1983_05 Insight May 1983

              Moy<JW3
Insight
Hotel? Long-time residents forced out
Continued from page 1
Evans said the repairs are too extensive to be made and tbe .hotel is
operating at a deficit
"When I first came here I thought
we could fix it up as is and not tear it
down," said Evans. "We started redoing it a little bit at a time, but then the
rains came and blew in tbe roof. We
had no alternative. All we were doing
was pouring money down a rat hole.
"I felt bad about it closing down
at first for the people, but now I am
happy for them because tbey are going to be in such better conditions."
Evans said the company is applying for government grants, such as an
Urban Development Action Grant, to
renovate tbe building. The type and
amount of funding will help determine
what will become of the hotel and how
long it will take to refurbish. .
Because Hotel Fresno, built in
1909, is listed with the Fresno
Historical Society, Evans said it will
not be torn down. She does not know,
however, if it will reopen as a residential hotel.
lima, a retired counselor for the
handicapped, said he has both good
and bad memories of his life at Hotel
Fresno. "When I first came here the
dining room was open and was serving meals. And, we used to have
dances. These young ladies between
60 and 80 would be all over the place.
You might laugh but they were
beautiful and they danced
beautifully."
Lima calls those who lived there
"everyday people." He seems to know
everyone and everyone seems to know
him. "I'm the kind of person people
get attached to," be said modestly.
"Ill always remember my friendships here. About four or five people
have already asked for my new phone
number so we can talk and
reminisce."
Lima will be moving to the Martin
Luther King Apartments on Florence
Avenue, a brand new complex
scheduled to be completed by May 15.
In the - meantime, like the other
residents of Hotel Fresno, Lima is
counting on the aid of the Fresno
Development Department and its
relocation officer, Frank Rincon, to
find him a place to live.
Rincon and another full-time person hired by the owners of Hotel
Fresno have been working on rinding
homes for the residents since the decision to close the hotel was made in
March of this year.
"The difficulty is that we must try
to get them in safe and sane homes.
We didn't know what we were up
against when we first came in," said
Rincon.
He said the biggest problem was
finding homes for the handicapped,
the mentally retarded and the
alcoholic residents of the hotel.
"We are trying to find them a better place to go," Rincon said. "There
is nothing like the Hotel Fresno,
anywhere. Some people want to live
like they have been and its just not
possible. A lot of it is psychological.
They have become accustomed to a
certain way of living and they are
afraid to move someplace better.
"We are not putting anyone out
unless they have a place to go," said
Evans. "We are helping to get them
The closing of the Hotel Fresno hat left many low Income downtown
residents without a place to call home since limited housing is   available.
subsidized rentals and using certain
organizations to help certain people."
Evans said everyone has been offered a place to go, but according to
Rincon, 12 of the 126 residents have
not made a decision as to where they
would like to live.
Hotel Fresno is located on the corner of Broadway and, Fresno streets,
an area considered dangerous by
man. Nowadays, a security officer
stands guard from four in the afternoon to eight in the morning.
"I've never had a problem with
crime in the 10 years I have been here.
I must have that evil look," said Lima
jokingly. "In other words, I'll talk
their language. If they talk tough, I'll
talk tough, too. I guess you could say I
am streetwise, but I wasn't raised
that way. My dad was an ordained
minister."
Lima was bom and raised in San
Francisco. Upon graduation from
Converse High School, he became a
"hobo" for one-and-a-half years. He
said he "wanted to see what was on
the other side of the mountain."
Living and working day to day,
Lima came to Fresno in 1945 where he
joined the "syndicate" and dealt
cards. He met a girl and Lima said be
left the organization to marry her.
They had one boy and one girl, but the
marriage broke up after three years.
Lima received custody of his two
children and eventually fell in love
and married the granddaughter of a
babysitter be hired. In the 15 years of
his" second marriage, he had six
boys - all of whom are successful today, according to Lima.
He moved to Hotel Fresno after
his second marriage broke-up and has
lived there ever since.
"They gave me two keys when I
first came here — one to a room on
the sixth floor and another to a room
on the seventh floor. When I got to the
room on the sixth floor, I knew that
was it."
Lima calls tbe rooms average in
size — he once measured it off at
nine steps long and six steps wide. The
actual measurements are 12 by 15
feet. Many of the rooms do not have
bathrooms. The reason many people
live there is the cost - $157 to $197 a
month. Fresh linens are furnished
every week and all bills are paid.
Lima is in good shape for a man of
64. He walks the stairs to his room
everyday and does 10 push ups and 10
sit ups daily. He looks around to see if
anyone is watching as he explains
another exercise he does —smiles.
When he is alone, he said he will flex
the muscles in his face to keep himself
looking young.
