Fresno Famous

Oh Fresno, why are you so good at screwing yourself over? If California were a reality show you would so be voted off the continent. Chances of being invited for the reject reunion special would be slim- youíre just too much of an insurance liability.

After trying to sell lemonade at the fish market with its $42 million air terminal, Fresno Yosemite International has received an offer to increase business in spite of itself. Not to worry, the farmers will screw this one up post haste.

On Wednesday, Mexicana Airlines proposed initiating service from Fresno to Guadalajara, Mexico City and Morelia to the city in January. Similar proposals have been shot down over the years, due in large part to the opposition of agricultural lobbies.

Fresno Famous caught up with Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, a citrus industry lobbying group. Nelson is a man that uses words like " invasive" and "infestation" to describe "maggots" and "pests." He'll scare your pants off with tales of sudden oak death syndrome and the dreaded Medfly. Citrus growers in this area say they are against direct flights from Mexico because of the risk to valley crops if one invasive maggot slips through customs.

Apparently, if a pest is found, "the whole invasive pest or exotic disease area is quarantined. There are no natural geographic barriers in the valley- it would immediately place the whole valley in quarantine from Bakersfield to Sacramento." Which would mean crops from those areas could not be sold.

Imagine if a young Central American seminary student landed in LAX with some contraband fruit he forgot to declare. Then imagine the fruit began to rot, and so the student threw it out, maggots and all, near an orange grove and the whole area was quarantined! This is no Fresno thriller, it's a true story as retold by Nelson.

Fear of foreign pests is certainly real for central valley farmers, but is the threat severe enough to isolate Fresno from the rest of the world forever? Nelson admits the risk of contamination from air travel is equal to the risk posed by international vehicle traffic. Yet, even when posed with the hypothetical situation of cream of the crop security and customs at FYI, he is still against allowing Mexican flights in.

"There's no guarantee they'll have the resources," he affirms. He would, however, be in favor of flights coming to Fresno if they are first stopped and cleared in Los Angeles or Phoenix.

Currently, FYI offers no direct international flights. America West flies to Mexico, but passengers go through immigration in Phoenix. The "international" designation of the old FAT is the key to more federal money for construction and improvements, and allows some cargo landings. Opening up FYI to international passenger traffic would also allow smaller UPS-type cargo carriers to land. These types of carriers would, conceivably, be allowed to bring in fruit.

Mexico is the number two exporter of fresh fruit to the US (Chile holds the top spot), according to the USDA. Imports of fresh fruit from Mexico grew 14% in 2003, to $739 million. Imports of fresh citrus alone grew 30% in 2003.

While there is no doubt that agribusiness is important to the valleyís economy, there should be consideration given to what opening access could do to the quality of life for the people of Fresno, the majority of which are not farmers. Money spent on the new terminal (which is now the subject of a lawsuit brought on by the city) could have been used to bolster (or create) customs and immigration capacity.

The city continues to push its development plans on the people, rather than pulling ideas from individuals and businesses who are acting on their own initiative. Building a new terminal for additional flights cash strapped regional carriers have no intention of adding is an example of this push philosophy. The city would be wise to listen to those who want to integrate Fresno into the rest of the world, and are willing to put up the money to do so.

Nobody wants your fishy lemonade, Fresno.

None.