Fresno’s Office of Community Affairs (OCA) was founded in October 2021. The OCA’s goal is to engage all Fresno community members by serving as the City’s liaison to key constituent groups, associations, multicultural and immigrant populations, faith-based, civic, human service, and others including community benefit organizations. The OCA is a division of the Mayor’s Office, under the oversight of Deputy Mayor Matthew Grundy.

OCA hires diverse leaders
Fresno’s cultural richness was recently recognized by U.S. News & World Report, ranking it the nation’s ninth most racially diverse city. Oftentimes, however, these populations fear and distrust government. To ensure the city’s diverse populations have a trustworthy representative that listens to their needs, speaks their language, and can connect them to municipal and community resources, the OCA office hired four liaisons. OCA liaisons represent the following communities:

• Asian Pacific Islander
• Asian-Indian
• Black, Indigenous and People of Color
• Immigrant and Latino

Sandra Lee, OCA liaison to the city’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) residents, has worked for social service agencies and local non-profit The Fresno Center for New Americans, now known as The Fresno Center. While at The Fresno Center, Lee focused on housing and workforce connections for Hmong refugees resettling in Fresno.

The API liaison position was established in response to a growing concern over pandemic-fueled hate crimes targeting Asian communities nationwide. To counter potential violence and provide a voice for these communities, the City Council passed a resolution establishing a permanent API ombudsman post. In Fresno, the API community includes Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese groups, among others.

Lee is drawing from her previous firsthand knowledge when assisting API residents, “Our community is very diverse with many nationalities under the API umbrella. We tend to lean towards organizations where we feel understood. That is why it is so important to have a person that looks like us that we can turn to when we need help.”

Liaisons understand community barriers
Harjinder “JR” Saini represents the Asian Indian community. Sinai has extensive experience working in the private sector and is a former business owner. He volunteers at the local gurdwara, where he listens and connects with Sikh residents to learn about their needs.

“Members of our community are business owners, farmers and professionals in our city. Their families have needs for their young people and seniors,” Sinai shared. “Many times, these needs are addressed from within the community without outside help, which may delay the help. With the OCA, the barriers that existed will no longer be an obstacle.”

According to the American Community Survey, Fresno is also home to more than 60,000 foreign-born residents. The OCA’s immigrant and Latino liaison, Alma Martinez, is tasked with serving these communities. In her prior role as a journalist and talk show host at Radio Bilingue, a local non-profit radio station with national reach, Martinez focused on immigrant issues and civic participation.

Trust is essential for communities to come forth and seek aid. Negative national political discourse around immigrants has dissuaded many from seeking help. “Being an immigrant myself, I understand the hardships and barriers families face. Making government accessible to them through a representative that looks like them and speaks their language is key to building trust,” Martinez said.

OCA teams up with PARCS to serve the BIPOC community
The OCA partnered with Fresno Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services (PARCS) department to outreach and serve the city’s Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities. PARCS hired longtime southwest Fresno resident and Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church Senior Pastor, Booker T. Lewis to lead outreach efforts in southwest Fresno. Lewis has extensive community engagement, advocacy, intervention, and mediation experience. He will focus on learning up close about the recreational needs of the community. He will also partner with the OCA to build a platform unifying people who differ in race, religion, culture, denomination, economics, politics, and other areas.

Lewis shared his approach to this new role, “As a community, we all have a responsibility to do good toward one another, to strive for absolute and purest reflection of justice, to fairly address oppressive situations and systems, to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend those who cannot defend themselves.”

Lewis will not only focus on community resource connections, but he will also assist in outreach and engagement activities for the city’s Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services Department.

Mayor’s commitment to Fresno’s diverse communities
The OCA upholds Mayor Dyer’s One Fresno vision of an inclusive city, responsive to all residents. “These leaders represent the communities that make up the cultural richness of our city. Their role is to serve as bridge builders, ensuring that all city hall and community resources are accessible to the respective communities they serve. Our OCA liaisons hold up our one Fresno promise,” Mayor Dyer said.

