You may recall that Alan Autry was the Mayor of Fresno for two terms, succeeding Jim Patterson, a current candidate for the 19th Congressional District.  Autry is supporting State Senator Jeff Denham, and has been taking major shots at Patterson while hosting a radio program on KYNO 940 am.  Now, this station has less than a 1% share, so there aren’t many listeners, but I am really, really saddened by Autry’s attacks.  He’s been my friend for many years, but as a Patterson supporter, I feel compelled to respond.

The latest Denham attack showed up in my mail today, with Autry claiming that Patterson left him in a fiscal mess when he took over for Patterson in 2001. 

If this claim weren’t so ridiculous, it would be laughable, and it makes fair game the Autry record while in Fresno City Hall.

Let’s set the record straight:  Jim Patterson was elected Mayor of Fresno in 1993.  The city was gang infested and had the worst auto theft rates in the nation.  Over the next eight years, with some federal help, Fresno hired 384 police officers, cut the crime rate 75%, and balanced eight straight budgets.  Pension obligations were refinanced.  Fresno was named an All American City in 2000.  This is the city that Patterson left Autry.

Now, Patterson had his share of enemies, mostly for being a strong conservative.  He opposed the downtown baseball stadium for fiscal reasons, and has since been vindicated on that position.  But at the time, Patterson’s opposition rankled local business leaders.  He stood for private property rights and opposed redevelopment projects that involved eminent domain – which led to a failed recall attempt led by some local developers.  Again, his conservatism was what made his opponents the angriest.

Now Autry says that Patterson left him a mess.  Well, let’s look at that for a minute.  Autry championed the downtown baseball stadium – a noose around Fresno’s general fund.  He supported City loan guarantees for a failed project called Granite Park – costing the city millions.  And he supported the city loan guarantees for the Fresno Metropolitan Museum – a project that cost the city close to $20 million.  Now, Fresno is having to leverage almost all of its unencumbered assets to pay for those mistakes.

Yet, I don’t hear the current Mayor, Ashley Swearingen, saying a negative word about Autry and the mess he left her.  She has a far stronger case against him than he ever had against Patterson.  

It’s sad to see Alan so bitter about things, especially since he’s not ever said a bad public word about Patterson until now – over 10 years after the fact.  I have come to question his judgement – after all, he is one of Arnold Schwarzeneggers biggest supporters – even though Arnold is the worst Governor in Caliifornia history.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.