. She listed 12 structured program areas citywide, and gave program-level metrics: after-school programming serves youth ages 5–17 at 19 locations and provided more than 40,000 snacks and meals last year; aquatics recorded over 22,000 recreational swim visits and more than 2,000 swim-lesson participants, and the department hired 79 Fresno Unified students as lifeguards last season; the adaptive recreation program serves about 700 people annually and quarterly dances draw roughly 200 attendees.

McNabb described workforce and youth supports — the youth employment program had more than 100 participants and about 12,000 applied learning hours — and equity efforts such as a youth fee waiver that lowers registration from $75 to $20. She also described a neighborhood safety and community engagement program that administers grants to community-based organizations; staff said that program has administered over $3 million to partners through various grant initiatives in recent years.

Business manager Tu Xiong summarized Measure P allocations shown in staff slides, with a draft total program and capital package presented on the slide deck of about $90.9 million across categories. He said parks operations account for roughly $23.4 million of the appropriation and capital projects represent about $47.9 million in the department’s Measure P appropriation. Tu Xiong reminded commissioners that Nov. 17 is the last PRAC meeting before department budget submission and that commissioners will have further opportunities to make motions after the mayor’s budget is prepared and presented to council.

Commissioners pressed staff for more granular performance data and a pre/post Measure P comparison. McNabb said staff will finalize and present the FY24 annual report with program-level unique participant counts soon and will attempt to compile pre–Measure P historical data where records exist. On planning needs, McNabb identified the parks master-plan update (best practice every 10 years) and the cultural arts plan update (Measure P requires a 5-year update, next due in 2028) and said staff can estimate costs if commissioners request them.

Several commissioners urged that motion language and recommendations be practical and aligned with what the department can deliver; staff offered to circulate a simplified slide deck listing prior motions and which recommendations were already incorporated into the budget so commissioners can refine motions for Nov. 17.

The commission took no final budget votes at this meeting; staff encouraged commissioners to bring motions and dollar estimates to the Nov. 17 meeting so recommendations can be included in the department budget submission.