Historic Fresno district doesn’t want to be forgotten. Who could take on city council?
Voters will soon select a new City Council representative for a large area of southeast Fresno.
On March 18, District 5 voters will choose between four candidates vying for the seat that has been vacant after Luis Chavez left the seat in January to assume his position as District 2 County Supervisor.
Candidates include Jose Leon Barraza, a longtime community advocate and city parks commissioner with decades working for Fresno County on economic development; Fresno resident Paul Condon; Fresno Unified trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, who has experience in nonprofits, water, planning as well as several major endorsements; and Sanger Unified trustee Brandon Vang who, if elected, would be the first Hmong-American to represent the district.
The Libertarian Party of Fresno County has endorsed write-in candidate Nickolas Wildstar.
A candidate must win at least 50% plus one of all votes to secure the seat outright and evade a runoff. Otherwise, the top two winners will head to a runoff election.
Jeff Cummins, a professor of political science at Fresno State, said that given all of the attention on national politics and President Donald Trump, turnout will likely be low for this race.
“It will mainly come down to the candidates walking the precincts of the district and making as much voter contact as they can and doing events,” Cummins said in an interview.
Some familiar faces
Barraza, Condon, and Vang have made previous unsuccessful bids for the seat.
In 2022, Vang lost to Chavez by 628 votes, or nearly 45% compared to Chavez’s 55%.
Barraza has run three previous times for the City Council seat. In 2010, Sal Quintero was elected to the council, defeating both Chavez and Barraza. Barraza also lost bids in 2016, when Chavez was first elected to fill a two-year vacancy, and in 2018, when Chavez was elected to a full four-year term.
Condon landed in fourth place during the June 2018 primary elections with 4.4% of the vote. Condon’s history of domestic violence came to light during the 2018 race after he publicly threatened Chavez in Facebook posts. In an interview with The Bee, he denied any wrongdoing.
Since 2016, Jonasson Rosas has served as a school board trustee representing Fresno Unified’s Area 2, which includes Roosevelt High School.
Do you live in Fresno’s District 5?
District 5 encompasses large swaths of Fresno southeast of downtown including neighborhoods along Cesar Chavez Avenue, bordering Calwa to the southwest and surrounding the Sunnyside county island to the east.
Southeast Fresno residents in the area told The Bee in 2022 they want more affordable housing, economic growth and jobs opportunities.
They want to make sure city leaders don’t forget the historic, older neighborhoods as the city focuses on new business and housing development further east towards Fancher Creek.
District 5 residents can register to vote until March 5.
Not sure if you’re registered to vote? Check your voter registration status with the California Secretary of State website here.
Who are the Fresno District 5 candidates?
Responses have been edited for clarity and are listed in alphabetical order of last names.
Jose Leon Barraza
- Age: 74
- Occupation: CEO of SEFCEDA, Current Fresno City Parks, Recreation and Arts Commissioner
- Education: 1978 Master of Public Administration, Fresno State; 1974 B. S. Business Administration, Fresno State; 1972 A. S. General Business, Fresno City College
- Website: https://joseleonbarrazafordistrict5.com/
- Key endorsements: Includes several community leaders; small business owners; educators; and sports/soccer promoters
- Campaign contributions in 2025: $21,350 as of Feb. 1. (includes a loan and non-monetary contributions)
Why are you the most qualified for the position?
I worked 34 years for Fresno County after I graduated from the university. That was a wonderful experience, because later I was able to obtain a master’s degree in public administration, and that gave me even more educational skills in the area of local government. I was the director of economic development for Fresno County when I retired.
After I left the county job, I was involved in the foundation of the Southeast Fresno Community Economic Development Association. The organization was founded because of the challenges in poverty and the challenges of neglect. The resources allocated by the city of Fresno did not make southeast Fresno a priority — and it just so happens that southeast Fresno has a predominantly Latino, Mexican-American population, and I just felt that somehow we were not being taken care of the way we should have.
The organization has three target areas: One was poverty, and the way we felt we could address poverty was by implementing a workforce development project that would help people get better skills and improve their earning power. Another was the area of economic development: We provided technical assistance to small business owners so that they would have more access to capital, more access to technical information on how to market and promote their businesses.
Can you describe your experience working to serve the communities of District 5?
I have been engaged, sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a paid person, in addressing the needs and challenges of the community.
I have excellent experience in local government. When I worked for Fresno County in the administrative office dealing with multi-million dollar budgets, I was involved in the implementation of very exciting projects like the countywide enterprise zone that generated a lot of jobs and that improved conditions in many parts of Fresno County.
I have also been involved as a volunteer and CEO of the nonprofit organization SEFCEDA. The example is that park (the new 49-acre regional park under construction on south Peach Ave.) – that park happened because of our involvement. My family and my friends and youth soccer leagues and many community folks that, at times got disappointed, but I basically kept the faith. There’s a saying that says “el que preservera, alcanza.” (The one who perseveres, attains.)
