Paul Dictos has served as Fresno County’s Assessor-Recorder for over a decade, effectively serving as its accountant. Now he is running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in District 2.
Dictos spoke with The Sun for political podcast series, The Stump, airing on Sunrise FM.
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The big picture: Dictos, an immigrant from Greece, was first elected as the Assessor-Record in 2011 and has been re-elected ever since, currently serving in his fourth term.
- As Assessor-Recorder, Dictos manages a department of over 130 people and manages the county’s tax roll of $110 billion, as well as serving as the custodian of the county’s records.
- He has also prepared hundreds of audits budgets for local governments, cities and nonprofits.
- Dictos views himself as an independent candidate in the race, not taking money from developers nor seeking out big-name endorsements.
What they’re saying: Dictos told The Sun that his financial accounting background is necessary for Fresno County to ensure its tax dollars are spent the right way.
- “I know how politicians fight and waste taxpayer money, and I will explore this practice and make sure that your tax money is wisely spent,” Dictos said.
- Along with talking about various issues such as the tax sharing agreement between the City of Fresno and Fresno County and the Reedley lab, Dictos said the county needs to focus on its pollution issue.
- “Over the last 50 years our area’s getting worse and worse by leapfrogging and building houses far away. We are not really helping the situation. I think the time is right now to really consider building up,” Dictos said.
- He added that Fresno County should encourage high-rise developments downtown.
- “We should be going up to 10 to 20 stories for apartment buildings downtown where we can make a community there,” Dictos said. “I think we should really adopt the European way of life where we are going up high and we can walk to our jobs, and we don’t have to drive to go to our jobs every day.”
