Should Fresno City Council get a say in the next police chief? This proposal would make it so
In light of Fresno’s recent police chief appointment and the release of two videos showing Fresno police officers using force, one Fresno City Councilmember wants the council to have more say over who leads the police and fire departments.
Councilmember Nelson Esparza is proposing the “Chief Selection Accountability Act,” which would allow the City Council to weigh in on the contracts of both the police and fire chiefs.
“City Councilmembers have been elected to lead this city, and we have become complicit to the very issue of government accountability, only acting when it is time to dole out millions in cash for legal fees and settlements,” Esparza said. “It’s not too much to ask that we have legitimate input in choosing who we will entrust to oversee the safety of all Fresno residents.”
In Fresno’s strong mayor form of government, the mayor’s administration hires the top public safety positions. Nelson’s proposal doesn’t change that, but it does call for councilmembers to approve compensation contracts. The proposal, if passed at the Nov. 7 City Council meeting, wouldn’t affect current contracts but would come into play for future amendments.
“While I completely and totally disagree with this resolution, Councilmember Esparza and I have initiated a frank discussion of his issues and we think there will be a satisfactory resolution reached prior to next Thursday’s Council meeting,” Mayor Lee Brand said in a statement emailed to The Bee through a spokesperson.
Esparza said he fully intends for the city charter to work as written so the mayor chooses the next chief. But, he said, the community’s voice was ignored in the last process and he hopes councilmembers will be able to cast a vote on the decision on behalf of their constituents.
“I know there are folks who are going to criticize this as making the process political,” he said. “I want to emphasize that for the community, from the outside looking in, the process already looked very political based on the outcome it produced.
“I don’t see that the outcome of that process reflected the community’s will, but I would argue that the councilmembers collectively as a body do reflect the community’s will.”
After conducting months of community outreach and winnowing the candidates to five finalists, Brand and City Manager Wilma Quan in August announced they chose Andy Hall, a Fresno deputy chief who did not apply for the top position, to be the next chief.
Later that month, an attorney for a Fresno teenager released video footage of a Fresno police officer punching the teen. And in October, shortly after Hall was officially sworn in, another attorney released video footage of a Fresno police officer fatally shooting a fleeing teenager. The city faces litigation in both cases.
At least one councilmember, Mike Karbassi, said Esparza’s intent is “noble” but he can’t support the proposal. While he supports accountability and transparency, Karbassi said he thinks the proposal is an overreach of legislative power.
“Whether the mayor is Lee Brand, Andrew Janz or Jerry Dyer, I’m a strong supporter of the separation of powers,” he said.