What's at stake?
Southwest Fresno residents held a candidate forum for five candidates. One will be elected to fill in one of the four soon-to-be-vacant Fresno City Council seats during the 2026 elections.
The City of Fresno’s 2026 election season may have informally kicked off, as one of the soon-to-be-vacant city council districts held an election forum Monday.
The Black American Political Association of Fresno held a candidate forum for the city’s District Three election, the southwest Fresno council seat. The event was held at the Westside Church of God on West Cesar Chavez Boulevard.
The five candidates answered five questions surrounding multiple topics, though housing, opportunities for economic and social mobility, and the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan were clear, dominating points of discussion.
All candidates were asked directly by the panel to briefly explain the land use plan to the audience, and how they believe it could affect the community’s health — a hurdle some were able to clear better than others.
Southwest Fresno has historically been impacted disproportionately by environmental and health issues relative to their neighboring districts. Candidate Keisha Thomas, who currently serves as a school board trustee for the Fresno Unified School District, said she’d use the plan to help mitigate those issues — some of which she’s even found in her current role.
“I won’t name names, but at one of our local elementary schools, we found the water was the worst, and it was one of the newest schools,” Thomas said. “These things we have to mitigate as a community … the Southwest Specific Plan outlines how we can do the work.”
The Southwest Fresno Specific Plan is a roadmap advising the city on future land use in that part of Fresno. Many communities in the city have a similar plan. However, southwest Fresno’s plan has been a recent point of contention for local residents now as they fight to stop areas from being rezoned to industrial.
The question is personal for many residents in Southwest Fresno, as a move toward more industrial zoning in the region would not only override the city’s planning commission, but could also exacerbate long-standing health and environmental issues.
Candidates were also asked about their thoughts on the Fresno City Council’s recent $6 million allocation toward the proposed affordable housing development coming to the former Peacock Hotel in Chinatown. The scenario was used to gauge candidates’ thoughts on what type of housing should be prioritized in their district: affordable, market-rate, mixed-use or a combination of the three.
California Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula said he was in favor of both affordable and market-rate housing getting approved in the district. He said many of the issues to get housing in the district stem from aging infrastructure, and that he’s done his part already at the state level to work with the city on softening that burden.
“We got $100 million this last year in a bad budget year to help us to do water and sewer in downtown and Chinatown,” he added, “because we have 100 year old pipes in our city. For those who want to develop up, they’re not able to invest if the pipes underneath won’t support the density of housing we need.”
Developers and residents alike in southwest Fresno have often debated openly why their district sees mainly affordable housing developments approved in their part of town.
The candidate forum lasted about two hours, and also saw candidates Anjanette Brown, the race’s only Republican; Jalen Swank, a case worker for the county department of public health; and Fernando Alvarez, a former West Park Elementary School District board member.
Election season has begun in Fresno
The majority of the seven-seat Fresno City Council has four positions up for grabs — providing local residents with the opportunity to reshape the makeup of the city’s elected representatives in a time of rapidly shifting American politics.
Southwest Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias terms out in 2027, along with councilmembers Annalisa Perea, Brandon Vang and Nelson Esparza. Their seats will be available to vote for in either the 2026 primary election in June, or during the 2026 midterm elections in November — where voters will be able to choose many state and federal elections as well.
In just over a month, state voters will be asked to vote on Proposition 50 — a Gov. Gavin Newsom-backed measure that, if approved, would authorize state lawmakers to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts to allow for more Democratic representation in Congress.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to officially oppose the measure last week. However, an Emerson College poll released this month found that most Californians support the gerrymandering effort.
The Proposition 50 election this year on Nov. 4 will be just one of a possible three elections local voters could take part in during the next calendar year.
Arambula has a funding lead in the race with about $31,000 to his name – though the sum is largely thanks to a $25,000 contribution from himself. Keisha Thomas has the second most raised with about $21,000 as of June. Her campaign filings show the funding has been sourced from multiple smaller contributions toward her election effort. Fernando Alvarez has accrued about $5,500 from the Fresno Chamber PAC.
There are no campaign finance filings for Brown or Swank at this time.
