Garry Bredefeld dials it down during first Fresno County ‘good ol’ boys club’ meeting | Opinion
Fresno County’s favorite “good ol’ boys club” (aka the Board of Supervisors) assembled for the first time since the most sweeping election results of this century.
Garry Bredefeld made frequent use of that description on the campaign trail, typically with a forceful pledge to “shake things up.” But now that Bredefeld is a member of the same body he spent the last 12 months deriding, will he change his tune or keep playing the hits?
Tuesday’s meeting, featuring the swearing-ins and first official statements as county supervisor by Bredefeld and fellow former Fresno City Council colleague Luis Chavez, offered the first glimpse. Room 301 of the venerable Hall of Records was filled to capacity. Interested spectators included Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, City Manager Georgeanne White, City Attorney Andrew Janz and Fresno City Councilmembers Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell, Annalisa Perea and Miguel Arias.
“I think they’re here to make sure I’m not coming back to City Hall,” Bredefeld joked – in a manner indicating he recognized the truth in his words.
While Bredefeld stopped picking fights with council colleagues (and occasionally Dyer) a couple years ago, county officials and departments have not been as fortunate. His verbal wrath began during the pandemic and continued through the election cycle when the county sued Bredefeld and Chavez, weakly alleging they violated local campaign finance law, before the duo prevailed in court.
With that backdrop, attuned ears were interested in hearing what note Bredefeld would begin his tenure as county supervisor – not to mention the reception he’d get from those sitting next to him on the dais. In particular newly installed board chair Buddy Mendes, a walking, talking epitomizer of Bredefeld’s “good ol’ boys club.”
Except Bredefeld didn’t use that phrase when Mendes gave him first crack at the microphone. Rather, he proceeded to enumerate nine “commandments” that echoed many of his campaign promises but lacked the angry rhetoric of a stump speech.
‘I will not be deterred’
Bredefeld’s vows included more public transparency baked into the budget process, eliminating the 15-minute limit for public comment during meetings, opposition to the county-funded clean needle and pipe program, opposition to flu vaccine mandates for county health care workers, and better cooperation between public officials of the city and county.
“In my campaign, I pledged to bring real change, transparency, and accountability to the county,” Bredefeld said. “I will not be deterred from accomplishing these goals and will never back down from doing what I think is right and important for the people I serve.”
In the hallway afterward, Dyer said he wasn’t surprised Bredefeld dialed things down.
“When you’re running for office things happen in that arena that sometimes create a lot of friction, sometimes animosity and sometimes enemies,” Dyer said. “Then you come over here, you take the oath and you start working together. It’s the same thing I’ve seen at our city council and my administration.”
Bredefeld’s final pledge – for a larger board meeting space at the Hall of Records – drew applause from the audience. It also received pushback from more tenured colleagues Nathan Magsig, Brian Pacheco and Mendes, who said supervisors prioritized new facilities for the sheriff’s department, district attorney and social services over one for themselves.
Chavez honors ‘labor family’
Chavez, the other city-councilman-turned-county-supervisor, didn’t hog as much mic time but spoke volumes by asking his “labor family” to stand alongside himself and wife Elizabeth Jonasson-Rosas for the swearing-in ceremony.
By “labor family” Chavez meant three members of SEIU Local 2015, the union of county home healthcare workers embroiled in a longstanding wage dispute with county officials.
“The pandemic changed me as a public official because I saw what lack of access to health care does to a community, particularly a community that was deemed essential but treated as disposable,” Chavez said.
Pacheco, the least verbose of the five, seemed a little bemused by all the high-mindedness in the air. After welcoming Bredefeld and Chavez, he said the county board works differently than the city council and offered a wary word of caution.
“We all have our hopes and our thoughts and our expectations, and then when you come over here, reality sets in,” Pacheco said.
It was Mendes, though, who set the lasting tone by remarking that he won’t be as “nice” as outgoing chair Magsig when it comes to running meetings.
“Some of the things I don’t like are bloviators and show ponies,” Mendes said.
Huh. Who do you think he meant by that? (Hint: It certainly wasn’t Pacheco or Magsig, and probably not Chavez either.)
If future meetings contain such colorful barbs, the county supes may indeed need a bigger room.
