An effort by three Fresno City Council members to name the Fresno Police Department Regional Training Center after Mayor Jerry Dyer has failed.
The council voted on a slim margin to remove the item from Thursday’s agenda which would have honored Dyer, who served as the city’s police chief for 18 years.
Driving the news: The training center, located at 6375 W. Central Ave. in southwest Fresno, was completed in 2010 and encompasses 96 acres.
- A central part of the decision to rename the center after Dyer revolves around a 2020 resolution from the city council that requires the Historic Preservation Commission to review name changes.
- That resolution, proposed by former City Councilwoman Esmeralda Soria, tasked the Historic Preservation Commission of ensuring that the city does not have any buildings or rename any buildings named after a “cultural or historic figure known to be racist or bigoted.”
- The resolution would have made the renaming exempt from review by the Historic Preservation Commission.
The big picture: Come Thursday, Councilman Miguel Arias requested that the resolution to honor Dyer be removed from the agenda.
- Council President Tyler Maxwell – who sponsored the resolution alongside Council members Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi – motioned to keep the item on the agenda.
- Arias and Council members Luis Chavez, Nelson Esparza and Annalisa Perea voted to remove the item.
- While there was no discussion, Chavez said during the vote that he needs more time to consider the resolution.
