What’s at stake?
With Fresno County’s 40-year transportation sales tax, Measure C, set to expire in 2027, two separate groups as of this week have unveiled their plans on a replacement with distinct visions of what’s needed for public transit, highways and other categories.
A group of consultants unveiled rival plans this week for replacing Fresno County’s soon-to-expire transportation sales tax on the November ballot, setting the stage for a showdown at the polls over what the next few decades of transportation spending will look like locally.
On Tuesday, the coalition of transportation and political consultants unveiled the “Fix Our Roads” plan, a 20-year initiative that sets aside 50% of an anticipated $3.9 billion pot of money for local road repairs, 16% for major streets and highways, 16% for a flexible category for local jurisdictions to allocate as they see fit and 18% for public transit.
Tuesday’s announcement came just a month after another coalition of Fresno County nonprofits, west-side mayors and city councilmembers, with financial backing from the Central Valley Community Foundation, unveiled their own plan for replacing the historic Measure C transportation sales tax.
Known as “Fresno County Residents for Better Roads and Safe Streets,” that 30-year initiative allocates 65% of an anticipated $7.4 billion toward local road repairs, 25% toward public transportation, 5% to regional projects, 4% to access and innovation and 1% to administration and oversight.
One of the biggest splits between the two proposed measures is over the approach to public transit spending, which currently receives 24% of Measure C funds under the plan that expires in 2027 — six percentage points higher than what’s proposed in the plan announced on Tuesday.
Fix Our Roads sees the consolidation of existing transit agencies that serve Fresno County as the path to improving lagging ridership. The plan sets aside $4 million to fund a study evaluating the consolidation of Fresno Area Express (FAX), Clovis transit and the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency.
Henry Perea, a former Fresno city councilmember and county supervisor who’s backing Fix Our Roads, said in an email Wednesday night that he anticipates 7-10% in cost savings from consolidation efforts, although the consolidation study hasn’t been conducted yet.
He also said that the Fix Our Roads coalition didn’t consult with any of the three transit agencies they’re looking to consolidate while developing their plan, but added that “that conversation will come at the appropriate time.”
“The immediate would be the redundancy of 3 agencies that would combine as 1 thus eliminating administrative overhead,” he said. “More importantly, you would now have one agency under a unified command that would oversee county wide transportation with the goal of developing a system that provides a more efficient and cost effective system for the public. In developing this system, it would be required that the transportation system continue to be represented by a union.”
Through a spokesperson on Wednesday, Mayor Jerry Dyer — a backer of the Better Roads and Safe Streets plan unveiled a month ago — declined to comment on the Fix Our Roads plan or its proposed consolidation of FAX with other transit agencies.
Dyer has previously voiced concerns over ensuring enough of Measure C dollars go toward transit to stave off cuts to service and increased wait times for travelers.
Perea criticized the rival transportation measure for simply throwing money at “a system that they know is not providing an effective service.”
But campaign spokesperson Andy Levine responded and characterized their plan as an investment to not only improve transit but also provide residents with more options.
The Better Roads and Safe Streets plan promises more frequent bus service, upgraded bus shelters, expanded micro-transit and on-demand transit options, as well as free fares for students, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans and active military.
“That’s in our plan to be sure that they’re able to get to the places they need to,” Levine said, “that we all deserve to be able to get (to).”
There’s also a sharp divide between each group’s allocation toward regional projects.
Fix Our Roads sets aside roughly $624 million for major streets and highways, and already has a list of more than 100 road-widening, shoulder improvement, interchange improvement and other potential projects identified throughout the county, according to a copy of the expenditure plan shared with Fresnoland.
Perea attributed the projects to the Fresno Council of Governments’ regional transportation plan, stressing that the plan “does not advocate for the construction of new freeways” but rather “fixing roads and existing regional infrastructure that connects to local roads.” He also said these regional projects are key to unlocking state and federal matching funds.
