Tax-measure season in Fresno: It’s like cats and dogs called a temporary truce
Sales tax initiatives sure make for strange bedfellows.
That’s especially true during this election season, where the Measure C transportation tax renewal before voters on the November ballot is opposed by the Fresno County chapters of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Conservatives and liberals, in agreement at long last. It’s like cats and dogs called a temporary truce.
Of course, there’s no mention of the Fresno County GOP or its position on the Vote No on Measure C campaign website. Those endorsements are reserved for left-leaning elected officials such as state Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, Fresno Unified trustees Genoveva Islas and Andy Levine as well as more than two dozen nonprofits and unions.
Nor, so far as I can tell, have any local Republicans pitched in to aid the cause. The No on Measure C campaign committee’s largest contribution ($100,000) came from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, followed by three of $25,000 apiece from Arambula, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and Fresno Building Healthy Communities.
Those $25,000 donations represent the time both LCJ&A and Fresno BHC, social justice organizations heavily involved in local issues impacting many of Fresno’s poorest residents, have donated to any political cause. Sandra Celedon, the smart and outspoken Fresno BHC president and CEO, also serves as principal officer of the No on Measure C effort.
The Yes on Measure C side also has its share of hitters including Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, five members of the Fresno City Council — liberal Democrats Esmeralda Soria and Tyler Maxwell, moderates Luis Chavez and Mike Karbassi and conservative Republican Garry Bredefeld — plus all five Fresno County supervisors. That’s three Republicans (Steve Brandau, Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes) and two Democrats (Brian Pacheco and Sal Quintero).
A motley mix, to be certain.
The Yes on Measure C side received a $150,000 stipend to provide “educational outreach” about the ballot measure courtesy of the Fresno City Council. The vote went 5-1 with Arias casting the lone “no” and council president Nelson Esparza abstaining. Not exactly a profile of courage on Esparza’s part.
The first pro-Measure C brochure landed in my mailbox a couple weeks ago. On the cover was a photograph of a broken patch of asphalt accompanied by the words “Are you tired of potholes?” in large capital letters. On the back, we’re informed that nearly two-thirds of all Fresno County roads are rated “fair,” “poor” or “very poor.”
While I (unlike other local political “pundits”) may not be in the running for any six-figure city contracts, I do know that Measure C has been around for nearly four decades. Meaning all the potholes and crappy roads that currently exist are its responsibility. And since none of that was addressed during all those years of the current half-cent tax measure (which doesn’t even expire until 2027), why should anyone expect anything different from the new one?
Explain that, public-relations and marketing whizzes being paid with taxpayer dollars.
By coincidence (or not), yesterday I received a No on Measure C mailer. It too featured a photograph of a pothole and a tagline that read, “Broken roads, broken promises.”
Hooray for arguments that make logical sense.
Backer pours $1.27M into Fresno State tax
The bedfellows aren’t quite as strange regarding Measure E, the other countywide tax initiative on the November ballot. And unlike Measure C, which requires a two-thirds majority, Measure E only needs more “yes” than “no” votes to impose a new 0.2% sales tax for the next 20 years in order to fund Fresno State facilities upgrades. A benefit of gathering signatures.
Dyer and state Assemblyman Jim Patterson are among prominent local Republicans who are campaigning for Measure E — once again going against the Fresno County GOP and other prominent conservatives. Elected Democrats on board include Congressman Jim Costa, Quintero and Chavez.
The primary force behind Measure E is local developer Richard Spencer, who has so far contributed $1.27 million to the Yes on Measure E, Good to Great for Fresno State 2022 committee. You read that right: $1.27 million.
Call me naive, but it’s hard to envision anyone spearheading the very idea of a Fresno State Improvement Zone and then pouring seven figures into the effort without expecting a future payoff. Likely in the form of future multimillion-dollar construction contracts in addition to those Spencer’s companies have already procured.
What about public safety?
The funny thing about Measures C, E and M (the city of Fresno-sponsored initiative to fund veterans facilities and services) is that none of them has anything to do with public safety. Which makes me reflect back to arguments made in 2018 by many of the same people and organizations that are backing these tax initiatives but were steadfastly opposed to Measure P.
Gosh. It’s almost like those arguments about how Fresno needed to prioritize more police officers and firefighters above everything else were totally disingenuous.
The lone public safety initiative applies only in Clovis, that bastion of conservative values, where leaders have proposed to fund more police officers with a 2% hike in the city’s hotel tax.
The difference between Measure B and the three other tax proposals is that Measure B dips into the pockets of visitors and tourists, rather than those belonging to Clovis residents. Now there’s an idea that ought to go over better than a 10-gallon Stetson on Big Hat Days.
