Clovis council members criticized for wading into transgender athlete controversy
Clovis councilmembers drew criticism from some residents for publicly criticizing state rules that allowed a transgender athlete to compete in the track and field championships hosted at Veterans Memorial Stadium this past weekend.
Clovis spent $21,000 in police overtime to address two-day protests at the state track meet over the weekend, according to City Manager Andrew Haussler.
The track meet, organized by the California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body for school sports, drew significant media attention after President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funds from California for allowing transgender athletes’ participation.
Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce organized a pair of press conferences last week in which several conservative elected officials said the state’s rules were unfair to cisgender girls.
About a dozen Clovis residents spoke at Monday evening’s council meeting, urging council members to stay out of divisive issues that the city does not have legal authority over.
“When our City Council steps into debates that are outside its jurisdiction, especially ones that are divisive and politically charged, it distracts from the work that you are all elected to do. We need leadership on public safety, on water infrastructure, and housing,” said Kendra Devejian, a lifelong Clovis resident. “I ask you to lead with restraint, let CIF handle CIF issues, just as they don’t know your Clovis City Council issues.”
Denny Boyles, longtime resident and former member of the city’s planning commission, criticized councilmembers’ decision to protest the transgender athlete.
“I wish you would expand code enforcement so that the porta potty business running two streets over from my house could maybe be curtailed. Instead, you hold hate rallies to protest one teenager who doesn’t even live here,” Boyles said.
State Rep. David Tangipa (R-Fresno), Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua and Councilmember Drew Bessinger, Clovis Unified Trustee Tiffany Stoker Madsen attended a Thursday press conference. The two-day track meet drew protesters outside the stadium both days.
Council members spar over city costs
The Clovis Police Department deployed 14 officers each on Friday and Saturday in response to the protests. Their total of 231 hours of overtime resulted in a $21,000 expense to the city, according to city officials.
“We did not pass Measure Y to spend money on manufactured conflict,” said Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck, referring to the city’s new 1% sales tax. “What if our community’s behavior jeopardizes future opportunities to host the state finals?”
For two decades, Clovis has been financially constrained from investing in police and fire departments, and the city’s General Fund was on the verge of a deficit even for maintaining the current level of services. Though the new sales tax increase went into effect in April, council members expressed concern about whether Measure Y could generate the full $26.2 million in projected annual revenues, and as a result, the city took a more conservative approach to budget only $13.7 million in the proposal.
The annual state track meet, which Clovis has hosted since 2009, has an estimated local economic impact of about $13.3 million, which includes the revenue generated from local hotels, motels, restaurants, retail stores and gas stations, according to an analysis by the city’s economic development team.
The school district is finishing the second year of a three-year contract, said Clovis Unified spokesperson Kelly Avants. The CIF typically issues a request for proposals early in the third year of the existing contract.
Besides the financial loss, Ashbeck criticized Pearce for breaking the council’s five-decade tradition of not taking positions on issues outside of the city’s control.
“There are human impacts to our staff, our staff morale, to our residents, to our businesses, to our families, and there are costs to our reputation, to our brand. Last week’s chaos was damaging to who we are, or who we used to be as the premier community in the Central Valley,” said Ashbeck. “As elected officials, we can never forget that when we speak using our titles, we are speaking for our council and all of our community, and not just for ourselves.”
Pearce said she received thanks from parents, teachers and the city staff for being a voice for speaking out against the state’s rules. She believes talking about political issues statewide and nationwide is part of the role of being an elected official, even when it’s beyond the city’s jurisdiction.
“People keep trying to tell me, ‘Stay in your lane.’ Well, that’s exactly where I am. I ran for this position, I was elected to this position, and I’m being responsive to the community that entrusted me with this role,” Pearce said at Monday’s meeting. “As a representative of the people, I’m looking for ways to make sure that those in this community, our girls, our parents, are properly defended at every single level. I’m not going to apologize for that, I’m not going to act like that’s not in my lane.”
Pearce said the cost of additional police overtime was well spent.
Ashbeck said she fundamentally disagrees and rejects people using the city as a platform to consume the city brand and generate news for social media.
“It didn’t attract one new business, fix one pothole, or hire one new police officer,” she said. “As Fox News proclaimed, we are now the epicenter of the transgender athlete issue, that’s funny, because I think our reputation was intended to be so much more, a safer city of the valley, best place to live in California, and the best place to raise a family.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
