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Cc:
Subject: Public comment Agenda item #2EE
Date: Friday, July 31, 2026 1:14:27 PM
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Please refer to my public comment below on yesterday's agenda item #2EE I had prepared to share but due to public comment not allowed, I was not able to express it. Thank you.
Good afternoon/evening members of the council,
My name is Baolia Xiong, Fresno resident of district 1 and a member of the Fresno County Tobacco Free Coalition. My work is in nonprofit and public health and in ensuring communities health is a priority. I want to commend Council President Nelson Esparza, Mike Karbassi, and Council Vice President Tyler Maxwell and your teams for spearheading the TRL efforts. I understand no one likes additional fees I get that, but when selling products that are addicting and make people sick , having a program in place like a TRL
helps establish a coordinated process that ensures retailers operate responsibly and provides accountability when they do not.
With budget cuts affecting many orgs, including my own, reliance on government funding for enforcement and code compliance efforts can be uncertain. A TRL program helps create a more sustainable approach to supporting these important public health protections.
There are also opportunities to strengthen the TRL in the future. Provisions related to retailer proximity to youth-sensitive locations, such as schools, and considerations around retailer density can serve as additional measures to reduce the availability of tobacco products.
This is my line of work, but it is also personal so it’s important to me to help educate cities on evidence-based approaches to building healthier communities. I work with schools and provide tobacco prevention education, I have school officials sharing bags of vape products they confiscated, this is our reality. If you ask schools if not these products near schools would be helpful, they say “YES” no doubt about it. These provisions won’t solve everything, but they help make tobacco less easy for access and exposure, especially for our young people. I’m not here to press anything just informing. If this subject does come up at council again, the coalition we’re here to help provide support, and sample provision language to strengthen the TRL. Again, thank you for taking actions towards this matter.
Baolia Xiong (She/her)
Project Manager
Mobile
Web
From: Bao Xiong
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2026 4:02 PM
Cc: Ventura, Jessica < >; Gholamrezaei, Leila
>; Daniel Gonzalez
Subject: Tobacco Retail Licensing Educational Packet
Good afternoon members of the council,
My name is Baolia Xiong and I am a member of the Fresno County Tobacco Free Coalition. I am sharing with you an educational packet on tobacco retail licensing with local data and provisions the city can do to keep youth and neighborhoods safe from tobacco. Cities across the state and nation have incorporated provisions like retailer proximity to youth sensitive areas and population density to their TRL programing as an extra measure to ensure tobacco products are not heavily available and to reduce exposure. You can learn more by clicking here California Tobacco Retailer Licensing: A Comprehensive Model Ordinance
Please let us know if you have any questions. We’re happy to help! Thank you.
Fresno County Tobacco-Free Coalition
Fresno County Tobacco-Free Resources, Secondhand Smoke & Vaping Prevention
Baolia Xiong (She/her)
Project Manager
Mobile
Web