The Office of Community Affairs is a permanent department in the city mayor’s office. To learn about the OCA, please visit: https://www.fresno.gov/mayor/office-of-community-affairs/

The Kings Canyon/Ventura corridor is one of Fresno’s major retail and transportation hubs. Recently, the city Planning and Development Department’s Long Range Planning Division began working with the urban design firm, Citythinkers. The city’s Long Range Planning team and Citythinkers joined efforts to conduct a study on achieving high-density, mixed-use, walkable development around Fresno’s FAX ‘Q’ stations. The Kings Canyon Corridor Transit-Oriented Development (KCCTOD) study not only analyzes market conditions and land use, but also focuses on community outreach.

The KCCTOD project has engaged more than 500 residents seeking their opinions on services, amenities, improvements, and potential changes they’d like to see to optimize corridor use. The feedback received will be used to inform the two final station area plans and concepts that can be implemented by private developers.

New planning balances economic and environmental factors
The transit-oriented development (TOD) project along Fresno’s Kings Canyon/Ventura corridor is part of a larger movement in planning that aims to maximize public transportation use, reduce automobile dependency, and encourage walkable cities. TOD achieves its main goals by offering a mix of uses in a pedestrian-friendly environment. TOD also helps increase housing availability and business growth, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Sophia Pagoulatos, planning manager for the city’s Planning and Development Department, the effective implementation of transit-oriented development along Kings Canyon is promising. “Transit-oriented development has the potential to bring community-focused benefits to Kings Canyon and Ventura such as housing, strong local businesses, and environmental sustainability.”

Diverse community engagement
To ensure community members who live, work, and play along Kings Canyon had a chance to provide feedback on the corridor’s future, the Long Range planning team hosted over half a dozen community workshops, community events, and meetings held both in-person and via virtual platforms. The division has engaged over 500 community members through outreach events, workshops and surveys.

At the workshops, resident participants were asked to imagine a city that maximized its use of public transportation. Residents designed their vision for Kings Canyon with more amenities, housing, and retail options. Reimagined design options were broad and could include multi-family housing, supermarkets, libraries, community centers, pools, and plazas – all within walking distance to public transportation.

Nataly Barajas, 22, is a recent college graduate working towards an associate degree at Fresno City College and lives close to Kings Canyon. Barajas rides the Fresno FAX bus to and from classes. She participated in an in-person KCCTOD workshop and shared her vision for the corridor’s future. Nataly’s vision includes easy access to libraries and bookstores.

Barajas felt her input as a Fresno youth was important. “Oftentimes youth are left out of the conversation when involving city issues in general. It’s incredibly important to participate because youth are the future of Fresno,” said Barajas.

In May, Long Range Planning and the Office of Community Affairs (OCA) joined efforts on targeted outreach to Asian Pacific Islander, Asian Indian, Black Indigenous Persons of Color, Immigrant and Latino residents in Southeast Fresno. The OCA advised Long Range Planning on flyer language and design, and targeted community outreach strategies. The OCA also invited department staff to participate on two online interviews in English and Spanish informing the community about TOD.

According to Pagoulatos, the OCA’s outreach helped the department significantly increase the project’s outreach. “The OCA was a critical partner in connecting community members to the KCCTOD study. Thanks to their help, staff was able to double workshop attendance in a matter of five weeks,” said Pagoulatos.

More opportunities for TOD community input
To learn more about the KCCTOD study, please visit www.fresno.gov/KCCTOD. To request a KCCTOD study presentation or to provide input, please email [email protected] or call (559) 621-8038.

In May, the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs welcomed four University of North Carolina Chapel Hill recipients of the Morehead-Cain scholars’ program to Fresno. The Morehead-Cain program provides summer opportunities for its scholars to visit local municipalities across the U.S. and help city leaders tackle community-wide issues. In the City of Fresno, Morehead-Cain scholars Sarah Chocron, David Nicholson, Elizah Van Lokeren and Asher Wexlar were tasked with improving sentiment among 16-to-30-year Fresnsans.

Youth enrichment and engagement
Youth engagement and enrichment opportunities, including leadership, mentorship and employment opportunities are top priorities included in Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer’s One Fresno vision. Towards this end, visiting Morehead Cain scholars were encouraged to connect with Fresno youth and recommend solutions to increase city pride.

