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www.thebusinessjournal.com UPDATED DAILY MARCH 16, 2018 thebusinessjournal.com the FOCUS | 8 Mayor Brand has high hopes for Central Valley Law Court reporting industry revamped Business faces challenges the EXECUTIVE Friendly Fresno PROFILE | 9 PHOTO BY EDWARD SMITH | The planning department at Fresno City Hall has been a source of frustration for many developers doing business in the city. Edward Smith – STAFF WRITER ministrations have made at least three at- There is that reputation.” tempts to reform the department. It was this reputation that spurred May- From accusations of drawn-out time- or Ashley Swearengin to begin the first When Gilbert Trejo of Cloud Nine Con- lines to unaccommodating customer ser- phase of Business-Friendly Fresno, and in Mehmet Noyan struction goes to the development de- vice, two parallel plans—one from Coun- 1999, the city council and Mayor Jim Pat- President partment at Fresno City Hall, he plans to cilman Garry Bredefeld offering mon- terson oversaw committees for the Fresno spend about three or four hours getting The Noyan Company ey-back guarantees to applicants out of Economic Recovery Program, which also his permits. department budgets for plans that don’t sought ways to solve the problem. That’s not bad in his eyes compared to the LIST | 10 get approved within stated timelines and “This is not the first attempt to try to fix other cities in the area. He’s also a smaller the other, a series of reforms from a com- this,” Dunkel said. “I’ve been doing this Community Regional player on the development scene compar- mittee of 16 industry representatives and for 30 years and I’ve seen the attempts — Medical Center tops the atively. Others have greater concerns that a website out of Mayor Lee Brand’s office, too many to count.” Medical Facility Patient the Development and Resource Manage- both hope to address a long standing issue Brand now hopes this attempt will be Revenue list ment department (DARM) doesn’t move with the culture at city hall. different. like it should. “It’s somewhat known that its difficult to “Nothing against Ashley or Alan [Au- This Week Online 6 DARM is the corner of City Hall where work in the City of Fresno,” said Ed Dun- try], or anybody else, but they never had developers, contractors, subcontractors Leads 11-12 kel of Precision Civil Engineering, who is that intimate knowledge and working in and residents go to get their plans ap- on Brand’s Business-Friendly Fresno (BFF the construction industry like I have,” Public Notices 16-29 proved for all types of construction, reno- 2.0!) committee. “There’s a lot of outside Opinion 30 vation and rehabilitation. developers that come here and know that. Over the past three decades, various ad- DARM | 2 PHOTO BY FRANK LOPEZ | From left, Kirk Vartanian and auctioneer Loren Schwartz listen to bids during an auction at Public Auction R Us in Madera last weekend. The owner Amanda Vartanian has opened an online-only auction operation targeted toward Fresno residents. PHOTO BY DAVID CASTELLON | Best Buy Market is the first local grocer to allow shoppers to skip lines like these with online shopping options. New auction house ‘sold’ Local South Valley grocer on Fresno’s online bidders rolls out curbside pickup Lemoore, partnered with Rosie, Frank Lopez - STAFF WRITER ternet-only auction company Edward Smith - STAFF WRITER based in Fresno that allows an online app based out of New A locally owned grocer was the York that coordinates with gro- For those who enjoy the customers to bid online for first in the South Valley to roll out cery stores across the nation to savings and the thrill of auc- new and used overstock and curbside pickup last month, ac- offer online orders for pickup and tion bidding, but would pre- returned retail items from a cording to Skip Nugent, owner of delivery, though for the time be- fer to do it from the comfort smartphone or computer. Best Buy Market. ing, Best Buy Market is only offer- and convenience of their All bidding takes place on- “People are in such a big hurry ing pickup. home, then a new local com- line and the online auctions these days, we wanted to have For minimum purchases of pany could be something that have a soft close, meaning that that convenience for them,” Nu- $30, customers can create a free thrifty shoppers might want if any new bids are made with- in the last minute of a unit’s gent said. account and browse through the to check out. Best Buy Market, which has lo- One Cent Auction is an in- Auction | 4 cations in Hanford, Visalia and Curbside | 5 SENSITIVE TIME PRIORITY HANDLING PERIODICAL: FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018 