What's at stake?
City Hall has been introducing a potpourri of policy proposals lately for Fresno City Council to consider placing on the November 2026 general election ballot.
On Monday, Fresno leaders introduced a pair of ballot measures that, if approved by council and voters, would introduce new term limits for elected officials and create a citizen-led redistricting commission.
Fresno city leaders introduced a pair of proposed ballot measures on Monday morning that, if approved by the city and its voters, would introduce a new status quo for how the city carves out its council district boundaries, and could open the door for Mayor Jerry Dyer and other sitting councilmembers to seek a third term.
One proposal, co-sponsored by the mayor’s office, would introduce a new standard for term limits for the city’s elected officials, increasing the maximum number of potential years served from eight to 12 years.
The change comes as part of what city leaders said was a loophole in the city’s charter that allows for the potential for elected officials to run for the same office seat even after they’ve hit their current eight-year limit, so long as they sit out one full term.
While the proposal would quash the potential for lifetime politicians in the City of Fresno, it would also introduce a fresh term for the city’s current and former politicians who are termed-out or are about to hit their eight-year limit.
Dyer said at the Monday news conference that, if the council and voters approved the ballot measure, he would “gladly” run for a third term in 2028.
“As I stand here today, the answer is ‘yes,’” Dyer said.
“I think I stated many of the reasons why,” he later added, “We’ve built an incredible amount of momentum in this city, and I want to continue with that momentum. And I know it can appear as self-serving, but I’d also like to think it is self-limiting, that it prevents people from coming back to office and recycling through this system.”
Dyer said that his first few years in office revealed to him a “steep learning curve” that made it “challenging” for him to do his job. He said that it took him about three years to feel comfortable as the mayor of the city.
“It is understandable why new mayors and councilmembers, especially their first two years in office,” Dyer said, “have a tendency to make mistakes and maybe to vote on issues in a particular way that could or should have been voted in a different way. And I can speak firsthand to that.”
Dyer did not provide specific examples of what he believed were mistakes by himself or by the councilmembers when asked. But he did continue to add that his experience was not unique, citing an anecdote shared to him by his city manager, Georgeanne White.
“She said, any elected official that comes in their first year, you really can’t hold them accountable for their decisions that they make because they really don’t know what they’re doing, and it’s really true,” Dyer said.
Esparza said of the proposed term increase, “ We’ve not considered anyone’s political futures or careers. I certainly did not. This is just, I think, good government in terms of limiting the time in service.”
The second proposal, which is co-sponsored by Council Vice President Tyler Maxwell and Councilmember Mike Karbassi, would ask the council and voters to approve the creation of a citizen-led advisory commission to help the city redistrict its seven council districts.
Every 10 years, coinciding with the federal census count, the City of Fresno redraws its council districts. Locally, that work has historically been done by the council members. Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza said this proposal would remove them from that process.
“It takes the pen out of our hands and puts it where it belongs: with the people,” Esparza said.
The measure, Esparza said, has language built in to make sure would-be commissioners are unable to use their tenure on the committee as a political “launching pad.”
Residents who have run for city office, worked on a city campaign, consulted for a city official, or sat on a party subject committee in the last 10 years would not be eligible to serve on the commission. Also, residents who have served on the commission will be barred from running for city office for the next 10 years, and not be eligible to take part in city commissions, contracts, and lobbying efforts for the next four years
Esparza argued that this was the best time to introduce and institute these measures since they would take effect “ before anyone in the city knows who they might help and who might hurt.”
“We’re setting them in place four years ahead of the next map and years ahead of the next open seat,” Esparza said, “when no one in the city can calculate the advantage. And that’s really the only moment when rules like these are worth anything. That’s exactly why voters can trust them.”
Maxwell, who said he was “heavily involved” in the last redistricting process, said an independent redistricting committee was among the most discussed desires constituents asked him for.
“That’s the gold standard,” Maxwell said of citizen redistricting commissions. “You see it when it comes to our state political lines, and many cities have already adopted this as well. Fresno is late to the game.”
Both proposed ballot measures still need to be approved by the Fresno City Council and by the voters. The Fresno City Council meets Thursday, July 30 — their last meeting before next month’s deadline to get measures qualified for the November 2026 general election.
The pair of proposals were introduced by Dyer, Esparza, Maxwell, and Councilmember Mike Karbassi — all of whom are currently termed out at the end of their current terms.
Monday’s news conference capped off a series of ballot measures introduced by Esparza that he started last week with the introduction of a citywide stop-gap tax plan to replace Measure C, the 40-year-old countywide sales-tax collecting measure that will almost surely expire next summer with no replacement.
