Fresno councilman responds to critic

I normally don’t reply to attacks on me because as an elected official, it comes with the territory. However, Joel Dyer’s recent attack on me must be addressed with facts.

Mr. Dyer emailed me with 10-20 questions regarding issues related to the unanimous City Council passage of “In God We Trust” in the council chambers. I answered all of his questions.

In one question, he asked how much time I spent addressing this issue in the media. I told him I spent countless hours on TV, radio, spoke to hundreds of people at community events, and wrote an op-ed for the Bee. Unfortunately, in his Bee letter, he only gave half of my response to him, taking my response completely out of context.

What he didn’t put in his letter was my stating to him that I take my role as a public servant and elected official very seriously and view myself as being on call for the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m always available to my constituents to address any concerns they have.

I’ve absolutely no problem with honest criticism; I do with falsehoods, mischaracterization and people who mislead for their own political agenda!

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Fresno councilman responds to critic."