FRESNO, CA (KMJ)- “I’m going to make Fresno business friendly,” says Fresno’s Mayor, announcing a business friendly Fresno 2.0 Initiative on Thursday.
Mayor Lee Brand is launching the Fresno 2.0 Initiative he says to finish off the progress Mayor Ashley Swearengin started,
offering transparency and speeding up the business permit and planning process at City Hall
“The way I’m proceeding is the way to go in a thorough, comprehensive basis. You have to establish metrics, how long should it take to get a solar permit, how long should it take to process a tract map or do a plan amendment.” – Fresno Mayor Lee Brand.
Speaking on Thursday’s Ray Appleton show, the Mayor says new software will be going online by April that will assist in the process.
MAYOR’S OFFICE: Business Friendly Fresno 2.0! will complete the implementation of Accela software that began rolling out under the original Business Friendly Fresno initiative. Accela will allow people to electronically submit permit applications and architectural drawings as well as, track the plan check process online. The software will help identify shortcomings in the processes and allow staff to develop appropriate solutions, set up more detailed and realistic performance metrics and goals for every type of permit.
“Once that’s online, you can go online, you can pull a permit, and you can follow the plan check. Your architect can then – because everything is done electronically – make changes, submit those changes online and you are moving forward you’re not bogged down. That, in and of itself, will greatly reduce the timeline.” — Fresno Mayor Lee Brand.
City Council Members Steve Brandau, Luis Chavez, and Clint Olivier will serving on the 2.0 Committee.
Fresno’s Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders are also partners (more names listed below).
Business Friendly Fresno 2.0! Committee members:
Tim Orman (Chairman) – Mayor’s office
Anne Kloose – PG&E
Jeff Roberts – Granville Homes
Jeff Harris – Wilson Development
Dennis Gaab – Century Builders
Steve Spencer – Spencer Enterprises Inc.
Rick Ginder – Ginder Development Corporation
Lelan Parnigian – Fowler Packing
Mike Pickett – Don Pickett & Associates, Inc.
Larry Fortune – Fortune Associates
Sal Gonzales – Lance-Kashian & Company
Dirk Poeschel – Dirk Poeschel Land Development Services, Inc.
Ed Dunkel – Precision Civil Engineering, Inc.
Ruth Evans – The Evans HR Group
Nick Yovino – Former DARM Director
Nathan Ahle – CEO, Fresno Chamber of Commerce
Clint Olivier – Councilman, District 7
Luis Chavez – Councilman, District 5
Steve Brandau – Councilman, District 2
Click below to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
