In early April, two months before the June election, Fresno City
Council and mayoral candidates will participate in two forums focused
on Downtown issues.  The mayoral candidates forum is on April 2; the
City Council candidates forum is on April 9.

Both events will begin with a reception at 5 p.m. in the Bankers’
Ballroom at 1060 Fulton Mall (the former Security Bank Building),
followed by the start of debate at 5:30.  Admission is free and open
to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

The seven hosting organizations — the Downtown Association of Fresno,
Fresno’s Leading Young Professionals (FLYP), Creative Fresno, the
Fresno Arts Council, Chinatown Revitalization Inc., the Fresno
Coalition for Arts, Science and History (FCASH), and FresnoFusion.com
– have joined forces to ensure that a broad constituency of Downtown
interests is represented during this year’s important local campaigns.

Questions submitted by the public (http://www.fresnofusion.com/blog/?p=45) will be selected from the pool of questions below and
asked live at the forums.  We welcome your feedback about how we did
with the questions!  Recordings will also be made available after the
April 2 forum by our media partners, Valley Public Television and 90.7
KFSR, at www.kvpt.org and www.kfsr.org.

RSVPs and questions about the forums can be directed to the Downtown
Association office at candidatesforum@downtownfresno.org or (559)
490-9966.  We look forward to seeing you April 2, April 9, and at the
polls on June 3!

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We have chosen the final 21 questions that have been selected from those that were posted in the candidates blog. Please provide us feedback on how we did, and we look forward to seeing the candidates respond in April! 

1. Imagine the City of Fresno has discovered a budget surplus of $5 million, and the Mayor and Council agree the money should be used for Downtown. What would you do with the $5 million?

2. What are your top three Downtown-related priorities once in office?

3. Where do you stand on the various water feature ideas that have been proposed for Downtown? And in the larger picture, what is the proper role of bold, game-changing, “silver bullet” projects in Downtown revitalization?

4. What does Fresno, as a diverse city and community, need from its Downtown? Do suburban families, for instance, care if it is vibrant — and if they don’t care, does it matter? How can Downtown be a vibrant place that serves Fresnans with both urban and suburban mindsets?

5. Do you have a plan to help reduce homelessness in Fresno? If so, does your plan address the perception of some — fair or not — that Downtown Fresno is unsafe at night because of its homeless population?

6. What is the proper role of the City in supporting community events in Downtown Fresno? Should the City (a) focus on hosting its own events, (b) subsidize events hosted by others, (c) provide active technical assistance to those hosting events, or (d) not intervene and allow the demand for events to determine the supply?

7. Many people think the one thing missing from Downtown Fresno is housing. If you agree, what would you do to increase the housing supply Downtown? If you disagree, what other needs are more important?

8. There are numerous examples of Downtown buildings — including the historic Bank of Italy, J.C. Penney, and Helm buildings — that remain underused for years because owners are waiting to “cash in” when development trends cause property values to rise. Such buildings frequently become poorly maintained eyesores. What would you do to spur the restoration, maintenance, and use of vacant buildings? Do you support the use of eminent domain to wrest blighted, vacant buildings from neglectful owners?

9. A number of redevelopment projects for Downtown have been proposed, but to the public, there has been little apparent progress for years. Such projects include Old Armenian Town, Historic Chinatown, and the South Stadium area. Are you concerned about the pace of these “master developer” projects? Are there steps you would have the City and Redevelopment Agency take to prevent the economic “freeze” of these areas for years while sweeping master plans are under consideration?

10. Forest City Enterprises has said that a City investment of approximately $100 million will be needed to make the South Stadium redevelopment project feasible. Do you support using public money to provide incentives for this project and other redevelopment activities in the Downtown area? Do you support the use of eminent domain for Downtown redevelopment and specifically the South Stadium project?

11. How would you improve the permitting process for private Downtown development? Are there other barriers to development that you would seek to fix or remove?

12. Under ideal circumstances, anyone would prefer that Downtown redevelopment incorporate the preservation and reuse of unique older buildings (whether listed as historic or not) and good design quality. However, these practices can make development take longer and cost more. How do you weigh historic and aesthetic values against economic considerations? Under what circumstances would you insist that the City and private developers restore unique older buildings and incorporate high-quality design?

13. Between sculptures, murals, and fountains, Downtown Fresno surely has more public art than anywhere else in the Valley. Does public art make Downtown a destination? If so, how would you support the expansion of Downtown’s public art collection? If not, what is the role and purpose of public art?

14. Is Downtown Fresno “user-friendly”? Define the term however you wish. What are your ideas for improving user-friendliness?

15. A number of new alternatives to private automobiles — such as street cars, light rail, bus rapid transit, and personal rapid transit — have been proposed for parts of Downtown and other areas of Fresno. Are any of these ideas viable? Do they deserve public support, financially or otherwise?

16. Do you favor adding bicycle lanes on Downtown streets? What if adding a bike lane requires narrowing an automobile traffic lane or removing street parking outside a business?

17. There is a perennial debate over parking meters in Downtown Fresno. The current administration has taken steps to relax metering after 6 pm and built a new parking garage near the Convention Center. What would you do about parking?

18. Where do you stand in the perennial debate about opening the Fulton Mall to vehicle traffic? Are there other things the City could do to bring more 24-hour vitality to the area?

19. Much of the debate about the Fulton Mall’s future assumes that the area is economically dead. Yet there is obviously a community supporting the discount malls, jewelry stores, and vendor carts which fill almost all the available retail spaces on the Mall, albeit at low rent. Is it important to retain these existing economic uses as Downtown Fresno revitalizes? Is it possible?

20. How do you view assessment districts as vehicles for enhancing Downtown services? Specifically, where do you stand on the formation of a Downtown property-based business improvement district (PBID)? What would your role be, if any, in supporting, guiding, or forestalling the formation of assessment districts?

21. The Chamber of Commerce has convened a “Downtown Task Force” to be a voice of consensus about what needs to be done Downtown and establish a “bridge” from the current administration to the next one. Would you or your staff continue working with this Task Force? In what other ways, if any, would you seek public and stakeholder input about Downtown planning and projects?