It’s about being persistent, and I believe that’s what I have been. I’ve been persistent in reaching the objectives that would benefit the community.
What will be your top priorities for District 5 if elected as councilmember?
I would make sure that the Central Southeast Area Specific Plan gets approved and implemented. This has good ideas that could help us start dealing with those vacant buildings. Why are we spending money on studies if they sit on the shelves and never get implemented? So that would be my first priority.
The other thing that is also very important is in the area of housing, that it be affordable to many families, also promoting home ownership, that people be able to own their own homes. Part of that process is helping people acquire better work skills so they can earn more money. And for people who want to open a small business, we want to continue to help them, help them create a thriving economy with the participation of small businesses.
And then, of course, I intend to continue to promote safety in our community. It’s a very top priority in my book. One of the accomplishments we have was the creation or recommendation of the PARCS Ranger position that is now being used in the parks to give families a sense of security in those parks. It’s really necessary that we have more green space for families to celebrate grandma’s birthday or any family event because most people in southeast Fresno live in apartments, and apartments don’t have a lot of extra room.
They need to have access to parks and also that the area that the parks be safe. That’s also very important.
What will be your top priorities for the city of Fresno as a whole if elected?
I would continue to promote the expansion, retention and attraction of new businesses to the city, so that our general fund can be expanded, so that we have more discretionary revenue that can be used to hire more police officers and to promote the amenities that our community wants. And, obviously, we would continue to listen to the public as to what is important to the residents of our city.
Paul Condon
- Age: 49
- Occupation: marketing & ad sales
- Education: some college at Fresno City College; Clovis West High alum
Why are you the most qualified for the position?
I know people in this town, and I know everybody in this town. I can walk down the street, and I know every single kid is, every single person. I’m the only person who’s been doing this for 12 years — running for city council.
We have to take care of in this town. Why do our roads look like Afghanistan? I mean, it looks like a bomb went off on half these roads.
We have simple priorities we have to do. How can we have parks without grass? We have Section 8 housing without grass. If we can’t take care of the fundamentals in this town, what are we going to have?
Can you describe your experience working to serve the communities of District 5?
I was out here every single day.
I’m the one who helps feed people, the one that stops all the neighborhood stuff from happening. I live in the Ranchwood Condos , which is the biggest complex on this side of town. We used to have more shootings in here than anything. We don’t have any now.
Right now, if you are on this side of town, you call the police department, it takes 16 minutes for them to answer. We have to change that. There’s no way that’s acceptable.
We need some of this to fix this. And it seems like I’m the only one that gets it. I mean, I don’t know why other people don’t get it, but we have to fix certain things. How am I going to bring people like Elon Musk here to Fresno if we can’t fix these things?
What will be your top priorities for District 5 if elected as councilmember?
Fixing the parks and giving these kids a future. We have so much to offer. Kids on this side of town, all they need is a tiny little bit of encouragement and to do something, be something.They’re basically being told they’re not gonna be anything from the gate.
Constituents’ main concerns are the police department and fixing stuff around here. Again, the parks. How do we have a soccer park (Pilibos Soccer Park) 100 feet from Home Depot and we don’t have grass on it? To me, it was mind blowing. It doesn’t make sense. One hundred feet from Home Depot and you can’t get seed over there?
We have to start looking at the smallest things. We have to fix these roads: we’ve got more potholes here than anywhere. And it’s not the rich people that have to deal with it, it’s the poor people and they’re already broke to start with.
What will be your top priorities for the city of Fresno as a whole if elected?
The same issues. I’m glad we got the new Chief of Police (Mindy Casto) — she’s awesome. But it’s going to take a while for her to be able to go through and fix anything. We’re not gonna see the benefits from her for another six or seven months. Nothing happens real quick, it’s just part of change.
We have to fix the call center. We have some major problems there. From dispatchers being pissed off by somebody or making something personal when they’re calling for help. You can’t give somebody an attitude when they’re calling you for help.
How is it that a cop showing up pissed off is going to help the person asking for help?
We’ve got to give this new police chief the ability to pull off this stuff — we can’t set her up for failure like we did Paco (Balderrama, the former police chief).
Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas
- Age: 40
- Occupation: Deputy general manager of external affairs, Westlands Water District; Fresno Unified School District trustee
- Education: Fresno State MBA graduate; Undergraduate in International Relations at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City
- Website: https://www.elizabethjonassonrosas.com/
- Key endorsements: Fresno Police Officers’ Association, Fresno Firefighters, Central Labor Council, Building and Construction Trades, Fresno Chamber of Commerce, National Women’s Political Caucus, Mayor Jerry Dyer, Councilmembers Annalisa Perea, Nelson Esparza, Mike Karbassi, Tyler Maxwell
- Campaign contribution in 2025: $69,895 as of Feb. 1.
Why are you the most qualified for the position?
