Documented by Rachel Youdelman
Summary: What You Need to Know
- With a 3-2 vote (Pacheco and Quintero opposing), the board approved, despite strong opposition from members of the public, an amended “Parents Matter” resolution brought by Brandau to establish a committee of 11 appointed individuals who will be charged with deciding which children’s books in public libraries should be subject to restricted circulation.
- The board unanimously agreed to delete a subsection of a county ordinance that prohibits county employees from directly or indirectly soliciting political contributions from other county employees. The decision was necessary to bring the ordinance in alignment with state law. State employees have had the right to solicit such funds since 1976, but local public employees at county or municipal levels have until now been prohibited from doing so.
- The board addressed illegal trash dumping, a major issue, particularly in rural areas. Competitive bidding for haulers was waived and contracts with four vendors will be rewritten to reflect an increase in the annual budget from $500,000 to $1 million.
Board
Brian Pacheco, 1st District
Steve Brandau, 2nd District
Sal Quintero, 3rd District, chair
Buddy Mendes, 4th District
Nathan Magsig, 5th District, vice-chair
Staff
Daniel Cederborg, County Counsel
Bernice Seidel, clerk of the Board of Supervisors
Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer (CAO)
The Scene
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors held its last meeting of the month at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 28. Quintero opened the meeting promptly and asked Seidel to call the roll. All were present. Quintero then introduced the person giving the invocation, Michael Meux, a security officer for the county who also represented the Fresno Temple Church of God. Meux began, “Oh, dear, most gracious heavenly Father, we ask for continued blessings.” He referred to county leaders as “God-given” and concluded “in Jesus’ name.” The Pledge of Allegiance quickly followed. Seidel called roll; all were present. Quintero spoke in English and in Spanish, pointing out that copies of the day’s agenda were available.
The meeting was two hours long. The room was full of people, most of whom were present to comment in protest of the “Parents Matter” resolution, which would establish a “citizens’ review committee” to filter, remove or monitor children’s library books containing “sexual, gender-identity” themes, and which was approved at the last meeting with a 3-2 vote and was again on today’s agenda for final approval with amendments.
Meetings are open to the public and are held at the Fresno County Hall of Records, 2281 Tulare St., Room 301. Public comments on matters on or off the agenda are welcomed. If you plan to make a comment in person on an item not on the agenda, note that this portion of the meeting is always last on the agenda. Each agenda item is otherwise accorded time for live public comment as they are introduced. Meetings are live streamed; agendas, live stream and meeting video may be accessed here. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Dec. 12 at 9:30 a.m.
Each supervisor represents one of five districts. Who is your county supervisor? Find out here.
To contact your supervisor about any issues or agenda items for a particular meeting, call or email with your opinion or question:
Pacheco District 1 District1@fresnocountyca.gov 559-600-1000
Brandau District 2 District2@fresnocountyca.gov 559-600-2000
Quintero District 3 District3@fresnocountyca.gov 559-600-3000
Mendes District 4 District4@fresnocountyca.gov 559-600-4000
Magsig District 5 District5@fresnocountyca.gov 559-600-5000
Agenda Item 1 The board approved the day’s agenda with a 5-0 vote.
Agenda Item 2 The consent agenda, items 18-76, includes items considered routine or administrative, grouped together and decided with a single vote; however, supervisors or members of the public may pull an item for discussion.
Seidel mentioned that item 31 had a minor correction. Brandau asked to pull item 35 for discussion, then asked to be recused from items 31, 57 and 69 because of campaign contributions received from parties involved. Pacheco pulled item 70, and Quintero pulled item 24 to emphasize his “no” vote. Members of the public shouted “24!” which was pulled for public comment. Item 24 was the library resolution. The remainder of the agenda was approved by the board 5-0.
Agenda Item 3 Joel Gurss, a 26-year employee of the Department of Social Services, was presented with a retirement plaque. Gurss’ mother was present; everyone posed for a photo, and shouts of “thank you” were heard.
Agenda Item 4 A retirement plaque was presented to Michael Vasquez, a 29-year employee of the Department of Social Services. Velasquez’s father was present. A group photo was taken.
Agenda Item 35 from the consent agenda The board voted 5-0 to approve making a specified area available for a Fresno sheriff’s memorial and education center, to be designed by the Fresno Sheriff’s Memorial Foundation. Two former sheriffs, Margaret Mims and Steve Magarian, were present to speak briefly about the matter, as was current sheriff John Zanoni. Brandau remarked that this was “an easy ‘yes’ vote for me.” Pacheco said that seeing 3 sheriffs was like seeing 3 presidents together. Magsig thanked the planners of the project for their “vision.” He then said that “god’s been good to me” and mentioned his father’s death but did not explain why he mentioned it. Mendes said he recalled discussing the proposed project in a Caruthers donut shop last year and appeared pleased that the project was moving forward. Quintero said that the two former sheriffs “retired too early” and that they “still look good.”
Agenda Item 5 The board proclaimed December 2023 “Toys for Tots” month. Jessica Montano of that organization was present to speak about the matter. Public shouts of “thank you” were heard. Everyone posed for a group photo.
Agenda Item 6 The board unanimously agreed to delete a subsection of a county ordinance that prohibits county employees from directly or indirectly soliciting political contributions from other county employees. The decision was necessary to bring the ordinance in alignment with state law.
