At the Fresno County Women's Chamber of Commerce lunch today, I was reminded of a very important rule:  watch out for women on a mission!  And, the women of the Fresno County Women's Chamber are certainly no exception to that rule.  I learned today that the Fresno County Women's Chamber has more than tripled the attendance at its monthly meeting in just the last few years.  They now have almost 200 members.  These folks are raising money for local scholarships, providing resources to support the growth of small businesses, taking on health and fitness challenges together, and organizing important community events.  It was a pleasure to speak to the Women's Chamber.  One of the members even wrote a poem to mark the occassion.  Check out local poet Liesel Garner's poem on what Fresnans are looking for in their local leaders.

Today, the Fresno Women's Medical Group held their sixth annual "Women Physician's Retreat."  Drs. Kelli Beingesser and Gail Newel hosted the event.  About 100 women physicians and medical professionals gathered for the day's activities.  I was pleased to attend and have an opportunity to talk with these leaders in the field of science and medicine.  Among the issues of most importance to them were Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, the lack of mental health services in Fresno, and the redevelopment of Downtown Fresno.  The group also talked about a community-wide initiative to address obesity, research at the UCSF Fresno facility, and several other projects under way in the medical community.  These women are clearly leaders in their field, dedicated to their community, and, in many cases, are raising families at the same time.  It was an honor to spend time with them!

I met with Brian King and his colleagues from Fresno Street Saints this morning.  Fresno Street Saints is a grass-roots organization working in public housing projects in the southern part of our city.  This volunteer organization offers after school programs, mentoring and tutoring in some of Fresno’s most difficult neighborhoods.  They are making an incredible impact on the lives of the kids they are working with every day. 

I also attended a conference tonight organized by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the Fresno Institute for Urban Leadership, One by One Leadership, and the Christian Community Development Association on faith-based community development initiatives.  The founder and leader of the movement, John Perkins, was the keynote dinner speaker.   His message was powerful and challenging.  He called for the development of a unique kind of leadership in the 21st century – leaders who care more for the people they are leading than for themselves.  Just imagine the kind of impact that type of leadership could have on our city.

Every Thursday, a group of home schooling parents and their kids gather at the Keith Tice Park across from Clovis West High School.  Today was no exception, and I had the pleasure of joining the moms and dads to learn more about the issues important to them in our city.  Increasing parks and green space was a topic of great interest.  Not surprisingly, air quality was a big concern.  These parents also expressed frustration with the overly political nature of our local government.  That’s a common refrain I hear from Fresno residents as I attend neighborhood meetings, walk precincts, and get comments back on my Voter Survey (click here to take the survey).  I’m committed to bringing an independent voice to City Hall as the next Mayor of Fresno.

Today’s annual Fresno Compact luncheon highlighted the important work of local educators and businesses who are seeking to positively impact area schools.  One local educator, Dr. Tom Crow, Chancellor of State Center Community College District, received special recognition for his leadership of one of the largest community college districts in the state.  Under Dr. Crow’s leadership, State Center has increased its focus on career technical education.  The District has worked closely with industry leaders through the Regional Jobs Initiative to develop more vocational education that responds directly to industry demand.  It has been a pleasure working with State Center on such efforts.  We still have a long way to go, but thanks to the efforts of Dr. Crow and many on his team, we are making progress.  I’m looking forward to helping take these efforts to the next level as the next Mayor of Fresno.  In my Jobs and Economic Development platform, I recommend the creation of a city-wide initiative on career technical education and job readiness. 

It was a pleasure today to attend the opening ceremonies of the California Police Chiefs Association annual conference.  Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer will be sworn in tomorrow night as the statewide president of the association, which is a tremendous tribute to Chief Dyer and the Fresno Police Department.  Fresno will benefit from Chief Dyer’s leadership in this organization over the coming year, as our community will have access to and input on the most current state legislative proposals pertaining to law enforcement and will have the opportunity to shape those proposals.

