Which holidays will Fresno County allow? Leaders exclude Pride from shortlist
Fresno County leaders narrowly passed a list of approved holidays on Tuesday — despite confusion over how much the Board of Supervisors would micro-manage the events.
The 3-2 decision included 12 approved federal holidays — like Christmas, Juneteenth and President’s Day — but any other holidays or observances may require approval from a vote by the supervisors.
More than one supervisor said they were confused by where the policy is intending to draw the line on what is openly allowed and what needs a formal vote.
“It gets to the point that, you know, what are we talking about here?” Supervisor Buddy Mendes said.
The supervisors last month adopted a policy that further restricts spending by county employees at events. Critics said it was bad policy because of how much it micro-manages the departments and because they saw it as a thinly veiled attempt to steer support away from Pride Month festivities.
The county had no such policy until after county Department of Health workers attended the Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade in June and Supervisor Garry Bredefeld took notice that they handed out condoms, lube and educational brochures.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Bredefeld said the spending on the condoms and lube were inappropriate but he was OK with the spending on staff time and educational brochures. He said it was also important the county restricted Fresno County Library displays, like the downtown location’s book shelf near the entrance that highlighted authors from the LGBTQ+ community.
Supervisor Luis Chavez said he was trying to get a handle on what the ordinance was aimed at. “I’m trying to understand. So, yes, to do outreach to the gay Pride parade; No to the lube and condoms?” Chavez asked.
“You got it,” Bredefeld replied.
Bredefeld said he hoped the new policy would restrain library staffers from promoting books not supported by the supervisors.
“This radical gender ideology, promotion of the gay and trans movement and, frankly, woke BS must stop in the county libraries,” he said. “Our children must be protected, and this policy will do that.”
County leaders have before tried to weed out books they viewed as inappropriate for children. The county approved a short-lived plan in 2023 to have a board of appointees deem certain books inappropriate for children and restrict access to them.
The plan was quashed by Assembly Bill 1825, also known as the California Freedom to Read Act, which prevents books from being censored at public libraries.
Chavez cast a dissenting vote along with Supervisor Brian Pacheco. Chavez said the county hires department heads to make decisions on how to best interact with the public, and adding another layer of approval would be a hindrance.
He noted the approved list does not include any holidays related to Hmong or Punjabi communities, saying making a list that would successfully include all communities would be unlikely.
“This is something very eerie for me, to try to censor or limit people and say that one group of ideals and values are OK but the other ones are not, therefore should be censored,” Chavez said. “I think that’s counterproductive to a representative democracy, and that’s really at the heart of my issue with this.”
The county’s short list includes New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Cesar Chavez Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
New Fresno County counsel hired
The supervisors hired Doug Sloan, the one-time Fresno city attorney, as county counsel on Tuesday. He takes over after Dan Cederborg announced he would leave the Fresno County job in May.
Sloan left the Fresno City Attorney’s Office three years ago to work in the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office after publicly clashing with Councilmember Nelson Esparza.
He claimed Esparza was guilty of extortion, but the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the case.
“I’m grateful to the Board of Supervisors for this opportunity to return home and work with some great people at the county,” Sloan said in a news release.
Sloan’s first day is Sept. 2.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 3:51 PM.
