January 2009
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Vol 4, Issue 15
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In the Black
Newsletter
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| Greetings! |
Well wishers, the media and family members from as far away as Aspen,
Greece gathered to welcome the change of the guard in Fresno's
leadership. At the first council meeting of the year, the City Clerk
swore in Council members Andreas Boregas and Lee Brand along with Mayor
Ashley Swearengin. In a capacity filled chamber, Brian Calhoun, Jerry
Duncan and now former-Mayor Alan Autry also said farewell and thanked
their colleagues, staff and the residents of Fresno for the opportunity
to serve.
In her
usual get-down-to-business fashion, Mayor Swearingin took the
opportunity to speak about her plans for her first 100 days in office.
Of the number of tasks and initiatives she plans to employ immediately,
here a few II found interesting:
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Conduct a city efficiency analysis. This would be an update to a 2002 report comparing our city services to like cities. An
in-depth department evaluation. Along with this evaluation, department
are being asked to present budget scenarios with 4 and 8 percent
reductions for the upcoming 2009-20 fiscal year. -
Revising and simplifying the city's procurement process that will favor local businesses. Partnering
with community initiatives to increase resident's awareness and access
to free earned income tax credit (EITC) services in the city. Establishing the Fresno Citizens Academy, a voluntary program to educate and engage citizen leaders.
Tate Hill
Editor
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| Archives |
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'In the Black' Archives
What the top 3 black- owned websites?
- Black Planet
- BET
- Black Voices
Source: Blackbottom.com as of September 23, 2008Annual Black Purchase Power in Fresno County?
$486 Million
Source: 2002 Economic Census |
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Cynthia Sterling makes history
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On Tuesday, January 6, 2009 Cynthia Sterling added another notch
to her historic political career when she was voted by her peers to the role
of Council President. Council President Sterling is the first African-American
and the first woman to the lead the Fresno City Council in our strong-mayoral
government.
Her duties as Council President will include
presiding over council meetings, setting the council agenda and being the official
representative of the Council. In addition to this duties, the council
presidency will be especially important this year as Fresno's new Mayor, Ashley
Swearengin has big plans for the city
budget, administration infrastructure and rolling out several changes that will require cooperation from the
Council. Cynthia Sterling will have a pivotal role in negotiations between the
Council and the Mayor's Office on the proposed changes to address the
predicted budget shortfall and hot button issues like downtown development, homeliness
and foreclosures.
So who is working with Council President
Sterling to manage the district matters, the  council and constituent services?
In December, Greg Barfield who had served as her Chief of Staff (one of the
first to change the title from Chief Assistant) moved to the Mayor's Office as
the Homeless Czar. Erica Franco -Cabrera has stepped in as Chief of Staff after
serving almost five years as a council assistant in Sterling's office. In
addition, Rev. Carl Jones has joined the office as the executive analyst who
will provide staff support to the Mayor or City Council Members and acts as a
liaison between council districts in creating council-wide legislation among
many other things. A native of Boston, Jones brings a breathe legislative
and political experience previously serving as a legislative aide to the
National Black Caucus of State Legislators and Executive Director for the
Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus.
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Obamanomics: President-Elect's Speech on the Economy
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Twelve days before he takes office, President Elect Barack
Obama spoke this morning at George Mason
University addressing the urgency of passing his proposed Economic Stimulus Plan
that may reach $800 billion. After the Congressional Budget Office forecasted
that 2009-10 deficit could reach $1.2 trillion along with the nearly two
million jobs lost to date, Obama speech's reiterated the need for a monumental
plan to stop the bleeding of the economy. In that plan, he proposes to create 3
million jobs in the private and public sector by upgrading federal buildings,
improving infrastructure and by boosting the production of alternative energy
by 100%. In addition, Obama proposed providing training to educators and
computerizing all medical records in five years.
