Everything to know about who is running for Fresno City Council, District 6

Roger Bonakdar is an attorney in Fresno. He’s currently representing Bitwise workers in one of several class action lawsuits against the failed tech company.

He’s an alum of Clovis Unified schools, UC San Diego, and the Santa Clara School of Law, according to his campaign website. He didn’t respond to multiple requests from Fresnoland for an interview. He also declined to attend Fresnoland’s candidate forum hosted in partnership with KVPR, CMAC, and the League of Women Voters. His opponents have criticized his unwillingness to show up to debates and public forums.

On affordable housing and homelessness, Bonakdar said on his campaign website that he plans to “lead the charge to strengthen our law enforcement and social services rapid response to get homeless residents off our streets.”

He said he also will collaborate with nonprofits and faith-based organizations to offer unhoused Fresnans “treatment and housing options” to ensure they can get “back on their feet and onto productive lives.”

On jobs and labor, Bonakdar said he’ll “fight to cut red tape, reduce city fees and taxes, and work to recruit major job creators to our city.”

On the environment, Bonakdar said he wants to maintain and improve parks in northeast Fresno.

Molly Fagundes-Johnston, 41, is a small business owner in Fresno. Her company, Fagundes-Johnston Enterprises, assists nonprofits with fundraising campaigns. Previously, she’s worked in fundraising at Fresno State and Valley Children’s Hospital.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education with an emphasis on communication as well as a master’s in business administration, both from Fresno State.

Fagundes-Johnston received a $2,500 donation from developer Richard Spencer, owner of Spencer Enterprises. Her consulting company also donated $20,000 to her campaign.

Fagundes-Johnston received an endorsement from a group called the Fresno County Republican Assembly, which is not the same as the Fresno County Republican Party.

On affordable housing and homelessness, Fagundes-Johnston said on her campaign website that ignoring people on the streets is “a public health and safety issue.”

Her plan is to partner with county and local nonprofit and faith-based organizations to offer shelter, food, drug rehabilitation programs, and mental health services.

On jobs and labor, Fagundes-Johnston said the city needs to create a “more business-friendly environment” as businesses continue to struggle in the wake of the pandemic.

She also stressed the need for partnerships with local schools and workforce development incubators to build an “educated and well-trained workforce.”

In an interview with Fresnoland, she added that she’d look at companies that started in Fresno and left “because of the California landscape” and challenges from government regulation.

She also said she has an “appreciation and gratefulness” for agricultural work after having grown up on a family ranch.

On the environment, Fagundes-Johnston pointed to bike lanes as a path forward in terms of improving air quality, though she added that it’s not realistic for everyone to get to work or other everyday errands via bike.

“There’s ways to mitigate pollution,” she said, “but I think you have to have the mindset (of) how do we work together?”

Nick Richardson, 32, is a reserve officer with the United States Marine Corps. When he was on active duty, he worked as an aviation safety officer. He now owns a consulting business focused on company safety and leadership and works as a substitute teacher in Clovis Unified.

He attended Clovis Unified schools and the Virginia Military Institute.

On affordable housing and homelessness, Richardson said in an interview with Fresnoland that the city needs to invest in long-term solutions. 

He alluded to Fresno’s move to shelter unhoused people in motels on Blackstone with state Project Homekey funds during the pandemic as a “great initiative” – but a “short-term” solution that isn’t sustainable, especially considering the needs of business owners on Blackstone.

For him, long-term solutions would instead include a “triage” system equipped to address root causes of each person’s reason for being homeless, including access to mental health services, treating drug addiction, and crime.

He added that while Fresno County may have more resources at its disposal to address causes of homelessness, city leaders have been “all too anxious to abdicate responsibility,” leaving people in the city experiencing homelessness behind.

“They don’t care which person in a suit is responsible,” he said. “They want a fix. And most of the homeless in the county don’t live on unincorporated county land, they live in the city.”

On jobs and labor, Richardson said he wants to bring in skilled labor jobs. He named finish carpentry, electrician work, plumbing, welding, and road maintenance as examples.

“I’m very passionate about trade schools,” he said.

“If you can get into not just a job but a career,” he added, “that doesn’t just fix your unemployment crisis for the next five years. That makes sure that you have people who in five or 10 years are able to buy homes, and in 20 years, are able to … enjoy their retirement from those private entities, not reliant on the city for money.”

He also wants to help veterans not only find employment but also to support veteran-owned businesses.

On the environment, Richardson said that he’s concerned about “micro-pollution” and the job creation that comes at the expense of the local environment.

This is why it’s important for candidates not to have developers and builders “in their pocket,” he said, so they can be held accountable.

“Maybe you provide 1,000 jobs this year,” he said, “but five years from now you’re going to make all of this drinking water unusable. You’re gonna get rid of the natural cover of trees – things like that.” 

He pointed to Environmental Impact Reports, required of state and local government agencies under the California Environmental Quality Act, as key to protecting the local environment.

Raj Sodhi-Layne, 58, is a commercial relationship manager at Fresno’s U.S. Bank, formerly known as Union Bank. She’s been in the financial industry for 40 years. In addition, she previously served on the Planning Commission from 2017 to 2021 after being appointed by former Fresno Mayor Lee Brand. She also served on Bredefeld’s District 6 Project Review Committee.

Sodhi-Layne is an alum of Fresno City College and has a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Fresno Pacific University.

On affordable housing and homelessness, Sodhi-Layne said in an interview with Fresnoland that she sees homelessness as “also a drug addiction and mental health issue, probably more than it’s a homeless issue.”

She attributes this sentiment to what she learned on the board of the Fresno Police Neighborhood Watch Northeast District.

In those monthly meetings, Sodhi-Layne said police captains told her that Fresno’s controversial Homeless Assistance Response Team or HART needs more people on staff equipped to help unhoused people with mental health or substance abuse issues.

“We’d have to find the budget and the resources,” she said, “but that’s the kind of help we need for those individuals who are sleeping under the 41.”

On jobs and labor, Sodhi-Layne said that the business community has told her they find it easier to do business with other cities like Visalia and Hanford.

“They’ve kind of given up on Fresno, which is not good for us,” she said.

“I’d like to help change that perception and find out how we can improve things,” she added, “because I work with business owners all day long.”

On the environment, Sodhi-Layne said Fresno’s air quality is a concern as she’s seen friends move away from the city because of it.

“I just don’t have the answers on how I would solve that, other than be aware of it,” she added. “I know that when I was on the Planning Commission, environmental studies were always part of the information packet. Electric cars aren’t going to solve everything, and we live in this bowl.”