FRESNO, CA - Through a series of town hall meetings, City of Fresno Vice-President and District 3 Councilman Miguel Arias is reaching out to his constituents in Downtown Fresno, West Fresno, Central Fresno and the Tower District throughout the end of April to give people an update of the work that has been completed in his first 100 days of office, and what is to be completed 100 days thereafter. Also, constituents were able to express their grievances with Councilman Arias, which ranged from inconsistent water fines to work opportunities for interns in local contracts.
Highlights of what was completed in the first 100 days include: $3.1 million dollars allocated to homeless emergency aid (HEAP) for rapid housing, temporary shelters, emergency housing vouchers and emergency shelter construction; an update of the Transformative Climate Communities projects funded thus far from the $70 million allocation; the $115 million airport expansion project; modern parking that will now allow for credit and debit card usage as well as mobile notifications for when meters are about to run out for 200 meters along the Fulton corridor along with creating a Parking Authority to deal solely with the parking department; $7 million allocation to new and improved parks, including a new dog park in the Tower District; $200 million in funding for the completion of neighborhood West Creek Village, which includes the new community college, park, elementary school, and mixed-use town center; the priorities of the $12 million gas tax fund to fix sidewalks or create sidewalks near schools and parks.
Councilman Arias also discussed the FAT Project Labor Agreement which keeps 2,143 jobs local, considers priority to veteran, women-owned and minority owned businesses. The FAT Project also includes pre-apprentices and opportunities for the unemployed.
In the next 100 days, Councilman Arias is focused on the following: the liquor license resolution to be implemented starting April 25, 2019 to prevent further outside license holders because district 3 is more saturated than any other area besides district 7; motel drive owners code enforcement to prevent further human trafficking; the cannabis ordinance suggested revisions for the monetary benefit of district 3 and the upcoming November 2020 Veteran's Memorial District tax to rejuvenate the area and services for veterans.
Constituents have the opportunity to attend the next set of town hall meetings to hear the update for themselves: Wednesday, April 24 from 5:30p - 7:30p at the Westside Church of God located at 1422 W. California Ave.; Monday, April 29 from 5:30p - 7:30p at McKinley Elementary Cafeteria located at 4444 W. McKinley Ave.; Tuesday, April 30 from 5:30p - 7:30p at The Revue Coffee Shop located at 620 E. Olive Ave.
