What's at stake?
The district also faces a wave of environmental concerns connected to CEMEX, a multinational mining company based in Mexico, who was granted three-year extension on a gravel mining permit in July 2023 by the Fresno County supervisors, to continue operations along the San Joaquin River.
Two first-time candidates are contesting for the District 6 nonpartisan seat on the Fresno City Council in November after the original four-way race narrowed following preliminary results from March’s presidential primary election.
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Attorney Roger Bonakdar and United States Marine Corps reserve officer Nick Richardson were the top two vote-getters in March. Bonakdar took home about 36% of the vote while Richardson trailed by fewer than 1,000 votes, taking home almost 28%.
The other two candidates – small business owner Molly Fagundes-Johnston and banker Raj Sodhi-Layne — had the fewest votes in the primary, trailing with about 23% and 13%.
The seat is now available as Garry Bredefeld, who took office in 2017, is reaching his term limit and running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to represent District 2.
Fresno City Council District 6 includes the northernmost stretches of Fresno, mostly east of Highway 41, encompassing the Woodward Park, Copper River, and Hoover High communities.
The District 6 candidates are pursuing public office as the anti-encampment ordinance enters its second month of enforcement across Fresno, with violators facing criminal penalties such as fines and jail time. Meanwhile, homelessness, especially the number of unsheltered individuals, continues to rise in the Fresno area.
The district also faces a wave of environmental concerns connected to CEMEX, a multinational mining company based in Mexico, who was granted three-year extension on a gravel mining permit in July 2023 by the Fresno County supervisors, to continue operations along the San Joaquin River.
This mining activity could lead to air pollution, ground instability near the river, impacts on water quality, noise and vibration from blasting, and increased truck traffic on Friant Road. The City of Fresno was reportedly preparing a lawsuit against Fresno County over this permit extension.
Some residential and commercial growth in District 6 may be slowed down by an August court decision to invalidate the citywide environmental impact report. Developers have been advised by the city to prepare their own review, adding potentially months, if not years – and up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in new costs.
Also, the Fresno City Council recently approved a 3% raise for police officers, costing $3.38 million, and a new helicopter lease with $7 million in upgrades. While the budget includes the down payment and the first year of lease payments for the helicopter, the city has not yet figured out how to cover the $3.38 million for the raise or the remaining nine years of the helicopter lease.
What does a Fresno City Council member do?
The Fresno City Council decides on the scope, direction, and funding for city services like water, sewer, police, and fire protection. It also sets policies for city staff to implement and establishes land use policies through the General Plan and zoning regulations.
Roger Bonakdar
Roger Bonakdar, 43, is a personal injury 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.
Bonakdar was initially a registered Democrat, later switched to No Party Preference during his campaign, and then, after the primary, aligned with the Republican Party. In a radio segment with KMJ-AM Radio on Aug. 22, Bonakdar said that he has always been a lifelong conservative.
Bonakdar did not respond to multiple interview requests from Fresnoland throughout 2024. Bonakdar previously spoke with The Fresno Bee for its primary election guide and appeared on segments for KMJ and GV Wire.
He also declined to attend Fresnoland’s candidate forum hosted in partnership with KVPR, CMAC, and the League of Women Voters in the spring.
GV Wire and CMAC will moderate a candidate debate featuring Bonakdar and Richardson on Oct. 14 at 6 p.m., which will be livestreamed on GV Wire’s Facebook page. GV Wire publisher Darius Assemi, who owns Granville Homes, donated $5,500 to the Bonakdar campaign in 2023, campaign finance records show.
Bonakdar’s opponents, including Richardson, have criticized him for refusing to attend 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.”
Bonakdar’s campaign website does not address his stance on how Fresno, California’s fifth largest city, is among the first local jurisdictions in the country to adopt anti-encampment ordinances in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling and how Fresno’s ordinance can impact homeless people.
In 2023, authorities counted about 4,493 people experiencing homelessness locally, according to the most recently available Point in Time count data by the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care.
Bonakdar’s campaign website states he plans to 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.”
In a questionnaire response for The Fresno Bee election guide, Bonakdar said the key to addressing housing unaffordability is increasing supply by removing barriers to construction, such as the restrictive requirements of CEQA and local regulations that hinder development. He said Fresno’s general plan is outdated and the expiration of its master tax sharing agreement with the county has stunted large-scale housing growth, driving up prices and pushing families into nearby cities. As a council member, he plans to reverse the general plan and encourage development in areas like SEDA and the West Growth Area. Bonakdar also opposes rent control, citing its negative impact on rents and new developments.
Bonakdar said the “options mentioned (i.e., safe camps, shelters, etc.) are ideas that I could support. I also support short-term navigation centers. I reject the idea that District 6 is where these facilities should be placed. The demand for these shelters elsewhere, the infrastructure to support these shelters is elsewhere. We need to be efficient with our resources and deploy them where there is existing need and help.”
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.
Bonakdar’s campaign website does not clarify his position on CEMEX.