The opening ceremonies also included a salute to the law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty during the last year, which was incredibly moving.  Several of the moms, dads, spouses and children of the fallen officers were present for the ceremony.  It was difficult to watch the families’ reactions as their sons, husbands, and dads were remembered.  It increased my resolve to bolster public safety in our community and to push for long-term solutions to crime – jobs and education.

Today, I met with Roger Feenstra, the Executive Director of Hope Now for Youth, a local non-profit that offers jobs for gang members as a way to remove them from the gang lifestyle and help put them back on a productive path in life.  I am incredibly impressed with Hope Now.  The stories of the lives that have been transformed through this program are inspiring.  This organization is completely self-sufficient – no public funding is involved.  They’ve clearly developed a model that works.  Hope Now can serve about 100 new participants each year.  Given the prolific gang population in our community, programs like this one should be expanded.  Instead of serving about 100 new participants each year, imagine the positive impact on Fresno if 1,000 new participants could be served each year.  As the Mayor of Fresno, I would gladly work with the non-profit and charitable communities to help ensure the success and expansion of programs like Hope Now for Youth.

Tonight, Cary Catalano and Marvin Garcia coordinated a neighborhood meeting at their home.  We had a wonderful time (see pictures here compliments of Howard Watkins).  People gathered from across southern and central neighborhoods of the city.  Major topics of conversation included the rejuvenation of older neighborhoods in our community, addressing high levels of unemployment, increasing vocational training programs, and long-term planning for growth in our city.  Several Fresno State students were present and talked about increasing graduate and post-graduate education in the region, which is a must for reversing Fresno’s brain drain.  These students proved that point, as they are considering moving out of the region to pursue graduate degrees.  Tonight’s community meeting gave me further insight into the people and neighborhoods of our city.   Our community offers great treasures – its people and its neighborhoods!

Today, we held a press conference to announce a coalition of over 70 business leaders who have endorsed my candidacy for the Mayor of Fresno.  I'm really honored to receive support from so many exceptional business leaders.  It has been a pleasure to work with these and other business, education and community leaders over the last ten years to improve our regional economy.  
 

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Decipher (www.decipherinc.com) was one of the companies that we featured at today's press event.  Theirs is a very inspirational story!  Decipher is an industry leading market research/software development company headquartered in Fresno.  They employ 70 people.  Decipher's leadership has been very active in the Regional Jobs Initiative and helped start the RJI's software development industry cluster.  Through the RJI software development cluster and some events we helped organize, Decipher got connected with the human and financial capital they needed to expand their firm.  They added 41 jobs last year and announced today that they are adding another 30 jobs in Fresno.  These are good paying, technology oriented jobs.  It was very exciting to hear Decipher roll out their expansion plans today.
 
As I said in my remarks today (read the script from today's press event here), I've learned a lot about economic development from working with CEOs and business leaders over the last decade.  All that I've learned can be summarized this way:  there are things we need the City of Fresno to do in order to grow our regional economy and support job creation, and there are things we need the City of Fresno to stop doing because they are impeding job creation.  These things form the basis of my economic development and job creation platform (click on "Policy Papers" to read my jobs platform).  I'm anxious to get to work on the "Do's" and "Don'ts" of economic development as Fresno's next mayor!

Today was a perfect day to visit with voters in their neighborhoods. It was a beautiful day, with lots of people outside enjoying the great weather.  I spent some time in in central and southwest Fresno.

There were several common themes in the comments people shared.  First,  there is a strong concern about abandoned homes and negligent property owners.  Second, many of the neighborhoods I visited today have inadequate lighting at night ,which is a potentially dangerous situation.  Third, people want shopping and other amenities closer to their neighborhoods.  Finally, the residents I talked to want their voices to be heard in our city.  They want to have a say in the future of our city and were grateful to be asked for their opinions. 

I've received so many insightful responses to the survey I've distributed to voters all over the city. (My survey is available online, too. Just click here.) As I read them, I'm impressed by how thoughtful people have been with their comments.  Fresnans are paying attention and care about our city. They know what's important to them, and they are eager to be heard.  Citizen involvement is an important part of my campaign and will be just as important to me as your Mayor.