Fresno's Measure P: One page to rule them all, or at least attempt to explain what the heck is going on
It all started in November 2018, when Measure P went before Fresno voters to add a 3/8th-cent increase to the sales tax for 30 years to benefit parks and arts.
Nearly five years later, none of the funds collected for the arts — estimated now at $15 million — has been given to any actual artists. There are a number of reasons: bureaucratic sluggishness, power dynamics between the Mayor and City Council, a sloppy job by tone-deaf out-of-town consultants, and an inexplicable imperative to put parks people in charge of arts grants. Through it all the Fresno Arts Council has been fighting for its rightful place in the process (according to the language of the initiative itself).
Veteran journalist Doug Hoagland has been covering the Measure P issue intensively for The Munro Review. Here you’ll find an archive of his stories. If you’re new to the issue, a good start is reading this overview piece he wrote in October:
Latest Measure P coverage
