Brooke Ashjian, one of the representatives for the City of Fresno on the Measure C steering committee, says he is leaving the effort.
The former Fresno Unified trustee and local road paver told KMJ this week that he has left the steering committee.
The backstory: The effort to renew Fresno County’s half-cent transportation tax has been fracturing, with the latest issues surrounding the four-hour length of the steering committee meetings.
- Ashjian told steering committee facilitator Mark Keppler over email that he has lost confidence in the process, saying he will take a different path.
- Yet cracks appeared earlier on in the process when the Fresno Council of Governments gave social justice group Transportation for All 12 seats on the steering committee.
The big picture: Ashjian appeared alongside Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes on KMJ’s Broeske & Musson show on Tuesday, confirming that he has left the steering committee.
- He was one of three representatives on the committee selected by Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
Transportation for All’s impact: Ashjian detailed some issues he had with the steering committee, including how it spent an hour discussing the mission statement of the tax. He said the committee was trying to vote on the percentage of money that will go to roads, sidewalks, trails and other transportation elements, but social justice activists wanted to discuss safety, health and equity.
- “They wanted to change the road tax just exactly the way they did Measure P for the parks,” Ashjian said. These are the same players. The 12 that they added are almost identical in people or in mission of the same 12 that I would see come to every Fresno Unified School Board meeting and try to change us into – I call them culture vultures. They really wanted to change the way that things happened into all access bathrooms, and all of these different types of philosophies. They’re now bringing this into this road tax because they want control of the money.”
- Ashjian said the social justice activists are culturally disconnected from the people of Fresno County.
- “Here’s the problem, is that they really believe that their voice, their bubble is what Fresno County wants,” Ashjian said. “Let me just remind you – this county just went red in the last election, barely, but it went red. We’re switching into conservatism here. We’re going away from liberalism and socialism and this group is really trying to hijack the dollars.”
- He added that the measure is a fight over getting more money subsidized by Fresno and Clovis for the small towns of Fresno County.
- But Mendes disagreed – albeit partially – saying, “Transportation for All says that, but most of these people would need GPS to find some of these places. It’s just part of the act.”
What we’re watching: Mendes told KMJ that he doubts the Measure C renewal will even make it to the ballot next year with all of the issues ongoing with the steering committee.
- Instead, Mendes expects two competing citizens’ initiatives on next year’s ballot. The first would be one that focuses on a high percentage of funding for roads. The other would be for whatever social justice projects Transportation for All wants.
- And if Measure C makes actually makes it to the ballot, but is overly influenced by Transportation for All and does not focus on roads, Ashjian said he will fight it.
- “If they try and push this measure through, I’ll pay,” Ashjian said. “And I’ll defeat it like I defeated Measure E – personally.”
