Cofounder of PAC donating to Fresno Dems also works as schools official. Is this a conflict?
The spokesperson for a Fresno-area school district said his off-hours work as cofounder of a $1.5 million political action committee does not conflict with his day job.
Johnathon Burrows, 32, communications and public relations officer for Central Unified School District, cofounded the Youth Save Democracy PAC in 2024 after he suspended his congressional campaign. The PAC says its mission is to mobilize young voters, protect voter rights and fight against authoritarianism in America.
The PAC’s activity is raising concerns among some peers in the Fresno County Democratic Party for using funds raised nationwide on local Fresno elections and candidates. Critics are also concerned about how the PAC’s co-founders and associates have also personally benefited financially from the funds, as political candidates and consultants. Experts say the PAC’s spending on operational costs are “unusually high.”
Among the beneficiaries of the PAC’s spending and contracts were two Central Unified trustees, prior to Burrows joining the district. The district superintendent said the district wasn’t aware of Burrows PAC work prior to The Bee’s reporting. But Burrows said his outside work is in compliance with district policies.
“Since joining the district, I have not engaged in any political activity in my capacity as a district employee, and district resources play no role in any external work I hold,” Burrows said in an email statement.
Politics and government experts say it’s common for people working in government and elected office to also be involved in politics, even for nonpartisan, professional staff positions such as an agency spokesperson role. Central Unified employees are allowed to engage in outside work as long as it doesn’t conflict with their district duties, according to district policy.
Burrows said that Youth Save Democracy doesn’t advocate for policies, contracts, or appropriations.
“There is no overlap between that work and my role at Central Unified, where my responsibility is to serve the district’s students, families, and employees without regard to political affiliation,” he said.
David Vossbrink, a communications consultant and member of the California Association of Public Information Officials who has decades of public relations experience, said public information officers should make sure there are clear lines and no confusion between one’s professional day job and any outside political work.
Speaking generally about the public information officer profession, Vossbrink said one of his guiding ethical principles is to “never become the news. Don’t become the story yourself.”
“You are the face of the organization. You have to live your life in a way that is beyond reproach,” he said.
Financial ties to Central Unified trustees
Burrows, a Democrat, launched his congressional campaign against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) in 2023. After dropping out of the race in December 2024, he used his war chest to create the Youth Save Democracy PAC in early 2024.
In a March 27 interview with The Bee, Burrows said he is “very much still involved” with the PAC outside of work hours, which included responsibilities such as donor relations and meeting with young people. He’s also part of a three-person team making political spending decisions across the country with co-founder Nav Gurm, a candidate for District 7’s city council race, and the group’s treasurer Gobinder Pandher. Burrows and Pandher make political spending decisions on races in California.
Burrows and Youth Save Democracy had financial relationships with two Central Unified trustees before he was hired as the spokesperson in 2024, according to Federal Elections Commission records.
In 2023, the Burrows campaign paid $3,000 to Kherfan, a former staffer for Councilmember Tyler Maxwell . Kherfan was elected to the Central Unified Board of Trustees in 2022 and currently serves as the board’s clerk.
Burrows said that Kherfan was secretary of the California Young Democrats at the time and was well-connected to organized Democratic infrastructure in the Central Valley.
“My campaign hired him in that capacity to assist with delegate outreach during our California Democratic Party endorsement effort. That was a professional engagement predating my employment at the district by more than a year,” he said.
Natalie Chavez, an education consultant, was elected to the Central Unified board in November 2024 after leaving the State Center Community College District in the summer 2023, where she had worked for 17 years and had run a housing program to help unhoused students stabilize their lives that was abruptly terminated by the community college officials.
Youth Save Democracy made an initial donation of $2,000 to her campaign in September 2024, followed by three additional contributions totalling $5,000 between Oct. 23 and 28 of that same year. Chavez unseated former Trustee Phillip Cervantes to represent Area 3 of Central Unified in the 2024 election. She resigned from the board in January 2026 to care for family outside the state.
Chavez did not reply to The Bee’s inquiry about her donations from Youth Save Democracy.
Burrows said he had no prior relationship with Chavez before Youth Save Democracy supported her campaign.
“The contribution to her campaign came by way of a recommendation from Nelson Esparza, her colleague at Fresno City College. That’s the extent of the connection,” he said.
Burrows and Gurm previously worked in the office of Esparza, District 7’s current seatholder. Esparza, Burrows and Gurm each received five-figure consulting contracts with Youth Save Democracy.
Burrows assumed the role of communications and public relations officer for Central Unified on Oct. 28, 2024, after the board approved his hire under former Superintendent Ketti Davis during an Oct. 22, 2024 meeting.
The motion to approve hiring Burrows, made by Kherfan, was passed by the school board with a 4-2 vote, with one trustee absent from the meeting, according to the meeting minutes. Kherfan did not respond to a request for comment on his contract with Youth Save Democracy and Burrows’s hire.
Board President Yesenia Carrillo declined to comment further on Burrows’s administrative position with the district or his outside employment.
Central Unified’s Superintendent Mark E. Marshall said in a statement to The Bee that the district was not aware of Burrow’s involvement with the PAC. He confirmed that the district’s human resources department, with his oversight, informed all employees of the board policy regarding outside employment.
“Employees are expected to operate within those boundaries, and we take that seriously,” Marshall wrote in the statement. “Employees are responsible for notifying their supervisor to ensure district policy is followed.”
What do experts, Central Unified policies say?
Central Unified allows district employees to receive compensation for outside employment as long as those activities are not inconsistent, incompatible, in conflict with, or inimical to the employee’s district duties, according to the district’s board policy.
The board policy requires employees to submit a written request to their supervisor whenever outside employment may conflict with their duties to the school district, such as when outside employment affects the employee’s regular working hours, involves the regular job duties, uses the district’s property, or requires approval or control by another school district’s employees or board members.
Marshall said the work of Central Unified is inherently nonpartisan. The district focuses on student achievement and student support, and district officials make decisions every day regarding curriculum, safety, operations and community engagement driven by the goal of serving 16,000 students.
“None of that work is political,” he said.
Following The Bee’s inquiry, Central Unified amended the “conflict of interest” code to its board policy on the May 26 meeting. The new policy urges district employees to comply with California’s Political Reform Act, which regulates public officials’ participation and disclosure of their political contributions and expenditures, political lobbyist registrations, and other activities.
Experts who spoke with The Bee said it’s common for staff of elected officials and government employees to work on political campaigns after hours as long as such activities do not take place during regular working hours.
“The laws don’t really prevent a person who works for government from then having on the side a kind of political career, too,” said Thomas Holyoke, a professor of political science, said. But he acknowledged the situation looks “odd.”
Naomi Bick, an expert in local government, said it’s fairly common in the U.S. political system for elected and public-serving officials to then go on and also work behind the scenes, such as in political work or lobbying.
“It raises feelings of revolving doors,” Bick said in an interview. “It makes people feel uncomfortable in some types of ways because it does kind of feel like dipping your toes into a lot of different pods or pockets of the political world.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:57 AM.
