State of City Address in Fresno

Fresno’s Mayor shared the city’s accomplishments, opportunities and special plans on Wednesday during the State of City luncheon but one member of the city council is angry. He says the city’s policies are hurting revitalization efforts in his district and is going on the record saying the city has it’s priorities all wrong.

Only a day after it was announced Save Mart on Blackstone is closing, Mayor Ashley Swearengin said Smart & Final will move in to that location. A move city councilman Clint Olivier is furious about. He believes the city killed a deal with the chain store to help alleviate blight in the area by making it difficult for them to move in and build on the blighted location.

<clint olivier/ fresno city councilmember>

"Revitalization has to be done by the private sector, the city of Fresno doesn’t have the money to fix our streets, the city of Fresno is 250 million dollars behind on roads maintenance. We don’t have the money to revitalize anything," Clint Olivier said.

He added that it’s a fantasy to think the city will clean up blight on its own and that it will never happen if the city continues to be what he describes as unfriendly to business.

"When we say no to them and wear it as a badge of honor, to say we’re sticking to the plan, meanwhile we have blight in an unsafe situation with kids, that’s deplorable to me," Olivier.

And while he thinks the city failed it’s residents in his district. Mayor Ashley Swearengin says that corner will be cleaned up eventually.

We know there’s interest from private investors who want to do something on that site so as I’ve encouraged Clint Olivier, you have to have a little bit of patience when it comes to business development," Swearengin said.

The mayor added that Blackstone is a major focus for the city and they’re dedicating millions of dollars to support private investment up and down the corridor and believes sooner rather than later there will be another proposed developer on that site.