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.

Governor Schwarzenegger appointed me to the California Commission for Economic Development, and today I attended our quarterly board meeting.  We met at the Port of Oakland and were briefed on the economic impact of goods movement through the California ports, as well as the measures that are being taken to minimize the environmental impact of goods movement around the ports and throughout the state.  It was clear to me from the meeting that the San Joaquin Valley is a real newcomer to the statewide discussions about goods movement and exports.  Southern and Northern California are starting to recognize the San Joaquin Valley's role in the state's economy and in the statewide strategy for goods movement, but we are still a big unknown to the rest of California.  Mayor Autry has opened the door for Fresno and the Valley in Sacramento, and I'm committed to seeing the work through as the next Mayor.  It's not going to happen overnight.  Instead it's going to take persistence and tenacity to make sure our city and region are included in the state's economic development and infrastructure plans.  We've been left out for too long.  It's time to change that.

Today was an action packed day.  I started with a Campaign Kick Off lunch at El Torito's in downtown Fresno.  About 150 people showed up to celebrate the official launch of my campaign for the Mayor of Fresno.  We had a great time!  Dick Johanson and Alice Saviez, my campaign co-chairs, provided their comments on where our city needs to go and the qualities we need in our next mayor.  Then, I talked about change - the positive changes that have happened in Fresno in the last several years and the major issues that still need to be changed like poverty rates, gangs and drug activity, educational attainment, and getting our share of resources out of Sacramento and Washington, D.C. 
 
From there, I went to the Fresno County Elections Office and completed the paperwork to become an official candidate for the Mayor of Fresno.  Special thanks to Blanca and Lourdes at the elections office counter!  They have been extremely helpful throughout this process.
 
Tonight, I attended Mayor Autry's "Truth on the Table" community forum at the Hinton Community Center in southwest Fresno.  That was an extremely lively discussion.  One gentleman talked about the importance of establishing a business incubator in southwest Fresno to teach people to launch and grow their own businesses.  I think that's a fantastic idea and am looking forward to working with southwest Fresno community leaders to make that a reality.  There was also a lot of talk about drugs and the proliferation of gangs.  Most people agreed there have been improvements to these issues in the last several years, but there is still much to be done. 
 
I ended the day at a Fresno Citizens for Good Government (FCGG) community forum on fair campaign practices.  Representatives from the League of Women Voters, Fresno Chamber of Commerce PAC, Service Employees International Union and FCGG served on a panel that was moderated by Fresno State political science professor David Schecter.  It was an excellent discussion on how these organizations can work together to ensure a fair and ethical campaign season in Fresno.

 
All in all, a very full day!

Listen to an excerpt of Ashley's comments here:

Today was a good day.  I spent time with local business owner Bob Smittcamp.  I'm pleased to add Bob to the list of area business people endorsing my candidacy for the Mayor of Fresno.  We talked about the importance of adopting best practices at City Hall and the opportunity Fresno has to become a top-tier city in California.  Then, it was a pleasure to met with representatives of the Fresno City Employees Association during their candidate interview process and to learn more about their perspectives on City Hall issues.  I'm looking forward to next week.  The filing period officially opens for candidates seeking local offices.  Things will certainly start heating up on the campaign trail!

Suzanne Bertz-Rosa pulled together a group of friends and colleagues for a "meet and greet" tonight at Palomino's in the Tower District.  The group included small business owners, people from the arts community, educators, some folks from Fresno State and others.  Several of them were "boomerangs" (people who left Fresno but returned) and "transplants," like me.  We talked about a lot of things, but the issue that stood out the most to me was the view that there is not enough citizen input at City Hall.  I hear that a lot from Fresnans, particularly Gen X'ers.  We've got to find a way to tap the creative, constructive input from our citizens.  That's the only way we're going to make progress on our community's most pressing issues.