Government at its shoddiest: Fresno County mayors approve tax plan they barely read
For nearly three hours Thursday night, elected officials from throughout Fresno County listened to dozens of residents imploring them not to push through a 30-year transportation tax measure assembled with the bare minimum of community input.
In response, several members of the Fresno Council of Governments policy board praised those who either came to the podium or spoke over Zoom for making their voices heard. Then, by an 11-4 vote, they approved a version of the Measure C renewal plan presented to most of them just prior to the meeting. One that was crafted at the last minute, and behind closed doors, by city of Fresno bureaucrats and politicians.
Ain’t that something?
A week ago I declared the Measure C renewal effort dead ― a proclamation that turned out to be only partially correct. The Measure C plan advanced by Fresno COG staff is dead; that much is true. What I didn’t foresee was a bunch of small-town mayors being instantly won over by the city of Fresno’s plan, unveiled publicly that very evening by Mayor Jerry Dyer.
But as soon as the mayors of Sanger, Kerman, Parlier, Kingsburg, Huron, Fowler, Firebaugh and Coalinga learned their cities stood to gain millions more dollars to fix roads, they all got behind Fresno’s plan. Even Clovis Mayor Jose Flores was won over, after Dyer agreed to a sit-down over language in the measure’s Transit Oriented Development program.
Before the 30-year, $6.84 billion Measure C ballot measure can go to voters in November, it must be approved by the Fresno County Transportation Authority and Fresno County Board of Supervisors.
Neither shapes up as smooth sailing. While Fresno County Supervisor Sal Quintero cast one of the 11 “yes” votes, fellow supervisors Steve Brandau and Buddy Mendes (who both serve on the Fresno FCTA board) probably won’t share Quintero’s enthusiasm for the Fresno COG-approved plan.
Brandau, in fact, said he will oppose it.
“If it was a stock car race the city of Fresno won and collected the prize money, and the small cities also did well and received millions more sponsorship dollars,” Brandau texted. “The County of Fresno hit a wall, totaled the car and didn’t complete the race. Total cost of a new car, $185 million.”
More for cities, less for county
As explained to me by FCTA Executive Director Mike Leonardo, the $185 million cut in county Measure C money over its 30-year lifespan comes from alterations to how two funding buckets are calculated: local street/road repairs (which gets 51% of revenues from the half-cent sales tax) and the local control program (which gets 18%).
In the current Measure C measure, as well as the version proposed by COG staff, local street repair funding was distributed among 16 agencies (15 cities and the county) by a 75% to 25% ratio with respect to population versus road miles. The plan COG board members approved Thursday night tweaks the ratio to 78% to 22%.
The same 75% to 25% formula also applied to the local control program. Under Fresno’s plan, 100% of the money is based on population and can be used for “complete streets” (i.e. sidewalks, curbs, street lights) as well as active transportation projects.
Because cities are more densely populated than rural areas, they end up with larger slices of the pie. While this appealed to most of the small-town mayors, county supervisors (besides Quintero) might not be so warm to the idea.
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Before Measure C goes before the Fresno County Board of Supervisors (Aug. 9 is the targeted meeting date) for final approval on the November ballot, it must also be approved by the FCTA board during its July 20 meeting.
This is where things get interesting ― and may end up problematic for the measure’s November backers. The FCTA Authority Board is supposed to have nine members. However, one of the two public seats (designated for a resident of Fresno or Clovis) is vacant and has been for more than seven years.
Leonardo, who has served as the FCTA’s executive director since 2017, said over the years he has submitted the names of “four or five” potential candidates for the urban public member at large seat, only to have each rejected by city officials from Fresno and Clovis.
Fresno, Clovis can’t agree on name
“It hasn’t been because of a lack of trying,” Leonardo said. “The name is either acceptable to Fresno but Clovis didn’t want it, or vice versa. It has been difficult to find someone both cities will agree on and who’s also willing to serve.”
Leonardo termed the seven-year vacancy “unfortunate.” I’m going with a stronger choice of words. For Fresno and Clovis residents to lack proper representation on what’s surely the most consequential FCTA board vote in 20 years is nothing short of disgraceful.
This a pothole everyone should’ve seen coming.
However, if you’re someone who believes (as I and many others do) that this entire process has been non-inclusive, hurried and ought to be delayed until 2024, the vacancy could prove a blessing.
Three of the eight FCTA board members also serve on the Fresno COG board, so we know a little about their thinking. Add Brandau and it becomes a 2-2 split. Just for fun, let’s say Mendes (whose district is largely rural) votes “no” and Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria “yes.” That would make it 3-3 with only Clovis City Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck and Paul Sihota, the rural public member, remaining.
In case of a 4-4 vote by the FCTA board, the Measure C renewal fails, according to Leonardo. Also, it’s the Fresno COG-approved plan or nothing. There isn’t enough time (i.e. days on the calendar) to allow for amendments.
But who needs time when elected officials can simply vote to approve a last-minute revision to a 30-year tax measure they’ve barely read? That’s local government at its shoddiest.
