Fresno council’s new leader is proud of the role. But her relationship can silence her

The potential for conflicts of interest – or even the appearance of such – are nothing new for elected officials. The latest instance popped up recently when Fresno City Council President Esmeralda Soria stepped away from the discussion and vote on an issue for a downtown development project.

The developer is Soria’s boyfriend, Terance Frazier. The pair have been a couple for the past couple of months. Their relationship means that when Frazier – CEO of TFS Investments – has a project that comes to the City Council for approval, Soria must recuse herself from participating in the debate and vote. The recent vote on a grant application to help finance the South Stadium mixed-use project in which Frazier is a partner was the first time Soria had to leave the council chamber while her colleagues dealt with the issue and approved it on a 6-0 vote.

Given Frazier’s involvement in other projects around the city, it’s likely not the last instance.

“This is not uncommon. Council members have to recuse themselves from time to time because either there is a real conflict or a perceived conflict,” Soria said. “It’s no secret that Terance and I are in a relationship, so in full transparency, I sought the opinion of our city attorney and his guidance on how to proceed when items come up that are related to Terance.”

Under the state’s Political Reform Act and the city council’s rules of conduct, a council member with a disqualifying interest in a decision is required to identify the nature of the conflict of interest, recuse themselves from discussing and voting on the matter, and leave the room until after the discussion and vote are completed.

Recusals have happened before: when one council member’s spouse worked for a developer that had business come before the council, and when proposals came through bearing on a member’s business interests. Similar conflict-of-interest laws apply to other government agencies, including school boards and county boards of supervisors.

Personal conflicts of interest can be politically explosive. In 1987, a divided Hanford City Council voted to approve a controversial proposal by GWF Power Systems to build a coal-burning power plant in the city. Hanford’s mayor at the time, Patt Rapozo, was one of the three “yes” votes. But after the Hanford Sentinel broke news of an undisclosed romance between Rapozo and GWF’s top local advocate, Rapozo was recalled in a landslide in 1989, and also lost her job in Fresno by the time the dust settled. She left California and now lives in Massachusetts.

Rapozo’s experience is not lost on Soria. “If you go to our social media, we made it public, to make sure people knew” about her relationship with Frazier, she said. “Immediately after we became an ‘official’ couple, to proceed with an abundance of caution, my decision has been to make sure the public knows that I’m not going to vote on any of the projects that he has any interest in.”

Being council president

Soria – the first Latina to be president of the Fresno City Council and the only woman now serving – has other things to focus on besides questions about her relationship. Those include the sometimes delicate task of balancing the diverse and strong personalities of her six council colleagues and maintaining civility and order in the council chamber. “You have to be balanced in the sense that you have to respect everyone’s perspective and give everyone the opportunity to equally have their input,” she said.

And she wants to encourage more decorum from her fellow council members to the public, even when they hold strong opinions. Earlier this month, Councilman Steve Brandau lashed out at the female representative of an advocacy group for residents opposed to a south Fresno industrial park in their neighborhood. After Brandau called the advocates “poverty pimps” who “play to people’s fears,” he and Soria verbally tangled as she offered an apology for his outburst. “Well, I don’t apologize,” he said. “You’re not apologizing for me.” The council approved the plan for the industrial park on a unanimous 7-0 vote.

“A lot of times the people who come to speak (at City Hall) for the first time can be a little scared and intimidated,” Soria said this past week. “When we had the issue about the industrial park, some of those residents probably were there for the first time. The last thing you want to do is insult people so they feel you’re not taking their position into account and (that) their position isn’t valid. … I think all views are equally important and we must allow the conversation to happen without personal attacks.”

Every council president, she added, “goes through these same challenges.”

Soria, who represents west-central Fresno, hopes to use her year as council president to serve as a role model and advance issues important to women. “Some people think that council president is not that big of a deal, but I personally think it is a big deal. I’m the only woman on the council, and I’m the first Latina ever to be council president,” she said. “There’s importance to having a woman in that chair, since we no longer have a mayor who’s a woman (Ashley Swearengin left office at the beginning of 2017). There’s an opportunity to give a voice to a sector of the community that’s underrepresented on the council.”

Soria helped establish the council tradition two years ago of recognizing Women’s History Month with presentations of Women of the Year honors. In the coming months, after conversations she’s had with women business professionals across Fresno, Soria plans to ask the council to establish a women’s commission for the city.

“There’s interest among women in our community to create a women’s commission so that we have the women’s perspective, either making recommendations or looking at policies that are going to come to the council, so they can be part of the conversation.”

Soria also was instrumental in establishing a youth commission that has offered policy recommendations for the council to consider. “It’s important to have those different perspectives reflected as we create policies that are going to impact the future of the city,” she said. “It will be interesting to see. Hopefully I can get the support of my council colleagues to formalize the women’s commission.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Fresno council’s new leader is proud of the role. But her relationship can silence her."