REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
December 6, 2018
FROM: LEE BRAND, Mayor
Mayor’s Office
BY: H SPEES, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Mayor’s Office
SUBJECT
Title
WORKSHOP - Restore Fresno
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Mayor’s Office to provide a workshop briefing the City Council on the Restore Fresno Initiative.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Restore Fresno has become an important framework by which Mayor Brand is implementing many of the administration’s initiatives.
BACKGROUND
Restore Fresno was announced on May 13, 2015. Since its inception, this strategic effort to coordinate the investment of City resources and foster revitalization in neighborhoods, commercial corridors, etc., has guided matters ranging from the General Plan Update to Bus Rapid Transit.
Mayor Brand has enhanced Restore Fresno to reflect the Administration’s top priorities surrounding quality of life and economic development elements. The neighborhood revitalization work implemented by the Development and Resource Management (DARM) Department’s Neighborhood Revitalization Team (NRT) has been a particular focus.
Each quarter, Mayor Brand convenes a group of cross-sector partners committed to collective impact and neighborhood revitalization in focus neighborhoods identified through Restore Fresno. The Restore Fresno Leadership Group includes: Mayor Lee Brand, Bob Nelson (Fresno Unified Superintendent), Preston Prince (Fresno Housing Authority CEO), Delfino Neira (Fresno County Department of Social Services Director), Dawan Utecht (Department of Behavioral Health Director), Tim Rios and Geri Yang-Johnson (Wells Fargo), Jerry Dyer (Fresno Police Chief), Wilma Quan-Schecter (City Manager), and other key staff members from these agencies. The Leadership Group works to determine leverage points for mutual investment, and to deliver new initiatives of the various partners to focus neighborhoods.
Early indicators point to a revitalizing effect happening in each neighborhood of focus in the areas of blight (down 96%), crime (down 5%), resident efficacy (up 50%), education (up 15% Language Arts; up 16% Math), and property values (up 27%).
Additionally, stakeholder and resident testimony reflects a marked increase in quality of life over a relatively short period of time.
Mayor Brand has built upon the momentum of Restore Fresno by actively engaging additional stakeholders, including the convening of the Mayor’s Faith Based Partnership Council, Every Neighborhood Partnership, and an emerging bank collaborative.
Additionally, Mayor Brand has utilized the Leadership Group to distribute critical information on city-wide issues such as homelessness. Leadership Group members have in turn been well equipped to share important information with their core teams concerning the revamped Homeless Task Force structure within the Police Department districts, and the Crisis Intervention Team that has partnered with the Department of Behavioral Health.
Restore Fresno is a vital framework for our city’s continued advancement, and a vision Mayor Brand remains deeply committed to advancing in order to improve the quality of life for Fresno residents.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
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LOCAL PREFERENCE
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FISCAL IMPACT
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Attachment:
PowerPoint