Granite Park controversy: Developer complains to California officials about Fresno mayor
A prominent Fresno developer has filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, saying Mayor Lee Brand and some of his staffers are acting in a conflict of interest over closed-session meetings.
Developer Terance Frazier filed a lawsuit through attorney Kevin Little on July 31 alleging racist treatment by city leaders and a loss of about $11 million between himself and a nonprofit he runs, both connected to Granite Park.
Named in the lawsuit over an alleged unfinished audit related to Granite Park are Brand, City Manager Wilma Quan, Assistant City Manager Jim Schaad and Chief of Staff Tim Orman.
Those four people are also named in the Fair Political Practices Commission complaint filed Aug. 18. The complaint says despite Brand and the administrators being named as individuals in the lawsuit, they have attempted to attend City Council closed session meetings when Granite Park was discussed.
“This is an obvious conflict of interest,” the complaint says.
Fresno spokesperson Mark Standriff declined on Wednesday to address the complaint, noting the city’s policy is to not discuss ongoing litigation.
Little also declined to discuss the complaint on Wednesday.
The FPPC is looking into the complaint and does not comment on investigations, according to Jay Wierenga, state FPPC spokesperson.
Frazier lawsuit
The city audited Granite Park’s performance from January 2016 to July 2018. Little previously said the audit was not only incomplete when it was made public, but was done improperly because the process should have used random sampling.
The audit released in January 2019 found personal loans, missing documents, questionable spending and a large amount of unaccounted money. The nonprofit’s accounting practices looked “not ethical,” according to the audit.
Frazier and the foundation put more than $2 million into improving the park near Ashlan Avenue and Highway 168 and the city never came through on its end to provide recycled water or allow advertising on park billboards, the lawsuit says.
As a Black developer, Frazier was treated unlike any of his white counterparts, the lawsuit alleges. The treatment has also affected his reputation.
Frazier has sued for unspecified damages.