In an Instagram promo video on Sept. 23, Bonakdar said “if a budget comes forward that doesn’t add a single new police officer or firefighter, I’m voting against it.” The video lacks details on how the 3% raise for police officers and the new helicopter will affect the city’s budget and the community at large.
Nick Richardson
Nick Richardson, 33, is a reserve officer with the United States Marine Corps. As part of his service, he commits one weekend a month and two weeks around summer for deployment. He also owns a consulting business, called NRICH, LLC, and focuses on company safety and leadership and works as a substitute teacher in Clovis Unified.
He attended Clovis and Fresno Unified schools as well as the Virginia Military Institute. Each time he’s lived in Fresno, he has almost always lived in District 6, except for a few years when he lived in an apartment on Cedar and Shaw.
In an interview with Fresnoland, Richardson mentioned several instances of vandalism and the removal of his campaign signs from locations where he had obtained the owners’ permission to display them. In a Sept. 2 news release from Richardson’s campaign team, it was noted that one instance of sign removal occurred on Aug. 13, the same night the Fresno County Republican Party voted to revoke Richardson’s endorsement, following his completion of a questionnaire from LGBTQ Fresno for a District 6 voter guide.
Richardson said he’s always been transparent about his stance on LGBTQ+ topics and that “anyone who is surprised by any of my stances, hasn’t really been paying attention to this campaign.”
“LGBTQ rights are human rights, period,” said Richardson. “I have family members who are in the LGBTQ community, and that’s never been a point of contention. You love your family the same way, you love your friends the same way, and what happens in their bedrooms is really nobody else’s business.”
Richardson is a registered Republican, but doesn’t “hang my hat on my allegiance to a party. I hang my hat on my allegiance to the people and the people who I’m going to represent.”
In terms of Richardson’s policies, he said that the top issue facing District 6 is public safety, “if you don’t have safety, you have nothing.” Through his door-to-door interactions, he’s seen firsthand how many residents feel vulnerable in their homes, workplaces, and public spaces.
“Finding out what people are concerned about is the only way to really learn how best to help people,” said Richardson. “It’s very clear that we’re the only campaign who’s even entertained the idea of walking to every house, which I was told was a waste of time, and I was told that this is not the way to do things to win a campaign, but it’s the right thing to do, so we do.”
In addition to public safety, Richardson said property development is a key concern. While people want growth, they also want it to be responsible, ensuring that infrastructure like schools, emergency services, and roads can support new homes and businesses.
Richardson said solutions would require not only a sufficient number of first responders like firefighters, police, and behavioral health specialists, but also the necessary resources and support systems for them to do their jobs effectively. He emphasizes that simply hiring more staff without adequate infrastructure, mental health care, and career support is not enough.
Richardson said he is currently putting together a coalition of private schools to include daycares and secondary education to offer discounted tuition for the children of first responders and veterans to ease their financial burdens. He also would “refuse to sign any budget that cuts funding” for mental health benefits for first responders.
On affordable housing and homelessness, Richardson said that the city needs to invest in long-term solutions, and he has a three-step plan that includes preventing rent control expansion, resolving the city-county tax-sharing agreement, and loosening Section 8 restrictions to increase housing availability.
Richardson expressed support for the intent behind the anti-encampment ordinance but criticized it as “half-baked.” He said that homelessness is both a cause and a symptom of deeper issues, noting that encampments are a visible manifestation of this broader problem.
While he expressed “high hopes for Fresno’s city center,” a project involving 15 organizations that provide resources and shelter for up to 450 people, he stressed the need for long-term solutions, saying “there has to be something on the backside” and that “you can’t fix people all the same way.”
“If we were to just round everyone up who was at a place we didn’t want them and dump them somewhere, that’s a band aid, and that problem is just going to come back,” said Richardson. “We have to have a backside where we take the folks who have been displaced and we triage them. We pull the care down from the county, whether it’s mental health care, substance abuse counseling care, immigration care, veterans care, and we pull these resources for people.”
Richardson said more affordable housing options need to be available, not just high-end homes, to address Fresno’s housing crisis, including first-time homebuyers and rental options. This includes keeping property taxes reasonable to make housing accessible for families earning around the city’s median income of $40,000 to $50,000.
On jobs and labor, Richardson said that Fresno needs to focus on job creation and retention. He highlighted the critical role of businesses in providing entry-level jobs that are essential for people with limited experience or education, but that “careers are better, but you can’t start a career without a job.”
He also pointed out the bureaucratic obstacles faced by small businesses, such as lengthy permit approval processes, which can financially strain them and make it difficult to stay in business. Richardson said that, if elected, he would advocate for a dedicated task force within the city planning department to reduce wait times and streamline the approval process for small businesses.
Additionally, Richardson expressed concerns about the city’s reliance on union labor for large projects, arguing that it raises costs and disadvantages local, non-union businesses. He proposed increasing the minimum threshold for project labor agreements from $1 million to $2 million, allowing smaller businesses a fair chance at bidding on contracts.
