.JPG "Student hand prints and a rainbow cover a wall in the classroom at a preschool in Fresno County. The city of Fresno recently established a commission on child care.")
Student hand prints and a rainbow cover a wall in the classroom at a preschool in Fresno County. The city of Fresno recently established a commission on child care.
CRAIG KOHLRUSS
Fresno Bee Staff Photo
The new Fresno Commission on Family Affordability and Childcare Access had an efficient, if not lonely, inaugural meeting — clocking in and out in 12 minutes.
CThe main item on the agenda Friday, Aug. 21 was to appoint eight commissioners to serve on the committee with city councilmembers Tyler Maxwell, Nelson Esparza and Annalisa Perea. The only other people in the chamber were city staff.
All three councilmembers provided opening remarks about the importance of child care.
“Child care is an issue that is not often talked about here in our city, especially those firsthand experiences of what it means to be able to wake up in the morning and have the ability to go to work versus needing to stay home because you do not have quality or affordable child care,” Perea said from the dais.
Maxwell, who spearheaded the formation of the commission, said “it is time for the city of Fresno to get aggressive about solving the child care crisis.”
The members did not discuss specifics about where city funds, if any, may come from. They did set a calendar for meetings for the rest of the year — the first Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. at city council chambers.
The full city council established the commission by a 7-0 vote on June 8.
Who is on the commission?
By a 3-0 vote, the councilmembers appointed the following to the commission:
• Aldo Alvarado, Fresno EOC board member/Head Start County-Wide Policy Council (District 4)
• Elizabeth Gonzalez, The Children’s Movement (District 4)
• Ofelia Gonzalez, Central Valley Children’s Services Network (District 5)
• Andrea Cervantes Woods, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Early Care and Education Department (District 5)
• Cindy J. Hernandez, Youth Leadership Institute (District 3)
• Lavera L. Smith, Fresno County Department of Social Services, Supportive Services Inc. Alternative Payment Program (District 1)
• Fabiola Gonzalez, First Five Fresno County (District 7)
• Deborah D. Young, SEIU 521 Child Care Workers (District 6)
This story was originally published August 25, 2026 at 3:12 PM.
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David Taub joined the Fresno Bee in 2026 after reporting 10 years for digital publication GV Wire. He has worked in the Fresno market since 2007. Prior to moving to the Central Valley, he worked for TV and radio stations on the Central Coast. He has also worked behind the scenes in local TV and radio. During his career, he has covered City Hall, the state Capitol, the White House and several houses of government in between. When not in a reporting capacity, he works tracking stats for the Fresno Grizzlies as an official scorekeeper, and also with televised basketball and football games. He has worked the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and several MLB games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue!