Fresno supervisors shouldn’t push their personal ideologies on public policy | Opinion
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- Fresno County supervisors seek policy requiring holiday approvals by board
- Policy risks curbing administrative discretion vital to effective governance
- Critics warn politicized oversight may sideline marginalized community needs
Career public servants are not politicians. They are trained professionals who spend years developing deep expertise and dedicate their careers to making their communities a better place.
Public health professionals understand how to reach vulnerable communities. Librarians are specially trained to curate programs and displays that spark curiosity, promote literacy, and reflect the diverse communities they serve.
In the field of public administration, we call this administrative discretion, which is the ability of trained experts to have some flexibility and autonomy when applying their expertise to making decisions. I want to be clear that this discretion is not a loophole or a way for public officials to interject their personal preferences; rather, it is a valuable feature of efficient and effective government. Discretion allows frontline professionals to adapt services to local needs.
Administrative discretion is part of what keeps government responsive and relevant to the public.
On July 8, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to direct the county administrative officer to develop a policy requiring board approval for county departments seeking to observe and participate in celebrations. This heightened focus comes largely after some board members disapproved of how county departments participate in local Pride Month events.
While the details of the new policy are undecided, a key aspect is that county departments will be expected to bring plans to observe certain holidays to the supervisors for approval approximately six months to one year in advance.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld reportedly hopes this new policy will go even further to keep library employees from featuring books that are not supported by the supervisors. When elected officials start micromanaging which holidays can be acknowledged or what books a library can have out on display, they’re not just limiting celebrations. They’re undermining important administrative discretion, which jeopardizes effective government.
Additionally, while the supervisors are primarily vocal about Pride Month now, it may not stop there. If supervisors decide, based on their own personal ideologies, that certain observances are off-limits, where does it end in the future? Will the library be prevented from celebrating Women’s History Month? Will the public health department be prevented from acknowledging World AIDS Day? Will county departments recognizing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month be deemed too “political”?
Once certain observances are filtered through a political lens, even neutral, historical, or widely recognized events relevant to local agencies can become targets. This results in timid public agencies that serve only the least controversial needs while leaving many communities invisible. There is irony that policies such as the one we see being advanced here in Fresno County often make government more political, not less. Instead of quietly doing their jobs, public servants now become pawns navigating political games.
It is important to remember that good governance depends on the basic principle of trusting the experts hired to do the job you hired them to do. If we want competent, fair and effective government, we must give professionals the ability to apply their training and judgment to serve the public free from micromanagement by electeds.
To be clear, elected political bodies also serve an important role in fostering good government; but their job is not to wield their personal beliefs against the expertise and discretion of administrative agencies.
We don’t have to agree with every program or service offered by our public agencies. That’s precisely the beauty of public service! It is not tailored to one viewpoint, but to the diversity of all in the community.
Don’t be fooled: it is more than just a debate over what holidays or awareness months can be observed. It is about whether we want our public agencies in Fresno County to be allowed to respond to real needs relevant to their expertise or whether they will be compromised by political whims.
Undermining administrative discretion makes our government less efficient and weakens the ability of our public agencies to adapt and respond to community needs. That would be a loss Fresno County can’t afford.
Dr. Josephine Hazelton-Boyle is an assistant professor of public administration at Fresno State.
