the work is far from complete<\/a>. She also said none of the voter-approved uses for Measure P dollars include childcare programs.<\/p>\n\u201cI think it’s really important for politicians not to use Measure P as a slush fund for anything and everything that their hearts desire,\u201d Celedon said.<\/p>\n
In a June 26 letter to City Hall, attorneys for Fresno BHC noted that, if the city wants to make material changes to Measure P funding, they have to put the issue before the voters first.<\/p>\n
If the city tries to use the funding outside those lanes, Fresno BHC is willing to take the fight to court, Celedon confirmed.<\/p>\n
For his part, Maxwell said he was \u201cnot surprised\u201d by the pushback from Celedon and others who were involved in the early days of the Measure P fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand why they’re probably feeling very defensive and territorial,\u201d Maxwell said.<\/p>\n
Maxwell, the District 4 councilmember whose area includes east central Fresno and the airport, said Fresno should be able to study options. He also noted that \u201cpeople’s needs and desires might change\u201d over the course of the tax\u2019s 30-year life and signaled a willingness to consider such changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it isn\u2019t the Constitution. It isn\u2019t the Bible,\u201d Maxwell said of Measure P. \u201cIt\u2019s not infallible.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while Maxwell said he thinks changing Measure P might be \u2014 or at least should be \u2014 possible, he also acknowledged that there have been no serious discussions.<\/p>\n
Maxwell said the city is still working to identify funding sources. In the meantime, Maxwell is leading an effort to put together a commission of childcare experts within the next few weeks. He said the experts would develop feedback on the real needs of the community and help gameplan strategies to meet those needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know child care is a top priority for a lot of folks who know that early child care learning is something that people are very eager to sign their children up for, but it is very cost prohibitive,\u201d Maxwell said, \u201cand so we need to look into all different sorts of things to see what’s the best candidate to meet these needs, and I would say nothing is off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maxwell further argued that Measure P already funds a lot of after-school programming in the city and wondered aloud if there could be a way to bridge those concepts.<\/p>\n
And while Celedon acknowledged the Measure P benefit to after-school programs, she noted that such programs are not the same as childcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if Councilmember Maxwell were to speak to any licensed child care or daycare provider, he would have a very clear understanding (that) those two things are very different,\u201d Celedon noted<\/p>\n
Maxwell acknowledged differences and emphasized that the idea is to find solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not like daycare, but it is providing some educational components, some sports programming, some arts programming \u2026 until their parents get off of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maxwell says he has \u201cno preconceived notions about what a solution might look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is why I’m putting together this commission to try to get as much feedback as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maxwell said he hopes to begin forming the childcare commission within the next two weeks, but it remains unclear exactly when or how the funding questions could be settled.r how the funding questions could be settled.<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fresnoland.org\/2026\/07\/01\/childcare-in-fresno\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fresnoland.org”>Fresnoland<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fresnoland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cropped-Fresnoland_FacebookProfile.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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