One of those advocates was Brandi Nuse-Villegas, an artist who has partnered with the homeless community to create memorial portraits honoring those who have passed. She said she knew of an unhoused resident whose deceased mother\u2019s ashes had been thrown away by HART team members as they removed a homeless encampment. She heard of other instances when medication, identification and phones were thrown out. Another advocate described an instance when someone’s dog was accidentally put in a garbage truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as a city should be ashamed of what we\u2019ve allowed HART to do to our community members,\u201d Nuse-Villegas said to council Thursday during the public comment period.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s HART team initiative, introduced in 2022, aims to address homelessness by connecting unhoused individuals to shelters and services like mental health support and substance treatment while also clearing encampments on public and private property. It\u2019s made up of staff from Poverello House who offer services, Fresno police who provide security and can issue citations or make arrests for illegal camping, and the city\u2019s code enforcement division who deal with blight. City leaders have described the approach as compassionate.<\/p>\n
The second HART team would be comprised of one sergeant and four officers. It\u2019s one of only five additions to the FY 2027 general fund, Dyer said in his presentation to council.<\/p>\n
HART team members help enforce Fresno\u2019s 2024 controversial anti-camping ordinance, which bans sleeping, sitting, lying or storing personal property in public spaces. Under the ordinance, homeless people can be arrested for illegal camping and are encouraged to enter drug treatment as an alternative to facing charges. The law is widely viewed as ineffective at reducing homelessness, with minimal participation in its treatment option.<\/p>\n
Arieana Castellanos is a mental health professional and member of the Fresnas for a People\u2019s Budget. She said she would like to see a housing first model \u2014 an approach that prioritizes providing permanent, stable housing immediately to individuals, without preconditions, such as sobriety, income or treatment compliance \u2014 implemented rather than HART.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so embarrassed that we\u2019re going to have a second HART team, and we don\u2019t have the actual infrastructure and resources for wraparound services to make sure that we\u2019re not just pushing people around,\u201d Castellanos said.<\/p>\n
One resident thanked Dyer for proposing to add a second HART team during public comment on Thursday, arguing that many unhoused individuals are aware of the services available to them and opt out.<\/p>\n
Existing levels of services, such as mobile showers, warming centers and cooling centers will be maintained in the new budget, Dyer said.<\/p>\n
None of the council members raised concerns over adding a second HART team to the budget, and it appeared to be well- received well overall by the council, with only minor suggestions anticipated. That\u2019s in part because Dyer planned ahead of time with councilmembers individually to discuss their priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good looking budget,\u201d Councilmember Analisa Perea said. \u201cI think there are a few areas where we can do a little better, but overall, I think this is an incredible start.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s in the budget?<\/p>\n
The city had an estimated $34.5 million deficit caused by a mix of inflation, contract obligations, labor agreements, facility leases, maintenance and software agreements.<\/p>\n
To close the gap and balance the budget, the city asked all departments to cut expenses by 5% for the third year in a row. Plus, all departments, except for fire, will also be asked to hold a staffing vacancy or attrition rate of 6.18%<\/p>\n
![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/EPZ_CITY_BUDGET_02.jpg\" "\\"EPZ_CITY_BUDGET_02.jpg\\"")
Mayor Jerry Dyer, far left, presents the Fresno City 2027 budget to the media during a press conference Wednesday, May 13, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
Dyer highlighted several initiatives in his fiscal year 2027 budget, including:<\/p>\n
$1 billion to support 470 major capital improvement projects, including a 911 communication center, a fire station, the regional fire training center, as well as a $42 million to support the city\u2019s first senior center$74.8 million in road maintenance and sidewalk repair under the Pave More Now initiative, Measure C and some state funding$2.1 million for council district infrastructure projects, in addition to $2.1 million that will carry over from FY2026$500,000 to increase trash removal and pressure washing in the Tower District and downtown$553,000 to plant 1,000 new trees, an initiative spearheaded by Councilmember Tyler Maxwell$300,000 for Advance Peace from the cannabis community benefit fund$225,000 for contracts to support spay and neuter for an estimate 1,800 cats and dogs, in addition to animal center services$100,000 to support various special events and the Historical Society as part of the county\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration<\/p>\n
Budget hearings begin June 8, and the final adoption is anticipated June 23.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 6:19 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer\u2019s proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year includes adding a second Homeless Assistance Response…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-316541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}