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Subject: Public Comment: Please Vote No on Proposed PARCS Positions Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 2:55:56 PM
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Dear Fresno City Councilmembers,
I am writing to urge you not to approve the three requested positions by the Parks Department to administer the Measure P Expanding Access to Art and Culture grants. (Consent Item 2-I in the City Council agenda for March 26) We witnessed the presentation made by PARCS at the March 16, 2026 PRAC meeting and
spoke against the proposal. The PRAC itself did not vote unanimously in favor of the resolution with two members voting no (Kimberly McCoy and Jose Luis Barraza).
The problem with the proposed staffing plan is that it does not address the senior level of leadership needed to successfully implement a City tax-based arts and culture grants program.
Regarding the proposed three new positions within the Parks Department. – the Project Liaison/Program Administrator, Community Outreach Specialist, and Community Coordinator – these titles do not indicate the level of leadership needed for the City to successfully administer the EAAC grants program, nor do they require any arts and culture expertise. We need the City to hire a senior level arts and culture director to implement the mandate of Measure P grants. We have seen the effects of not having a professional standard for arts and culture leadership in the City, which has been a disaster.
Instead of hiring the proposed three positions, the City of Fresno should create a Cultural Affairs Division (which could be within PARCS) and hire a professional director of cultural affairs who will oversee the EAAC process as well as serve the city in all matters related to arts and culture, including policy development and expanded services.
We need to remember, there are other critical arts and cultural policy issues within the city besides the grants, including the development of the next cultural plan as well as public art and other official matters. Hiring three positions that appear to be geared for more junior staff levels will not get us to where we need to be. Of the eight largest cities in California, Fresno is alone in not having a Cultural Affairs Director/Department.
We need specific arts and culture administrative leadership. We have heard city officials argue that arts expertise is needed only for the review of the grants, which in itself illustrates the lack of experience coded in this assumption. The administrator of the grants program needs to understand the local arts and cultural ecology in which art is being practiced and produced in order to effectively design a funding program, make needed changes, and structure outreach.
The City needs to do better for its citizens with the
tremendous investment by the taxpayers before us.
For these reasons, I urge you to vote no on Consent Item 2-I and advocate instead for the creation of a Cultural Affairs Division led by a qualified Cultural Affairs Director. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you.
Sincerely,
Amy Kitchener
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1 ***RESOLUTION - Adopting the Third Amendment to the Position Authorization Resolution No. 2025-179 adding three permanent, full-time positions in the Parks, After School, Recreation, and Community Services Department, effective April 6, 2026 (Subject to Mayor's Veto)
Amy Kitchener
Executive Director
Alliance for California Traditional Arts
| actaonline.org