A Candid Conversation with Fresno's Maverick Mayor

02/14/2007 (KFSN) -- For six years Alan Autry has been a lightening rod for controversy. What can we expect from his last two years running Fresno?

In an exclusive interview with Action News Anchor Nancy Osborne, the maverick mayor shoots straight from the hip on everything from the politics of education to why you aren't likely to find him in his city hall office.

The actor, Alan Autry stepped onto a new stage when he decided to run for Mayor of Fresno in November 2000.

The star Riverdale High athlete took up acting when his NFL career ended in the late 70's. His movie gig paid the bills, but it's his character of lawman Bubba Skinner on TV' "In the Heat of the Night" that most people remember.

These days, after six years in the role of mayor, he moves effortlessly from down home to up town.

When we met for this story, he had just left a meeting with the city's lobbyist who he says, "gets our needs, goes back to Washington and pounds away."

Autry has no plans to coast through his last two years as mayor. The choice to take on big battles led to his early decision to expand the staffing in his mayoral office and to give his top aides unprecedented power and oversight.

Action News: Why did we need a deputy city mayor?
Mayor Autry: "People need to know that they are talking to your ear, whether your ear is there or not. They know when they're with the Chief of Staff of the Deputy Mayor that they have a direct line to me."

It is Deputy Mayor Roger Montero and Chief of Staff Georgeanne White you'll find in the mayor's offices every day, not Alan Autry.

Action News: It's no secret. You don't sit in this office very often. Why not?
Mayor Autry: "The worst, most useless, ineffective place that a mayor can be in the new millennium is stuck behind his desk pretending that you're doing the job & a job of any leader is not really to get things done, it's to create circumstances for others to get things done."

He does hold Open Door Monday where, by screened appointment, citizens can meet and talk with the mayor and city staff, up to and including City Manager Andy Souza.

Folks like Patricia Breckenridge who wants the city involved in alternative energy generation from cows; or Greg Hunter who wants an education character building program for Fresno.

Education is one of the four cornerstones of Mayor Autry's stated Vision of the City. He says those cornerstones are education, jobs, public safety and growth.

It is perhaps the most controversial in the past 6 years. His on going battle with the Fresno Unified School District is always at the top of his urgent list. He says, "Every child deserves a quality education and they're not getting it in Fresno Unified, they're still not getting it today. And we can't end a tale of two cities until education reforms."

Autry believes the heavy lifting to raise the southern half of the City of Fresno is farther down the tracks than education reform. But he points to rising housing starts and commercial development south of Mckinley, along with the steady revitalization of downtown Fresno, such as:

• A new federal courthouse
• A State Appellate Court under construction
• A new convention center exhibit hall
• A remodeled convention center complex
• A new parking structure
• New commercial buildings and private businesses
• Along with the baseball stadium's opening in 2003

Action News: What do you hope, then, to finish that you've started?
Mayor Autry: "Development follows the schools, business follows the schools, and housing follows the schools. The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable...I can not retreat from that position."

Mayor Autry is currently pushing legislation in Sacramento create a pilot program in the Central Valley that would give school superintendents oversight of underachieving districts like Fresno Unified.

Be sure to tune in to Action News Thursday at 6 pm for part two of this exclusive interview where Mayor Autry talks in-depth about trying to shake up the culture within city government.

Also, be sure to come back to abc30.com later to watch the full, uncut interview online.

Continue to Part 2

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