What's at stake?
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will discuss the future of the Board’s chambers, which could include renovating the Hall Of Records building, or replacing it with a brand-new building.
One of Fresno County’s newest supervisors is ready to talk about new office space.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors will discuss the future of the Board’s chambers, which could include renovating the Hall Of Records building, or replacing it with a brand-new building. Freshman Supervisor Garry Bredefeld plans to introduce the discussion.
During his opening comments as supervisor earlier this month, Bredefeld included a list of goals he hopes to accomplish to meet his campaign goal of bringing “real change, transparency and accountability” to the Board. New county offices were among those goals.
“There are many problems with this nearly 100-year-old building, including security issues, elevators that sometimes don’t work,” Bredefeld said at the Jan. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting.
“For at least 40 years, a new building should have been built and I strongly support getting that accomplished,” he added. “We already have $41 million set aside to accomplish this, so we need to move forward quickly.”
Fresnoland spoke with Bredefeld about the goal after the meeting. The ex-city councilmember said he has been told that the building’s temperatures can be harsh on employees during the winter and summer months, while reiterating the aging infrastructure.
“Employees shouldn’t have to deal with that,” Bredefeld said.
“The people at City Hall built the new city hall 35, 40 years ago because they needed to do that. The federal courthouse was built about 30-some-odd years ago because they needed a new courthouse. You have to invest in these facilities. You can’t just continue to stay in a nearly 100-year-old building. The board of supervisors have been wise in setting aside money for that endeavor, and it’s my opinion that we should be looking for sites to build a new building … ”
Fresnoland also confirmed with county spokesperson Sonja Dosti that the sentiment toward obtaining a new building is pretty popular with county workers, although funding has always been an issue to getting past the finish line.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday may shed new light on how this goal could be accomplished.
The meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at the Fresno County Supervisors’ Chambers inside the county’s Hall of Records building. People can watch the program in person and participate in public comment on this matter and others in the agenda.
The meeting can also be streamed online via the county’s YouTube channel, albeit with no public participation option.
