Fresno County’s mayors voted to grant social justice activists one-third of the voting seats to determine how Fresno County’s multi-billion-dollar transportation tax renewal will be crafted.
The Fresno Council of Governments, with backing from the Mayors of Fresno and Clovis, approved a plan to give the social justice-led group “Transportation For All” a total of 12 seats – or nearly 33% percent – of the representation at the negotiating table moving forward.
The backstory: Social justice group Building Healthy Community launched Transportation For All after it led a coalition to oppose the 2022 renewal effort to Measure C, Fresno County’s half-cent sales tax that has raised over $2 billion for local transportation projects since its inception in 1986.
- The last Measure C renewal effort failed in 2022, setting the tax up to expire in 2027 and establishing clear battle lines ahead of the 2026 election.
- The Fresno Council of Governments and Fresno County Transportation Authority launched a citizen-led Measure C Renewal Steering Committee comprised of 26 voting citizen representatives for the 15 incorporated cities in Fresno County along with a handful of local interest groups including the Fresno Chamber of Commerce and local labor representatives.
- The FresnoCOG effort was backed by roughly $1 million in taxpayer spending to solicit public input to develop the funding allocation structure of a third iteration of Measure C, which would be shaped on a recommendation from citizen steering committee members.
- Nonprofit-backed Transportation For All initiated their own public outreach campaign, with significant emphasis on rural communities.
- To date, the nonprofit activist group has hosted a single public forum in Fresno’s Tower District to solicit input from both the cities of Fresno and Clovis, which collectively represent roughly two-thirds of Fresno County’s populace.
- Throughout its outreach, “Transportation For All” has honed in on leveraging the billions generated for Measure C to significantly finance public transit, bike paths and other projects.
- The prospect of two competing measures – one led by Fresno’s infrastructure agencies and another by a citizen group – prompted the Central Valley Community Foundation, led by former Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, to recruit recently-ousted Supervisor (and 2022 Measure C opponent) Steve Brandau to broker a deal to unify the two sides.
The deal: Parlier Mayor Alma Beltran and Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez sponsored a compromise plan brokered between FresnoCOG’s consultant, the Central Valley Community Foundation, and Transportation For All.
- Under the compromise, a dozen representatives of Transportation For All would be granted seats on the Measure C Steering Committee, raising the total membership from 26 to 38.
- The plan also set the threshold for the steering committee’s approval of major recommendations for Measure C’s renewal to the FresnoCOG policy board (comprised of the 15 mayors and a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors) at 70% in order to “reach consensus.”
- It sets an estimated deadline of September 11 to develop a recommended, full-fleshed out plan for consideration by the FresnoCOG Policy Board, with critical decisions set to be reached by mid-August.
The vote: The compromise plan was approved by 11 of 16 members of FresnoCOG’s policy board.
- Fresno County, represented on an interim basis by Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, Reedley Mayor Matthew Tuttle, Kingsburg Mayor Brandon Purcell Jr., and Selma Mayor Scott Robertson opposed the plan. Sanger Mayor Frank Gonzalez was absent for the meeting.
- Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua joined the Mayors of Fresno County’s nine other cities to approve the proposal.
What they’re saying: “I don’t believe the priorities that the consultant put out are really what people want,” Bredefeld said during an earlier item related to Measure C renewal. “They’re not as focused on public transit, or light rail, or climate change, or carpools, or bike lanes. Again, it comes down to fixing their streets.”
- Bredefeld was interrupted by Mendota’s Martinez who claimed Bredefeld was speaking out-of-turn and failing to acknowledge the County’s global perspective on the issues, prompting the north Fresno Supervisor to push back on the plan’s proponent noting that lack of support in his north Fresno and Clovis district sunk the 2022 renewal.
- “Last time, it didn’t pass and we didn’t have [Transportation For All’s] input. They were not part of the steering committee,” Beltran told GV Wire. “What we’re trying to do is work for our community and get this measure to pass.”
- “(The COG) allowed themselves, in a sense, to be blackmailed. … That’s really what this is about,” Bredefeld told the same publication. “And they let them put 12 people on a steering committee that has a total of 26 before they do it. The city of Fresno only has three. Most of the cities in Fresno County only have one representative.”
Looming questions: The Measure C renewal process found itself quickly precarious position after the Central Valley Community Foundation claimed it would bankroll $400,000 in signature gathering for a citizen’s initiative, which enables measures to be approved with a simple – rather than two-thirds – majority, if County leaders and Transportation for All could gain consensus on a single measure.
- It is unclear what, if anything, would result if the two sides cannot reach consensus during the steering committee process with its new membership.