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The Fresno Mayoral Priorities Survey
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In the months of November and December, readers of In the Black voiced what they believed incoming Mayor Ashley Swearengin should focus on when she takes office next month. Here are the results from the respondents:
Respondents were asked to rank the priorities from 1 to 10. The North & South Shields and the Works of West Fresno filtered results cross compare their direct rankings to those of the overall respondents by matching color.
The issues of downtown revitalization, equitable government funding, and dealing with the city's homeliness ranked as the top priorities readers felt the Mayor needed to tackle in 2009. These issues don't differ much from Swearengin's proposed priorities as stated during her campaign that include: - Increasing employment and
educational opportunities in Fresno
- Ensuring A Vibrant Downtown
- Safer neighborhoods through (1) good policing, (2) making sure our number of sworn
officers is near the top of our peer cities, and (3) improving
employment in Fresno.
- Specific infrastructure and public services plans are implemented for
West Fresno, Southeast Fresno, and other areas with the highest
concentration of poverty in our city;
- The City of Fresno works with the County of Fresno and the non-profit
community to put in place a cohesive, long-term strategy for addressing
the growing homeless population in our community
- Setting up the Fresno Citizens Academy, a voluntary program to educate
and engage citizen leaders, to make City Hall as open and accessible to
citizen input as possible.
The question is which ones will she tackle first as the City is headed towards leaner times with state budget woes and reduced revenues due to decreases in property tax and foreclosures. To read about Mayor-elect Swearengin's priorities and plans to address economic development, downtown revitalization and more then visit her campaign website. Forward your request on survey details to urbanknowledgeblog@gmail.com
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Making Community Connections
Your partner for community engagement & mutli-cultural marketing
tatehill@att.net
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Where is the black perspective in the local media? RADIO!
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 Join Valley Black Talk every Monday on KFCF, 88.1 FM from 8-10 PM for thought provoking dialogue, intriguing questions and passionate perspective on national and local events and issues affecting the black community.
For archived shows or more information about the program, go to www.vbtradio.org
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'WE ARE THE CHANGE' CELEBRATION
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On January 20, 2009 our community and our country will move into a new era
as Barack Obama takes the helm as the 44th President of the United
States of America. His candidacy, campaign and election demonstrated America
has made significant progress from the days of when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther.
King Jr. took the helm of the Civil Rights Movement.
This coming January we have the opportunity to commemorate the life of King
and the presidency of Obama at the local level through the "We are the
Change" Celebration on January 20th from 5 to 7 PM at the
African-American Museum. This event invites local elected officials,
business and community leaders to participate in a day of festivities that will
unite greater Fresno.
Valley Black Talk Radio (KFCF 88.1 FM) in partnership with
several local community organization--The California Advocate Newspaper, Fresno
West Coalition, Blackxchange.net, National Network in Action, Good Citizens
Inc., and the African American Museum-- will all assemble at the Museum for the
"We are the Change" Celebration. We will be re-airing the swearing in
ceremony of the President along with a short program. In addition, we will
present a resolution to the Museum from elected officials commemorating this
special occasion.
Download the flyer and sponsorship information from Valley Black Talk Radio website
For more information about local inauguration activities, visit Urban Knowledge Blog- tag: Fresno Inauguration 2009
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Looking for In the Black Writers
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 Do you have something to say? Are you passionate about a particular subject? Have you said, "they need to write to
about ..."? Well, here's your chance!
In the Black is looking for other Issue writers, opinion editorals, and reviews of local restaurants, shops and entertainment venues from a black prospective.
College students are especially welcomed to inquire.
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Food for Thought:
Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.
Carol Moseley-Braun
interview in The New Republic, November 15, 1993
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| In the Black, a publication of the Urban Knowledge Blog
Disclaimer: This is an editorial publication. The comments above are solely of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views or ideologies of any organization or person outside of Urban Knowledge Blog or In the Black. If there is a numerical or factual error, please inform us and we will publicly rectify it via email. Comments received may be republished for the betterment of other readers, unless you indicate otherwise. Thank You. |
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