ISSUE # 325364 | $1.25 PER COPY USPS 145-100 2 www.thebusinessjournal.com FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018 PHOTO BY EDWARD SMITH | Mayor Lee brand said his prior career in the construction industry makes him uniquely suited to fix the culture of the city’s development department. DARM | from 1 started. The ones maybe you want to go, you have no control over that.” Brand said. Brand says he has begun work- To that end, the Brand administra- ing with the unions to be able to tion has already steered $4 million make changes and identify “problem into a website and a customer service spots.” program, according to Mark Stan- Bredefeld, however, thinks waiting driff, city spokesperson. another year is hurting Fresno. Additionally, the 16 people Brand “When you have an economy that chose with engineering, architec- is thriving but will only thrive for the tural, development and even human next 18 months to 24 months or so, resources backgrounds have come we don’t have time to study and form together to make recommendations a study group for a year,” Bredefeld for structural changes, and some of said. “We should be implementing them already have ideas of where to these kinds of changes so we get busi- begin. nesses moving through.” The changes Bredefeld wants to A difficult culture to work in make are in his Money Back Guaran- Solutions can be hard to find when tee/Business Streamlining Act he will All Prospects Lie, All the Time no one wants to speak up about the be introduce to the council on March problem. Many contractors and de- 22. velopers refuse to talk out of fear of A similar proposal was passed by reprisal. Dozens of attempts to reach the city council 7-0 back in 1999, but out to those in the industry have it was never implemented. Bredefeld been declined because people worry has revived it. - Sandler Rule #37 how on-the-record stories would be What it would do is hold the differ- taken. ent departments at city hall account- “I think they fear if they speak out, able to their established timelines. people will mess with their projects,” Once an application has been ap- Bredefeld said. “The fact that they proved, if the department doesn’t fear that is very telling.” meet that timeline, a full credit Bredefeld is not the only one who would be issued to the applicant that knows there’s a problem. would go toward either a future proj- Lying is the oldest defense mechanism in the book “There is no doubt that certain ect permit or fee, a business tax or when it comes to sales. People lie to get out of forced people will delay projects and cause an approved non-profit. That credit conversations and they lie to avoid salespeople altogether. grief if personalities get into it,” would then count against that de- Dunkel said. “That’s something I will partment’s budget for the next fiscal bring up.” year, something Bredefeld says will So how do you work with a potential situation where Brand said the first thing people not affect public safety. what they've told you is a lie? Be curious... implement a will see are “major” administra- “We’re going to hold the people ac- strategy of asking a series of relevant questions in an tive changes, “maybe before it even countable who are holding up getting starts.” business accomplished in the city of unthreatening, inquisitive manner. The truth will come “What’s happening here is they’re Fresno,” Bredefeld said. out sooner than you think. going to get the message things are changing and if you don’t want to Meeting complicated timelines be a part of that,” Dunkel said, “you Mike Pickett at Pickett Solar has don’t want to be part of the solution, been waiting for over a year to get a then you’re not going to be a part of piece of land on the outskirts of Fres- it any more.” no approved for use. But unions are a big part of em- “I’m trying to get a piece of ground ployment at city hall and make staff- annexed and I’m already a year into ing changes like the ones BFF 2.0! en- it,” said Pickett, whom the mayor vision difficult. brought on to BFF 2.0!. ”It’s still go- “The way it works typically is se- ing through the process.” niority,” Brand said. “If I have to get Pickett points to Visalia, who in his .412.8178 rid of five planners out of 20, usually the five that go are the ones that just DARM | 3 FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018 www.thebusinessjournal.com 3 PHOTO BY EDWARD SMITH | A 16-person team from industries including engineering, architecture, development and even human resources are advising Mayor Brand on his Business Friendly Fresno 2.0! initiative.

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