Fowler City Council unfairly excluded fellow elected official | Opinion

Voters deserve to have their voices represented in the decisions that shape their community. That principle is simple. Guaranteeing it is another matter. When an elected official is deliberately sidelined, it doesn’t just silence that person — it silences the thousands of residents who put their trust in that official.

I experienced that firsthand here in Fowler when a majority of the 5-member council chose to proceed with key interviews for a new city attorney, knowing one elected voice would be left out. Alternatives were proposed and the mayor’s claimed urgency was dismissed, yet the majority pressed ahead anyway, choosing politics over principle.

Some will say this was just a scheduling dispute. It wasn’t. To me, the decision to proceed — despite clear alternatives and no real urgency — revealed intent more than necessity. After repeatedly raising procedural concerns and finding later efforts to resolve the issue rebuffed, I was left with no choice but to retain legal counsel and send a formal demand letter — based on established constitutional principles — seeking to allow my participation.

Tellingly, that request met the same fate — dismissed as officials grasped at procedural straws, claiming the interviews were part of a “regular meeting.” Yet that meeting had been scheduled 10 months earlier, long before the council even contemplated holding consequential interviews for a new city attorney. At the regular meeting immediately preceding the one in question, it was still described as tentative and subject to my availability. In my view, labeling it “regular” doesn’t make the exclusion acceptable; it only underscores how far they were willing to stretch definitions to justify it.

Inevitably, the law demands attention. Less than 24 hours later, the city moved to reframe the process as a “second round,” inviting all firms back and seeking my participation but with new, unscripted questions that signaled it was a continuation rather than a correction. The response itself confirmed the problem: it offered optics, not remedy, and conveyed acknowledgment without accountability — reflecting a broader pattern where dissenting voices are heard only when compelled, yet still not heeded.

This isn’t unique to Fowler. Across Fresno County, residents depend on local councils, boards and commissions to make decisions that directly affect their lives — from water and roads to public safety and housing. Those decisions must be made openly, with every elected voice at the table. When they’re not, trust erodes. People begin to feel government is something done to them, not for them.

And that loss of trust isn’t just political, it carries legal weight. The law takes exclusion seriously — and for good reason. Courts have long recognized that deliberately shutting out an elected official from meaningful participation doesn’t just harm that official, it undermines the constitutional rights of the voters who elected them. Representation isn’t symbolic; it’s the safeguard of every other right.

What happened in Fowler should matter to every community in this region. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. We can’t allow majority rule to become a license for silencing dissent. Fairness requires that every representative has the opportunity to fully participate, even when their views may be inconvenient. No elected representative should ever have to seek legal counsel simply to do the job they were elected to do.

At a time when faith in government is already strained, local officials must do more — not less — to honor transparency, due process and respect for one another. Our residents deserve to know their voices will never be shut out — not by convenience, impatience or design.

Trust is where principle meets practice. And in Fowler, that trust was tested.

What happened here can’t be erased, but it also can’t be ignored. This was never just about one date on a calendar; it’s about trust and whether our institutions here in Fresno County live up to the principle of representative government. If our communities are to thrive, every vote must matter and every elected voice must be heard.

Karnig Kazarian is an elected member of the Fowler City Council.