Fresno councilman accuses council president of crime he says forced attorney to quit
Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld on Friday accused Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza of committing a crime that caused Fresno’s city attorney to quit.
Bredefeld alleged Esparza extorted City Attorney Doug Sloan by threatening to fire Sloan if he completed work for certain council members.
Bredefeld said Sloan told him personally about the conversation Sloan had with Esparza.
Esparza dismissed the allegations as “false, unsubstantiated and lacking evidence,” saying the news conference Bredefeld held Friday was another “tantrum.”
The allegations are the latest of Bredefeld’s attacks against four councilmembers, whom he dubs “the corrupt gang of four.” The four council members — Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell, and Esmeralda Soria — are Democrats and often form the council majority. Bredefeld is the lone Republican on the City Council and frequently casts the only “no” vote on agenda items.
Allegations of wrongdoing by councilmembers in the past sparked investigations by Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp’s office. However, so far, none of the council members have been charged with any crimes. Smittcamp once found councilmembers may have violated the city’s municipal code but said the city attorney declined to enforce any consequences.
The four councilmembers have accused both Bredefeld and Smittcamp of misusing their positions for political gain. Bredefeld’s news conference Friday comes the same week ballots for the June primary are arriving in Fresno County voter mailboxes.
Sloan, in late April, submitted his resignation to the Fresno City Council. Since then, city officials announced he is taking a new job in southern California.
Bredefeld said the incident was reported to appropriate law enforcement officials but declined to say who made the report or to which agency.
Smittcamp’s office declined to confirm whether there was an active investigation into Bredefeld’s allegations.
On Friday, Fresno Police Department officials said they were not investigating Esparza for any crimes, and the department did not receive any complaints about him.
Sloan did not immediately respond to The Bee’s requests for comment.
Bredefeld’s allegations
Bredefeld alleged the day following an April 21 closed session in which the city attorney’s job performance was evaluated, Esparza met with Sloan alone in his office.
During the meeting, according to Bredefeld, Esparza told Sloan to no longer complete work for Councilmembers Bredefeld, Luis Chavez, or Mike Karbassi. Esparza told Sloan he could only complete work for him, Arias, Maxwell, and Soria, Bredefeld said. Esparza allegedly told Sloan that if Bredefeld, Chavez, or Karbassi requested him to do work for them, Sloan must decline and report back to Esparza. He also allegedly told Sloan that he was the only one preventing Sloan from being fired, Bredefeld said.
Bredefeld said Sloan directly told him about the meeting, and he’s met several times with Sloan since then. Bredefeld said other city officials, including Mayor Jerry Dyer, were aware of the alleged meeting between Sloan and Esparza and what occurred.
“This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Bredefeld said. “This is why he left the city and sought another job.”
Bredefeld said he worries the alleged extortion will negatively affect the city’s effort to hire a new city attorney and the functions of the city attorney’s office. The City Attorney is one of two departments for which the City Council has authority.
“I’m tremendously concerned about the impact this will have on keeping and retaining those high-quality attorneys in the department, as well as recruiting other potentially high-quality attorneys,” Bredefeld said. “Likewise, I’m concerned for all our city employees as they find out about the level of this corruption and, frankly, criminality, coming from the council president as well as other corruption from his gang of four.”
Esparza denies allegations
Esparza issued a statement shortly after Bredefeld’s news conference flatly denying the allegations.
“Unsurprisingly, Bredefeld is again making allegations that are false, unsubstantiated and lack evidence,” Esparza said in the statement. “This latest tantrum comes with the irony that Bredefeld is the only councilmember who has knowingly weaponized city staff and resources, including the city attorney’s office, for political gain and media attention.”
Esparza said Bredefeld’s “latest charade” would adversely influence the hiring of the next city attorney “by muddying the waters with politics.”
“These ongoing tantrums by Councilmember Bredefeld especially during an election season, will likely continue because he remains upset that different versions of the Fresno City Council have bypassed him for leadership positions,” Esparza said. “He has only served to further isolate himself and cast doubt upon the good work being done at City Hall by so many of us that spend our time in productive ways.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 12:48 PM.