Overview:
Riley Moore, who was originally listed as the treasurer of Fresno Future Forward when the PAC filed late forms with the Fresno City Clerk’s Office, is no longer named on the amended Form 410.
Alex Tavlian is now taking credit as the treasurer for the PAC behind a controversial mailer sent out in the March special election for Fresno City Council’s District 5 seat – at least on a campaign finance form.
Fresno Future Forward, the dark money group behind the mailer that attacked the eventual winner of the race Brandon Vang, filed an amended Form 410 Thursday.
The form now lists Alex Tavlian as the treasurer of the PAC.
Tavlian is a well-known political operative in Fresno, and the executive editor of the San Joaquin Valley Sun online publication.
He has held legislative consulting contracts with the former District 5 Councilmember that Vang replaced, Luis Chavez, as well as Council President Mike Karbassi.
Tavlian also raised the eyebrows of ethics experts during Fresno’s police chief scandal last year. A Fresnoland investigation uncovered that Tavlian reported on Chief Paco Balderrama’s affair with the wife of police officer and Madera County Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff without ever disclosing his business and political ties to Wamhoff.
During Wamhoff’s 2022 supervisor bid, his main political consultant was Tavlian, and his campaign paid Park West Associates more than $100,000 for Tavlian’s services.
Efforts to reach Tavlian on Friday afternoon for comment were unsuccessful.
Riley Moore, who was originally listed as the treasurer of Fresno Future Forward when the PAC filed late forms with the Fresno City Clerk’s Office, is no longer named on the amended Form 410.
The Fresno City Attorney’s Office issued Fresno Future Forward a $1,000 fine in the days leading up to the March 18 special election for failing to report expenditures on the mailers with the Fresno County Clerk’s Office.
Vang, who was sworn in Thursday, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
His campaign was critical of the Fresno City Attorney’s investigation into Fresno Future Forward for stopping short of unmasking the donors funding the dark money group.
His campaign manager, Pedro Ramirez, told Fresnoland in late March that if Vang won the D5 seat, he would push City Attorney Andrew Janz to investigate further and uncover the donors.