“Our young people are the leaders of tomorrow and today. They need to see themselves as such. Our ‘One Fresno’ commitment is to invest in our youth giving them opportunities to be and see themselves in places that they might not have accessed previously,” shared Mayor Dyer.

The visiting Morehead Cain scholars were tasked with increasing positive city sentiment among Fresno youth. Scholars met with youth-serving community-based organizations that engage the city’s diverse young people. They also had one-on-one conversations directly with young people about the things that inspire them about our city.

The work in Fresno led by the Morehead-Cain scholars was overseen by Deputy Mayor, Matthew Grundy. “We are so proud of the work that Morehead-Cain scholars did here in Fresno. Their vision, enabled by our own youth, turned into a beautiful art piece promoting city pride that is visible to all and will be on display for years to come,” said Deputy Mayor Grundy.

Youth vision comes to life
For their final project, scholars teamed up with local muralist Cynthia Velazquez, who also serves as resident artist with the Mennonite Central Committee, to paint a mural. The goal for Velazquez and the scholars was to offer a unifying artistic piece for youth and families visiting southeast Fresno’s Calwa Park. Velazquez designed a mural depicting a young Latino boy playing with a soccer ball—Calwa Park youths’ most popular sport.

According to Morehead-Cain scholar, Sarah Chocron, the mural provided a way to unify the Calwa Park community around a beautiful work of art. “We hope this mural serves as a constant reminder of the joy and vibrancy that Fresno is made up in all its streets and neighborhoods and the childhood memories made in this park during soccer practices,” shared Chocron.

The Calwa Park mural titled: “Si vas a soñar, sueña que es posible.” Translated to English, the mural’s title is, “If you are going to dream, dream that it is possible,” and is open to public during the park’s open hours. For more information on the mural, contact the Office of Community Affairs at (559) 621-7923.

Nearly 20 residents joined the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Civic Academy. The Civic Academy welcomes Fresno constituents to enroll in four in-person sessions to learn about the city’s government structure and have a close-up look into municipal departments.

“The Mayor’s Civic Academy takes to heart our city’s mission of an inclusive city. We want our constituents to have a personal connection to what happens at City Hall and the academy does just that,” shared Mayor Jerry Dyer.

The Civic Academy is a prime engagement tool for the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs (OCA) which is under the purview of Deputy Mayor Matthew Grundy. “Certainly, the Civic Academy speaks to the heart of the OCA’s mission. We strive to be a government that is responsive to all our diverse communities’ needs and one of those needs is to be informed and active in what happens at City Hall,” said Deputy Mayor Grundy.

OCA Civic Academy as an engagement springboard
The goal of the Civic Academy is to provide residents with the tools they need to be active constituents in the legislative process. In addition to learning how city government functions, residents will learn how to identify and engage their elected officials, locate, and understand Council agendas and participate in public comment periods, forums and municipal engagement opportunities.

The foundational knowledge that the OCA Civic Academy provides will equip resident participants to take on leadership roles including municipal boards and commissions. “We are providing our participating community members with the information they need to feel empowered to lead in their neighborhoods and in our city,” said Sandra Lee, OCA’s Asian Pacific Islander liaison.

Resident engagement at City Hall is key

The first Civic Academy session kicked off at Fresno City Hall Chambers. Residents learned about California’s several municipal government styles, including an in depth look at Fresno’s strong mayor structure. “We want residents know how our city government works and that their participation and voice is key for a more prosperous city,” said OCA’s BIPOC liaison, Pastor BT Lewis, II.

In the upcoming three in-person sessions, OCA Civic Academy residents will meet with city department directors and leads for Economic Development, Planning and Development, Public Works, Public Utilities, and Fresno Police and Fire departments. The final session will feature a graduation ceremony.

Rosa Rodriguez lives in Fresno’s District 7 and is a participant of the OCA’s inaugural class. “I want to thank everyone who collaborates to make this very interesting program. It helps us to better know our city officials. We look forward to the next session!” said Rodriguez.

Future participation opportunities

The OCA will hold future Civic Academy classes. For residents who are interested in participating in future cohort opportunities, please reach out to the Office of Community Affairs at (559) 621-7923.