Marek Warszawski
Fresno’s most unlikable local politician pushes himself deeper into a corner
Congratulations to Garry Bredefeld. After years of trying, Fresno’s most unlikable local politician finally succeeded in alienating all six of his fellow city council members.
A hearty toast to four years of Garry explaining to his northeast Fresno constituents why their projects are given the short shrift.
Hear! Hear!
Tantrums are a Bredefeld stock and trade. Who can forget the time Garry hired a film crew to capture his President Trump-inspired oratory against NFL players taking a knee? Or his repeated rhetoric against the city’s shelter-in-place order that encouraged a mob of paid agitators to show up at Council President Miguel Arias’ home?
This time, Bredefeld’s grandstanding grew to new bounds. After leveling corruption charges against his fellow council members over a no-bid contract without a shred of evidence, he’s like the fifth-grader who sits by himself in the school cafeteria at lunch.
Plays and works well with others? Unsatisfactory.
“You should be ashamed to follow this corruption,” Bredefeld scolded fellow Councilmember Paul Caprioglio during Thursday’s meeting, before calling a press conference to accuse Caprioglio of selling his votes.
“Garry, you can resign if there’s so much corruption,” Caprioglio shot back.
This exchange followed a 6-1 vote (Bredefeld cast the lone “no,” something he and we should get used to) on a $143,000 contract between the city and Olympic Property Services to clean up the Chinatown district near downtown Fresno.
Why is Bredefeld on this particular warpath? My turn to play clinical psychologist.
Since the contract in question was not open for public bidding, Bredefeld claimed the process was corrupt. His crusade would be more believable if the City Council hadn’t approved 30 similar no-bid, single-source deals since April, spanning everything from Skywatch support computers ($337,000) to construction of a new $15 million animal shelter.
Did Bredefeld object and start accusing everyone of corruption?
Nope. In fact, the only no-bid contracts Bredefeld voted against went to Olympic Property Services, co-owned by KSEE-24 political commentator Jim Verros, and Building Healthy Communities, whose president and CEO (Sandra Celedon) is vice chair of Fresno’s Commission for Police Reform.
In order words, Bredefeld is fine with no-bid contracts so long as they aren’t awarded to people he dislikes. His outrage is selective.
I get why Bredefeld has no love for Celedon. Like a lot of male politicians his age and stripe, he can’t handle intelligent, outspoken women with opposing views. But the hissy fit over Verros’ firm getting a city contract is perplexing.
Bredefeld accused Arias of “giving lucrative and overpaid contracts to friends.” Huh? Why would a progressive Democrat like Arias be “friends” with Verros, who describes himself as a non-Trump supporting Republican, let alone do favors for him?
That doesn’t track.
Chinatown needs clean up
It turns out that Olympic Property Services, through a preexisting contract that predates Arias’ time on the council, has been collecting illegally dumped furniture and large appliances in parts of District 3 since 2017.
The company is also a High Speed Rail Authority subcontractor for property that abuts Chinatown, where trash and illegal dumping are major issues the city has failed to address.
Can’t Arias find some other local firm, one not owned by a political insider, to clean up Chinatown?
“I can,” Arias said, “but it would take six months to a year for the (request for proposal) to go through the city and this can’t wait any longer.”
Yes, it’s odd for a media figure like Verros, someone who influences public opinion, to be vying for government contracts. That’s not something any true journalist would do, and if we did our ethics would be roundly, deservedly questioned.
That’s America, though. Some people drive Lyft as a side hustle. Others do political commentary on TV.
What beef does Bredefeld have with Verros? Verros and I barely know each other, but I called him to find out.
“All Garry has done is make me look like a Democratic power-broker,” Verros said with some amusement.
Verros is no Democrat. He and Bredefeld are on the same side of the political aisle. Still, that hasn’t prevented Verros from criticizing the council member for his uninformed stances during the coronavirus pandemic and also his angry rhetoric that helped inflame the incident at Arias’ condo.
“We’ve had some squabbles on social media, some little skirmishes, but nothing crazy,” Verros said.
‘Little kid in the corner’
Sounds like Bredefeld can’t get along with anyone. Not with fellow council members, nor Republican commentators who don’t share his extreme positions or nod along every time he wags his finger.
Come January, when the City Council welcomes progressive go-getter Tyler Maxwell and bids adieu to the all-but-checked-out Caprioglio, the dais will be even more lonely.
Perhaps Bredefeld is mad at his fellow council members for not letting him opine about Proposition 20, which has nothing to do with local governance. Or at Arias for moving to rescind Bredefeld’s “money-back guarantee” for builders stuck in the city’s planning bureaucracy.
I’m also hearing rumblings that Bredefeld’s next turn as council president (scheduled for 2022 following Luis Chavez in 2021) will be skipped.
“He’s just feeling like the little kid in the corner,” Arias said.
If Bredefeld has any real evidence corruption took place, he should pass it to the DA’s office. If not, his should keep his mouth shut.
For Fresno’s most unlikable local politician, the next four years are going to be awfully isolating.
Comments