"I do a lot of walking and exercising. Once in awhile, when its warm
out, I will jog around the
building — trot   not   run,"   he  em-
Lima said he also enjoys flirting
so every once in awhile he will go out
to the "strip" (Blackstone) for a little
bit of dancing.
But like almost everyone who has
lived at Hotel Fresno, loneliness is
often a problem. "Everytime you get
to that certain age you get lonely," L
said. "It's my feeling that a lot of pe>
pie here will go Into their rooms, look
at old photographs, get tears in their
eyes and go to sleep.
"To keep from getting lonesome! I
talk to people and try to make thea
laugh. I enjoy doing stupid things arid
laughing — it's self therapy."
. Not only are people living in a
lonely world there, but many timet,
Lima said they are living in a fantasy.
"One guy here says he is a multimillionaire," Lima said. "He told rp
he got mad at a waiter over at the
Hilton, so he bought the place. He abb
told us that he supplied France with
all of their weapons." Lima also tall
ed about Joe, "the walker." He walk*
up and down the corridors talking to
angels. The "the cowboy" is a guy
who loves to talk about his imaginary
days in the rodeo, Lima said.
"The whole idea is to be a good
listener," said Lima. "This is home to
a lot of people, regardless of the conditions here. They will miss their
storytelling — maybe they never did
it — but in their minds they did.
"Telling stories keeps them going — you take it away from them and
they are dead. Why debunk them f
they are happy? Whatever they say, I
go along with it. Why destroy their
own image?"
Lima said he will probably come
back to Hotel Fresno in the years ts
come and reminisce of all the good
times he had there. "The ones who
have already left are doing it now," he)
said. "They will tell you they're corn*
ing over to check their mail, but then
the storytelling starts all over again.'!
Kimber: Editor-politician ready to take office
Continued from page 1
represent the predominantly black District 3, despite a
campaign with an anti-affirmitive thrust — a fact which
contributed to the eventual downfall of the "at-large"
vote. Reich chose not to run for re-election.
Kimber attributes his wide margin of victory in the
race to the increased amount of community involvement
in his campaign. He enjoyed a much broader base of-sup-
port in'the district than he had in his previous attempts at
elective office.
"I had much more money to spend in this election
than in the previous two campaigns, three to four times as
much," Kimber said. He estimates his expenditures in the
recent election to be in the $33,000 range — quite a difference from the $14,000 spent in 1978 and the $7,000 in contributions that was spent in 1971.
Klmber's campaign committee in the recent election
placed heavy emphasis on his record of 16 years in community Involvement. Kimber holds positions in several
different organizations, many of which he helped found.
Kimber is the founder (1975) and first president of the
United Black Men of Fresno, as well as one of the original
founders of the Black Political Council, an organization
which played a key role in his election to the council.
Tbe Black Political Council (BPC) is-p close knit
organization of black community leaders/rom the West
Fresno area. Their purpose is to stress involvement in the
political process as a means of gaining city and county
help in solving some of the many problems which plague
the West Fresno area.        •*<—?
The BPC was the leader in the successful push to
abolish the "at-large" method of selecting representatives to the council. The BPC contended the only way to
insure equal and adequate minority representation in the
city is by limiting voting within specific districts.
In a successful attempt to consolidate the voters of
District 3 behind one candidate, the BPC. formed an Ad
Hoc committee — composed of representatives from
various community organizations — with the purpose of
screening potential candidates for the council seat. The 28
members of the Ad Hoc committee, each with one vote to
cast, eventually screened eight potential candidates.
When the screening process was completed and the
votes were tallied, Kimber emerged as the clear favorite
pleasantly persuasive manner, once attended Moorehouse
College in Atlanta, Georgia where he was a pre-med student.
Why, Kimber was asked, did he not continued his interest in medicine? To this he laughingly replies:
"Most black kids in my home town wanted to be a
lawyer or doctor, there wasn't much else to look forward
to."
But, says Kimber, he lost what little interest he may
have had in medicine and went on to George Washington
College in Washington, D.C, where he studied business
administration and accounting.
The""Ca!i/orma Aduoca te, the newspaper which he has
published for the past ,$ years, is a mechanism for Blacks
and other minorities to voice their opinions, "a minority
forum, if you will," said Kimber.
He feels The Advocate is a useful and necessary tool
for the community and the city as a whole, filling a gap
left by the Fresno Bee. "The Bee's dominant audience is
white," he explained. "Thus, 90 percent of their news is
geared for white folks."
He has, he said, no illusions about the profitability of
small newspapers. Though circulation has at times been
in the 12,500 range, current circulation is closer to a figure
of 4,000, with a single copy price at 20 cents.
With a wry grin, he adds that it has "managed a profit
in the last couple of years." Kimber has published the
paper with the help of his wife, Pauline Kimber, who edits
the paper as well as takes a very active interest in her husband's endeavors.