“This is a city that is not friendly to business owners, and that can’t happen,” said Richardson. “Getting the government out of people’s way allows these business owners to get in there, take risks, make money, build a community, hire people, give jobs, put food on tables at the end of the day, and the government stepping in and making that more difficult for people is the exact opposite of what government should do.”
On environment, Richardson said his three primary concerns are addressing micro-level pollution, managing water resources, and improving air quality.
In response to the Dyer Administration’s Southeast Development Area (SEDA) project, which aims to build a 45,000-home community in southeast Fresno but faces labor, environmental, and cost concerns, Richardson emphasizes the need for adequate public services to support population growth, advocating for new fire stations and expanded police capabilities. He also urges developers to contribute to essential infrastructure like sewer, water, and roads.
“We need to make sure developers are paying their fair share when it comes to providing the infrastructure for the lives of those new residents,” said Richardson.
Richardson stated that neither he nor the Greenfield coalition has reached out to one another, but he is open to sitting down and discussing ways to improve Fresno with anyone interested.
“The focus should not be on stifling development, stifling businesses and stifling housing in the name of macro pollution or global warming,” said Richardson. “My focus is at the micro level, making sure we have the city services to keep our streets and our communities clean, dispose of our waste as a city in a responsible and sustainable manner, and preserve the natural resources that we have here in the area.”
In tackling small-scale pollution, Richardson said actions like picking up litter can help protect natural resources. His campaign has hosted clean-up events across Fresno and said he “will be the first one up there with everyone else looking out for a community, picking up trash, dealing with these micro levels of pollution.”
“The San Joaquin river is not going to leave because of global warming, the San Joaquin River can dry up because of irresponsible water use,” said Richardson. “Responsible use of water, minimizing micro pollution, and protecting the ecosystems that we have in place, is important to me. Anything on the state, federal or global level, I’m not going to let come to Fresno and stop us from pursuing our way of life.”
On air quality, Richardson acknowledges the complexity of balancing environmental improvements with practical concerns, such as safety, and highlights the need to prioritize human well-being while being responsible stewards of the environment.
Regarding CEMEX’s three-year gravel mining permit extension, Richardson believes the planning commission, City Hall, and the county board should review the current environmental impact against the previously accepted EIR report.
“If they’re just operating, doing the same thing, digging in the same places, for the same stuff, in the same manner, and if we can prove that their environmental impact hasn’t changed since the last approved period, then I’m okay with them continuing to operate the way they do,” said Richardson.
However, if CEMEX’s operations exceed the original scope, Richardson insists that further study and approval are required before allowing the expansion to proceed.
Who is endorsing the candidates?
Roger Bonakdar
- The Fresno Police Officers Association
- Fresno City Firefighters, IAFF Local 202
- The Fresno Chamber of Commerce
- The Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association
- Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni
- Fresno County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux
- Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims (Ret.)
- Fresno County Sheriff Steve Magarian (Ret.)
- Fresno Fire Chief Kerri Donis (Ret.)
- Madera County DA Sally O. Moreno
- Madera County Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff
- Michael Der Manouel, Jr., Chairman Emeritus of Lincoln Club of Fresno County
- Fresno City Councilman Mike Karbassi
- Fresno City Council President Tyler Maxwell
- Fresno Mayor Lee Brand (Ret.)
- Fresno City Councilman Jerry Duncan (Ret.)
- Fresno City Councilman Paul Caprioglio (Ret.)
- Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi
- Fresno City Councilmember Tyler Maxwell
- San Joaquin Valley Taxpayers Association
Nick Richardson
- Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck
- Fresno County Assessor-Recorder Paul Dictos
- Kingsburg Police Department Chief of Police Neil Dadian
- Clovis Unified School District Board Member Deena Combs-Flores
- Fresno Unified School District Board Member Valerie Davis
- Fresno Unified School District Former Board Member Terry Slatic
- Fresno City Council Former District 3 Council Member Oliver Baines
- Fresno City Council Former District 4 Council Member and Former Director of Economic Development Larry Westerlund
- Fresno City Council Former District 3 Council Member and Downtown Fresno advocate Craig Scharton
- Fresno City Council Former Candidate District 6 Molly Fagundes-Johnston
- Fresno City Council Former Candidate District 6 Raj Sodhi-Layne
- Fresno Police Sergeant Danny Kim
- Clovis Veterans Memorial District CEO Lorenzo Rios (Ret.)
- New Covenant Community Church Lead Pastor Scott Borman
- Covenant Worship Center Lead Pastor AJ Nunez
- NewPolitics
- Fresno County Libertarian Party
- Log Cabin Republicans
Who is funding the candidates’ campaigns?
Bonakdar’s contributions were largely from business, developer, and labor groups while Richardson received support from a mix of individuals and business leaders.
“We haven’t taken money from any unions, many developers, any big interest groups, or any national political action committees,” said Richardson. “We are not interested in that. I am, and my campaign, is interested in working for the average person.”
Click on the chart below to learn more about donors in this race.
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