Fresno councilmember who accused colleague of corruption calls defamation lawsuit ‘bogus’
Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld struck a defiant tone Monday afternoon in response to a defamation lawsuit filed against him earlier in the day by Council President Nelson Esparza, asserting that “I will never be intimidated.”
Esparza’s lawsuit, filed Monday in Fresno County Superior Court, alleges that Bredefeld, in a May 13 press conference, made accusations that “were knowingly false and were made with malice.”
Among Bredefeld’s statements Friday were that Esparza extorted City Attorney Douglas Sloan by threatening to fire Sloan if he did work for Bredefeld and some other members of the City Council. Bredefeld said that Sloan personally told him about a conversation with Esparza a day after an April 21 evaluation of Sloan’s performance in a closed City Council session.
Bredefeld said Sloan told him that Esparza admonished the city attorney that his office could only complete work for four councilmembers: Esparza, Esmeralda Soria, Tyler Maxwell or Miguel Arias. Bredefeld also said that Esparza allegedly told Sloan that Esparza was the only person preventing Sloan from losing his job.
Esparza pushed back against Bredefeld’s allegations in the complaint.
“At no time did plaintiff Esparza direct, order, imply or suggest to Mr. Sloan that he would only work for ‘the majority’ of the council or only for any certain councilmembers to the exclusion of any others,” the lawsuit says.
In his response, sent to The Fresno Bee by email shortly after 3 p.m. Monday, Bredefeld effectively doubled down on his remarks last week.
“Nelson Esparza in this bogus lawsuit is essentially calling the City Attorney, Doug Sloan a liar and that what Mr. Sloan stated publicly is not true,” Bredefeld said. “Mr. Sloan personally expressed to me and others at City Hall that he felt Esparza attempted to extort him, and I shared this information with the public and law enforcement agencies.”
Bredefeld also described Sloan as “a very credible and highly regarded attorney” in his role as city attorney for the past nine years.
Sloan subsequently notified the City Council that he was stepping down as city attorney, later confirming that he will begin working in the same position for the city of Santa Monica.
Over the weekend, Sloan shared an email with a reporter for ABC 30 in which he summarized the brief conversation he had in Esparza’s office, stating that Esparza told him, “I’m standing between you and you losing your job.” Sloan said Esparza also told him, “from now on you are to work only for the Council majority.”
Sloan said he relayed the conversation to a few people but did not intend for it to become public.
“First, I knew there was no proof, other than credibility, that the conversation occurred,” Sloan said in his message. “Second, I was already strongly considering the new position, and I knew in my mind one way or another, I was certainly not going to violate the Charter and professional responsibilities and not provide service to all City officials.”
Bredefeld did not respond to a query from The Fresno Bee on Monday about whether he has hired an attorney or when he expects to file a formal response in court to Esparza’s defamation lawsuit.
In his statement, however, Bredefeld said “the corruption at City Hall must end and Mr. Esparza must be held accountable.”
“I will never be intimidated and this will not stop me from speaking the truth,” he added. “Not now, not ever.”
This story was originally published May 16, 2022 at 4:22 PM.
