Fresno County supervisors support new district map drawn by conservative strategist
The majority of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday put its support behind a new county district map that detractors called a “status quo” map drawn by a conservative political operative.
The board did not take an official vote Tuesday on adopting the map it will use for elections and county representation for the next 10 years, but the supervisors directed staff to use the controversial map as its basis to make a final decision in two weeks.
The map, which is called Public 101b, was drawn by a coalition headed by Alex Tavlian, who worked for Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, and runs a conservative news outlet called The San Joaquin Valley Sun.
Tavlian also runs Sultana Media, a digital media firm that has been hired by a number of local Republican candidates. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors districts are drawn every 10 years. The board appoints the commission taking input, and the board gets the final decision on which map they pick. The supervisors are not required to follow any recommendations, and can pick a map not recommended by the commission.
A number of local nonprofits and community groups said Tuesday that the supervisors picked a map that violates state voting law.
The Inclusive Families Coalition — made up of Central Valley Partnership, Jakara Movement, Communities for a New California, Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce and others — submitted its objections to Fresno County, according to a news release. The group said the map picked by the supervisors opens the county up to a lawsuit.
While throwing their support behind the proposed Tavlian map, the supervisors did not align with an outpouring of support for a separate map that gained the support of the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
Of the more than 40 people who supported one of the two dozen maps during public comment on Tuesday, all but a handful supported the map backed by the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
Former Supervisor Juan Arambula was in attendance Tuesday in support of the foundation’s map, which was officially called Public 116. He said he was surprised the supervisors would not choose to consider a map with so much support drawn by members of the public.
Arambula said it’s too early to say if the foundation’s supporters have a recourse. “We’re going to have to consult with people and explore our options,” he said. “I was really disappointed in how they handled it.”
Supporters said the foundation’s map met all of the legal standards and did the most to try to give underrepresented groups in the rural parts of the county, like farmworkers, voting power and better representation.
Supervisor Sal Quintero moved to put the foundation’s map back in the mix before the vote later this month, but his motion failed to gain any support. Supervisor Brian Pacheco noted Quintero’s motion would take four votes from the five supervisors, saying he didn’t see any point in trying to keep the foundation’s map in the mix.
The county’s Advisory Redistricting Commission recommended Tavlian’s map and two others to the supervisors, but did not recommend the foundation’s version.
The supervisors are scheduled to vote on a final map Nov. 16 after a public hearing.
Fair Representation Coalition map
Tavlian presented his map to the supervisors, saying he drew it with the Fair Representation Coalition. He said the map allows for future growth toward the northern and eastern parts of the county, noting recent growth and planned housing developments there.
“The ultimate goal of our changes was to accommodate the trajectory of Fresno County’s growth,” he said.
Fresno County’s supervisors are overwhelmingly white, and the majority are Republicans. The board has drawn controversy for past comments on redistricting.
The ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of Southern California and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California on Sept. 16 sent a letter to Fresno County supervisors and the Fresno County Redistricting Advisory Commission, addressing comments made by some Fresno County supervisors during an April meeting and urging them to avoid violating the law.
During the April 13 meeting, some supervisors made comments about their desires to keep the districts largely intact “by only changing the districts at the margins to balance the population.”
Dolores Huerta Foundation
The map-making process determines which communities are grouped together into a district to elect a county supervisor, and it’s not supposed to break up communities with similar interests. The county’s five-member Board of Supervisors operates a budget of $3.9 billion and makes decision on public health, public services and public works projects, among others.
It’s important that the newly drawn map first considers the county’s Voting Rights Act districts, according to Lori Pesante, who works for the Dolores Huerta Foundation.
The Voting Rights Act districts are areas of the county where minority groups make up the majority. The act is meant to protect those areas from being squeezed out of their voting power by the way the lines are drawn.
The foundation’s map grouped some rural areas with more urban areas that supporters said had similar interests.
Supervisor Buddy Mendes said the foundation’s map made it possible for all of the elected officials to live in the city of Fresno because each district touched parts of the urban areas. “I just think that it’s not a good map,” he said.
Supervisor Steve Brandau said he would not support the further consideration of the foundation’s map, saying its lines chopped up some traditional communities like Old Fig Garden and Sunnyside.
The map also grouped Clovis into one district rather than the two it is in now, which Brandau said he was against.
Arambula criticized the process and the decision. “I think the supervisors were looking out for themselves and disregarded the law,” he said.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 6:32 PM.