From an education perspective, I have an undergraduate degree in International Relations, a master’s in business administration, and I bring a wide range of professional experience to the role.
I have experience with grants. I have experience in management. I have experience so grants in the financial aspect bringing resources to Fresno, I have experience with transportation and planning. I have experience in local government and state government, special districts, water, education. I think I bring a wide range of experience that covers many facets that the city government tackles, so that experience will be invaluable. I don’t need a job, I guess is the best way to put it. I’m doing this out of public service. I have the energy. I’m at the right point in my life, in my career, where I have a lot to offer, a lot of experience, energy, and time to give. And so I think it’s the right time for me, it’s the right fit. I’m looking to serve my community, not looking for a job or a paycheck.
Can you describe your experience working to serve the communities of District 5?
I’ve been involved in our community and have served in Fresno for many years, whether it was working on air quality issues or serving on the COG (Council of Government) in transportation issues. I’ve also served in nonprofits securing funds for services for people in need here in Fresno, I’ve been on boards of nonprofits.
I’m currently on a board that helps bring financial literacy training to people. So I’ve just been involved as much as I can, community cleanups, food distributions, backpack distributions, wherever there’s a need, and I’m available and can help in any way, I try to make myself available. I love Fresno, I love our community. There’s a lot of need, and I try to give as much as possible.
What will be your top priorities for District 5 if elected?
I don’t come about it with what my priorities are. I come about it with what the residents’ priorities are. The first thing I did was go out and knock on doors and ask people what their needs are. I have a good idea, you know, being a resident in the district of what the needs are, but I wanted to hear from people what their ideas are, what their needs are. And the three things, pretty universally, that came up were the homelessness crisis, our public safety and road maintenance and infrastructure. So those are the things that the community wants me to focus on.
It’s not to say that the other things don’t need a function or work well. Parks are definitely important, animal control — we have a lot of problems with loose dogs and overpopulation of cats that we need to handle within the city. We need to make sure that our trash is picked up on time, and that our water is clean, and all these other things that the city has to handle as well.
But you know what the residents have top of mind right now are those three things, and so those are the three things that I’ll focus on if I get elected.
What will be your top priorities for the city of Fresno as a whole if elected?
We’re not in a rosy budget situation. And so what, what sometimes is not fun or rosy to talk about, is reality, right?
I tell people, I’m not going to promise you these things, right? I’m not going to make all these promises of new, more, better, greater, because I don’t want to be in a situation where I can’t deliver it. If we have a contracting budget situation, what I am going to tell you is, I’m going to work hard and try my best. I’m going to represent you to the best of my ability with the priorities that you’ve outlined and said are your priorities.
And so I think that that’s going to be the challenge that I’m going to walk into and why it’s important that D5 is represented before the budget is finalized.
This is crucial budget making time and not having a representative for D5, it makes it difficult.
Brandon Vang
- Age: 52
- Occupation: Sanger Unified School District trustee; Retired
- Education: Graduated from McLane High School in 1990 and Graduated from UCLA in 1994
- Website: https://www.brandonvang.org/
- Key endorsements: Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, Sanger Unified Trustee Isamel Mike Hernandez, Sanger Unified Trustee Peter Filippi, Fresno County Board of Education Trustee Marcy Masumoto, Former Fresno County Board of Education Trustee Daren Miller, Sanger Councilmember Michael Montelongo, Sanger Unified Trustee Va Her
- Campaign contributions: $63,888 as of Feb. 1. (Includes $2,121 non-monetary contributions)
Why are you the most qualified for the position?
My life experience uniquely qualifies me to serve as the next council member for District 5. My family escaped a war-torn, communist-controlled country where my father bravely fought alongside American soldiers. I was fortunate to come to America, attend local public schools, and build a career dedicated to service. I’ve worked as a deputy probation officer in Riverside and with the Fresno County Social Services Department, gaining firsthand insight into the challenges facing our communities.
As an elected member of the Sanger Unified School District Board representing the Sunnyside Area, I championed new school construction and helped ensure our district became one of the top-performing in the region. I am committed to bringing this same dedication, experience, and results-driven approach to District 5, working to create a safer, stronger, and more vibrant community for all.
Can you describe your experience working to serve the communities of District 5?
I currently serve as a trustee on the Sanger Unified School District representing the Sunnyside Area in the southeast portion of the City of Fresno. I have been elected and reelected to my position for the past three terms. I pushed to have a high school, junior high, and now an elementary school built in our community in southeast Fresno.
What will be your top priorities for District 5 and the city if elected as councilmember?
- Strengthening public safety: Ensuring law enforcement and first responders have the resources to protect our community, while also securing funds to combat fentanyl use and retail theft.
- Addressing homelessness: Collaborating with county and state leaders to secure funding for mental health resources and increase affordable housing.
- Investing in infrastructure and keeping communities clean: Prioritizing investments in roads, water systems, and keeping our district clean.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
