What's at stake?
Fresno County’s transportation politics are shifting. A coalition of former county and state transportation executives, some of whom led the failed 2022 Measure C renewal effort, weren’t able to successfully convince the Fresno Council of Governments Policy Board to scrap their transportation spending plan for one that cuts funding for transit in favor of more road-expanding projects and highway upgrades.
Has the Measure C stalemate been broken?
Fresno County’s transportation policy board narrowly approved a plan Thursday evening to get a new version of Measure C, the current sales tax for roads and transit, on the November 2026 ballot – drawing fiery opposition from a small faction led by Supervisor Buddy Mendes.
The plan – called the “high-priorities” alternative, would dedicate about 65% of the sales tax revenues to fix and improve local roads, with 25% towards public transit, reflecting the top items on residents’ wish lists during community outreach and surveys this past year.
The winning coalition? The county’s west-side mayors joined forces with the Fresno-Clovis urban powerhouse to get a 10-mayor majority on the Fresno Council of Governments Policy Board. Mendes, representing Fresno County, dissented, along with the east-side mayors of Kingsburg, Reedley, Sanger and Selma. The mayors of Fowler and Orange Cove were absent.
“We need to fix the roads, and we’re getting enough money to fix the roads. It’s a balanced measure,” said Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez.
The consensus also breaks a years-long stalemate between community organizations and county transportation officials dating back to at least 2021, on what the next generation of the county’s transportation future should look like.
“It is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful conversations that I have witnessed coming to Fresno COG meetings for the last 15 years,” said Veronica Garibay, co-executive director of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, one of the leaders of the Transportation for All coalition of community groups that has majorly shaped the process over the past several months – if not years.
Over a dozen residents spoke out in favor of the plan during public comment, mostly urging the board to understand the perspective of people who use public transit.
“We live in Clovis, but my son went to school at Edison [High], and he had to take two buses to school. That meant he had to get up earlier than any other student and come home a lot later. A lot of us, including myself, are not going to be able to drive anymore. I want you guys to look to the future,” said Guadalupe Beltran.
The new plan represents a major shift in transportation policy for Fresno County — adopting a “fix-it-first” mentality instead of the old approach focused on freeways and road-building, along with a more optimistic approach to public transit.
But the county’s road-building habits won’t fade without a fight. A coalition of former county transportation executives unveiled this week an alternative plan to the board that kept a larger emphasis of funds for “regional connectivity” projects – highway interchanges, major road expansions – any project that ‘connects’ two cities.
Some mayors were concerned about too much money going to public transit, and not enough towards major road projects.
“We have a big problem with Floral Avenue, and it’s a regional project – and we’re not going to be able to get that kind of money with impact and development fees,” said Selma Mayor Scott Robertson.
But other mayors weren’t impressed with the expertise from the rival coalition, which included Tony Boren, former executive director of the Fresno Council of Governments, Mike Leonardo, former executive director of the Fresno County Transportation Authority, and Diana Gomez, formerly a regional director for Caltrans and the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
“I read the letter that was sent to all of us, and it’s put together by the same group of people that left our cities behind in the past 20 years. Mendota was promised, the west side was promised, 180 to go all the way to I-5. Did that happen? It didn’t happen. So how can you say the regional is successful?” asked Mendota Mayor Victor Martinez.
The rival coalition’s plan reduces the public transit allocation to just 11% of the total tax revenues, with 18% going to ‘regional projects’ and 70% towards fixing local roads.
“That would devastate our transit,” Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said about the reduction of funds from 24% for transit in the current measure, to 11% in the proposal from the former transportation executives.
“I would tell you we would have to eliminate weekend services, we would have to eliminate most of the evening services. We would have to allow for longer wait times in between transportation,” he added, explaining that the city would likely have to increase fares or dip into the city’s general fund to pay for service.
Boren said that despite two decades of Measure C investment in transit, the county’s share of commuters taking transit to work has hovered around 1-2%. That figure doesn’t include students.
He said the divide on transit – the new proposal includes 1% more for transit than the current version from 2006 – is the breaking point.
“It’s going to be really hard to get regional consensus when the supervisor who represents a lot of the voters will likely jihad on this thing,” Boren explained.
“I was not always a strong supporter of public transit, either. And most of that was out of a lack of understanding,” started Dyer, explaining his support.
“I hear frequently about empty buses in Fresno. 10.3 million riders on our transit system this last year, with 2.6 million people going through our airport. We have a lot of people riding the buses.”
Kerman Mayor Maria Pacheco – the only self-described transit rider on the board – explained how their work to increase buses running between Fresno and Kerman has been successful. “We don’t have enough public transportation, even with the buses that are running now,” she explained.
Mendes was showing signs of losing patience, as the chorus of mayors supporting the proposal grew.
“I’m telling you, this is dead on arrival,” he said, appearing exasperated. But when he suggested that the board scrap the proposal for the mayors of Fresno and Clovis, along with the county, to negotiate the final deal – he was met with vehement opposition from rural mayors on the county’s west side.
“With all due respect, Supervisor, is that the supervisor’s position should take into consideration and respect what your elected officials in your county are saying to you. You shouldn’t already have your mind made up before you even hear what these people have to say,” said Parlier Mayor Alma Beltran.
Other mayors chipped in to ask Mendes to remain open-minded about the proposal.
“I know my board. I’ve been on that board for 11 years. I know my people,” Mendes said, raising his voice.
The next several weeks will be crucial for the county’s transportation policy staff to qualify the plan for the ballot.
After Fresno COG staff finalizes implementation guidelines with the steering committee – those are policy documents that contain lots of details that can trip up the fragile coalition if not handled with care – then the same policy board will vote on a complete expenditure plan package.
COG executive director Robert Phipps told Fresnoland in an email Thursday that if the board approves that plan, then they’ll head to the Board of Supervisors and each of the 15 city councils for a simple ‘up or down’ vote. Then it will head to the Fresno County Transportation Authority, the ‘final boss’ on the matter.
Comments made not just by Mendes but also Supervisors Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez indicate a potentially rocky road ahead.
“I’m going to save my colleagues some time and possibly some heartache. I don’t think we’re going to vote on this. I really don’t. I really think that there are going to be two competing ballots from the conversation that I’m hearing right now,” Chavez said, on the dais Tuesday.
Dyer’s closing statements circled around where power ultimately rests in the county.
“Eighty-six percent of the population in Fresno County is incorporated,” said Dyer. “The vast majority of people who vote for Supervisor Chavez, Bredefeld, Pacheco, and Magsig all live in the urban environment.
“So what’s good for the cities, is good for the county.”