Neither the newspaper nor the meager council salary
of $1,200 yearly, wilLbfiJCimber's primary source of income. He manages the 92-unit Martin Luther King Square
apartment complex located in West Fresno, as well as the
46-unit Lula M. Haynes senior citizen corriplex, which is
nearing completion. He supervises a staff of 18
employees. *
Kimber anticipates that his work as a councilman will
add an additional 20 plus hours to an already busy
schedule yet he appears impatient to get started with his
planned improvements for District 3.
Despite what he sees as a lack of interest in, and
neglect of. District 3 on the part of some past and present
council   members.   Kimber   approaches   his   newest
"I have no problem with my ability to persuade people to the right perspective. The problem in the past has
been that there has been no one to propose specific projects for District 3. There wirMinally be representation for
people who have been historicallyTJenied that representation. "This," Kimber said, "presents a real opportunity
for self representation."
Kimber detailed plans for several projects for improvements in District 3 which he feels can be accomplished with minimal outside help. He has plans for
using his council salary to open a local office, possibly in
co-operation with the representative for Council District
1, part of which overlaps District 3.
He purns to staff the office with community volunteers
and the creation of internships for minorities for the pur
pose of ongoing research of local problems and possible
solutions.
Kimber says he will also seek to form an Advisory)
Committee of people throughout the 3rd District, ideally]
with the participation from community churches" and.
organizations.
Political involvement is not entirely foreign to;
Kimber, who is a long time member of the stata
democratic convention with past involvement in both
state and natnkoal campaigns. He is active on the Board of
Directors of Uiejocal office of the NAACP as well as the
founder and first president of the United Black Men of.
Fresno. NT
KFSR: Playing music
that CSUF students enjoy
with 18 of the 28 votes cast, or 70 percent. Kimber received    challenge with a quiet confidence.
the influential endorsement of trie BPC to add to the eventual endorsements from such local groups as the Mexican
American Political Association, The Fresno City
Employees Assoc., the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council
and tbe Fresno Bee, among others. Kimber's campaign
had gained the all-important early momentum in his third
attempt at elective office. By early December, Kimber
- had formed a solid campaign committee bolstered by the
support of approximately 150 volunteers from the community.
"I was never interested in politics for the sake of
politics," Kimber said. The community needed a voice at
tbe dty council level. I have no ambitions for a political
future."
Kimber, an articulate man with an easy laugh and
'I think we'll (other present council members) be
able to develop a very good working relationship. I'm
looking forward to working with the members of the council, especially ... say ...Joe: Williams and Karen Humphrey, who I think, will be of great help in getting things
done."
Kimber acknowledges the give and take compromises
of the political structure but says, "I realize there will
have to be some compromises-made, but I don't anticipate
a situation arising where I would be asked to compromise
my integrity. I expect to win approval for 90 percent of
what I propose."
When Kimber was questioned as to the realism of an
expectation of 90 percent approval of his proposed projects, Kimber replied:
'^Nowadays radio consultants tell
the commercial stations to listen to
college stations to pick up tips," said
Kirk Biglione, music director-ast
KFSR. "But college radio will always
offer what you can't-ger on commercial radio, because we aren't in it to
make money."
Kofford emphasizes that KFSR is
not a "punk" station as some people
think, but one that has a wide variety
of programming. In addition to the
rock and jazz programming are
bluegrass, rhythm and blues, reggae
music and news and public affairs
shows.
"We're starting to get the identification we want, but I think people
should take us more seriously than
they do," said Kofford. "In the next
two-and-a-half months I'm going to
work on our image."
At the end of that time Kofford
will step down as station manager.
Mosqueda, a 22-year-old senior.-will
then take over the position for one
year.
"I'm burneai^out, mainly with
school, and it's time for someone else
to take over," said Kofford. "The station is there to train people. That's
why I'm moving on."
The position of station manager is
paid for 20 hours a week. Kofford said
he earns $3.75 an hour. Though he is
paid for only 20 hours, Kofford said he
works anywhere from 30 to 60 hours a
week.
Tbe job entails overseeing the
operation of the station, including
preparing budgets and always working on the station's image.
Mosqueda, presently Public Affairs Director for the station, said he
has no big changes in mind for his
year-long stint running the station.
"I like the format we have and
we're doing good for our first year,
but I'd like our news and public affairs programming (to be) taken a little more seriously," said Mosqueda.
"I'd also like to give the students
more chances to do productions."
Mosqueda said that despite the
fact the station is run by students, the"'
station will continue to run efficiently
over the summer when many of the
. school-time workers will be living out-
of-town.
"We may be doing two or three
shifts a week, but it'll give pi '
more experience," said Mosqueda,
who has been with the station three
years.
This is the first year KFSR will be
on the air year-round. Before the station went on the air, its signal was.
piped through wire only to the dorms
and other campus buildings.
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