High Lead Levels in Fresno's Children Must be Solved!

One of the issues that I want to raise during this campaign resulted from an article that I read one year ago. The article was a report by Reuters titled “Lead Poisoning Afflicts Neighborhoods Across California.” It reports that in the Lowell Neighborhood, where I live, that 13.6% of the children tested had high levels of lead in their blood. This is nearly three times higher than the children of Flint, Michigan, which received national attention for their situation.  There is an interactive map that shows that the problem in Fresno is much larger than just the 93701 zip code.

Where is the same outcry and outrage for our own children in Fresno as there was in Flint? As I’ve attended community meetings I’ve asked people if they knew about the problem in Flint and almost person raises their hand. When I’ve asked the same question about the children in Fresno, no hands go up. This is baffling and concerning and enough of a reason to campaign…to make sure that if nothing else, this problem is known and addressed.

What does lead do to our children? According to the website familydoctor.org: “High levels of lead in the body can cause problems with the brain, kidneys, and bone marrow (the soft tissue inside bones). Symptoms of high lead levels can include belly pain, headaches, vomiting, confusion, muscle weakness, seizures, hair loss, and anemia (a low red blood cell count). Lower levels of lead in the body can also cause problems, such as trouble paying attention, behavior problems, learning difficulties, and a fall in the IQ of young children. IQ stands for “intelligence quotient” and measures a person’s intelligence.”

In another issues paper I suggested that our goal as a city should be for every person to have a real opportunity to achieve their full potential. If our children have high levels of lead in their blood, we are failing at this goal from the very start. Diminishing our children’s intelligence or ability to pay attention is unconscionable. When a candidate tells you that they are for public safety, ask them if this includes fighting to eliminate the sources of lead that are handicapping our children unnecessarily.

As a City Councilmember, I will use my office (just like I am using my candidacy) to bring attention to this problem. I will convene hearings with every agency that has a role in solving this problem. This would include government departments, health providers, private businesses involved in remediation, health foundations and other concerned individuals, businesses and advocacy groups. Our educational institutions have a direct interest in assuring that children in our school system have the healthiest minds, too.

We have to bring together our elected representatives at every level of government. We need to fight for every lead remediation dollar and we need to make sure that children are being tested. We need to be diligent about testing our homes, our soil and domestic water to find the sources of the problem so that they can be removed.

Part of my decision to run for Fresno City Council was to shine a light on this problem. But identifying a problem is only the first step. We have to make sure that everyone knows about this issue and then we must work together to solve it. We have many more issues to tackle, but this one is an absolute. It has to be the top priority of any community to protect the health and well-being of their children.