“By including regional projects,” he said, “we can leverage our local dollars to secure up to $3 billion in state/federal matching funds to make our regional improvements. The alternative plan does not provide the funding to do this.”
In a response Thursday, Levine pushed back, questioning how beneficial state and federal matching funds will be for local roads.
“First, our plan specifically sets aside some dollars to match state and Federal opportunities,” he said in a text message. “But, secondly, neither the state nor the Federal government will ever invest in the potholes that crater across Fresno County.
“You have to be careful about taking state and Federal funds. They are used on state and Federal facilities,” he added. “Meanwhile, who is taking care of our own local streets? The ‘get more state and Federal money’ idea can be a real trap.”
The Fresno County Residents for Better Roads and Safe Streets plan also allocates the bulk of its funding toward local neighborhood road repairs and only 4% to regional projects.
Levine said that priority directly corresponded to the input of more than 4,500 residents the coalition engaged over the past year.
“The first and foremost need is,” he said, “fix the road that I drive on every day, that’s right in front of me, in front of my school, around my neighborhood.
“Fix the potholes, improve the conditions, make the roads safer, especially for our children and students, and that’s why 65% of the funds collected through our measure would go towards that very purpose.”
The coalition’s robust feedback process, Levine added, is another key factor separating their proposed ballot measure from the one launched on Tuesday.
“The plan that was announced yesterday is a reflection of, from what we can tell, a handful of people in a room somewhere, developing a plan on behalf of other people,” he said. “The contrast for us, in terms of how we got to this point, is pretty stark.”
The steering committee that put together the Fix Our Roads proposal, as identified in the expenditure plan, includes two recent retirees that oversaw previous Measure C renewal campaigns, including the 2022 failed effort: Tony Boren on the Fresno COG side and Michael Leonardo with Fresno County Transportation Authority. Transportation consultant Georgiena Vivian, who also served on the Fix Our Roads steering committee, consulted on the 2006 and 2022 Measure C renewal plans.
Other committee members include two Caltrans executives-turned-consultants, Diana Gomez and Malcolm Dougherty, as well as Perea and Fresno political consultant, lobbyist and website publisher Alex Tavlian.
Perea defended the composition of the steering committee, emphasizing it consists of transportation experts “who have spent many years working with elected leaders to build the transportation system of our County.” He didn’t respond to a question regarding what kinds of public outreach their coalition did.
When asked about potential conflicts of interest with his committee and its transportation project list, Perea deflected. Instead, he questioned — without citing evidence – whether there are also conflicts of interest connected to the rival measure and noted that the Central Valley Community Foundation doesn’t list its board members on its website.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, one of the most vocal critics of the Better Roads and Safe Streets plan launched last month, also threw his support behind the Fix Our Roads coalition in a written statement provided to Fresnoland on Wednesday.
“The Fix Our Roads Initiative (20 year tax measure) is clearly focused on fixing neighborhood and locals roads by committing 82% of all collected tax dollars towards that effort rather than the extreme radical group, Transportation For All Initiative (30 year tax measure),” Bredefeld said, “which commits less than 65% and requires 120 miles of bike lanes which will destroy city streets and won’t allow widening of any roads except for bike and bus lanes.”
Bredefeld asked county staff last month to conduct a legal and fiscal analysis of placing their own general tax to fund transportation investments on the ballot in November. He confirmed to Fresnoland on Wednesday that he’s still waiting on that information but expects it will be presented at a Board of Supervisors meeting next month.
Perea confirmed that Fix Our Roads officially filed paperwork with the Fresno County Clerk’s Office on Wednesday.
The race now begins for each group to gather upwards of 22,000 signatures from voters in order to qualify for the November ballot, an effort Levine said their coalition officially was cleared to start this week.
Disclosure: The Central Valley Community Foundation is a funder of Fresnoland. You can see a full list of our major funders by visiting the “Our Donors” page of our website.