On July 19, an appeals court found that California government code section 3205 is unconstitutional (Progressive Democrats for Social Justice v. Rob Bonta, 73 F. 4th 1118 (9th Cir. 2023)). It prohibited local government employees from soliciting political contributions from coworkers. Fresno County ordinance code section 3.08.110 (Employees – Political Activity) contained similarly prohibitive language, hence the need to change the local code to align with the state’s.
When public comment was opened on the matter, Clovis resident and frequent supervisors’ meeting attendee Brent Burdine remarked that his son, as a member of the Peace Corps in a country Burdine did not identify, had observed corruption in the local civil service. Burdine said that it was a “slippery slope,” because he suggested that a boss could solicit money from underlings, adding that he “didn’t care” if local laws align with state laws. However, state employees have had the right to solicit such funds since 1976, but local public employees at county or municipal levels have until now been prohibited from doing so.
Nevertheless, Brandau felt that Burdine “made a couple of decent points” and asked for clarification from County Counsel Cederborg, who said that “this amendment keeps in place the prohibition of political activity on county facilities and on county time.” He also pointed out that restriction of political activity by public employees outside of the workplace is unconstitutional.
Agenda Item 7 The board unanimously approved a first hearing to amend its code for leasing or licensing real estate, setting informal bidding procedures for the process.
Agenda Items 8 and 9 The board approved both unanimously; each concerned a partial cancellation of a Williamson Act contract, and each was requested to permit family members to use a small portion of their farmland as a residence.
Agenda Item 70 from the Consent Agenda The board unanimously approved the waiving of competitive bidding for trash haulers to remove illegally dumped trash in Fresno County. The county contracts with four haulers. Pacheco pulled the item to discuss increasing the annual allocation from $500,000 to $1 million. He noted that illegally dumped trash was his “number one constituent issue,” and that a bigger budget is needed, because the illegal dumping problem is very bad, especially in rural areas such as his district. Nerland pointed out that the allocation could be increased, as a bigger figure was already accounted for in the budget, and that contracts would simply have to “come back.” Nerland also said that the money was not just for trash but that it was also earmarked for clearing homeless encampments.” Quintero then told an anecdote about having seen a discarded truck tire which had been painted green and decorated with ornaments, like a Christmas tree.
Items 31, 57 and 69 from the Consent Agenda Brandau left the room for the vote. Mendes interrupted Seidel as she read the items, saying there was no need to comment. David Luchini, director of the public health department, began speaking at the lectern about item 69, a cat and dog spay-neuter program, Magsig stopped him, saying the matter was “noncontroversial” and didn’t warrant comment. These items were voted on individually; each passed 4-0 with Brandau’s recusal.
Item 24 from the Consent Agenda With a 3-2 vote (Pacheco and Quintero opposing), the board approved, despite strong opposition from members of the public, an amended resolution brought by Brandau to establish a committee of 11 appointed individuals who will be charged with deciding which children’s books in county public libraries should be subject to restricted circulation. Brandau called his resolution “Parents Matter.” The resolution had been conditionally approved (also with a 3-2 vote, Pacheco and Quintero opposed), also to strong public opposition at the Nov. 7 meeting; Mendes had requested amendments, hence the amended version of the resolution appeared on today’s agenda in the consent section.
The board has received a detailed letter signed by the ACLU, PEN America, the Freedom to Read Foundation and the First Amendment Coalition, citing case law pointing out that the resolution is unconstitutional.
Public comment was opened on the item, and 17 people spoke in opposition. Only one person spoke in support of the resolution, and that was Diane Pearce, a member of the Clovis City Council, who herself had engineered a similar attempt at restricting access to public library books. Both Pearce and Brandau have insisted they are not trying to ban books; they both also say that members of the community have complained to them about certain books and that they are acting in response.
The item contained the following wording, omitting specifics: “Starting earlier this year, complaints were received from parents and community groups that books containing sexually graphic and other age-inappropriate content were available in several children’s sections (of libraries) and as a result easily accessible by young children.” Similarly, Pearce said that “over many months” she has heard from hundreds of parents with complaints about library books, but that none of them were able to leave work to attend this or other meetings. Pearce had no evidence, no list of signatures or a precise number of names of people who had contacted her. She said she supported the resolution because it would allow many books to be sequestered at one time, rather than the current library process for filing complaints about books, which permits only one at a time. She called the mass removal of books “common sense.” Strong community opposition met Pearce’s attempts to create a similar ban in Clovis, both in the form of social media posts and in-person comment at City Council meetings, where opponents far outnumbered her supporters.
Amendments approved were the mandating of lists of books removed from the children’s section and publicly posting the list, making the number of committee members 11 rather than the originally proposed 15, and creating an appeal process for the books banned from the children’s section.
Seventeen people were present to speak in opposition to the amended Brandau resolution. Quintero stipulated that each speaker would have two minutes to talk, and that the comment period would end after 30 minutes. However, at the end of 30 minutes, with two people remaining, Quintero permitted them to speak at Pacheco’s urging.
Among the speakers was retired former director of the Fresno County library, Karen Bosch Cobb, who gave six reasons why she opposed the measure, among them that there was no reason for it. She also noted that the measure would likely exacerbate recruitment problems and endanger Measure B funding. Measure B is a ⅛ cent renewable Fresno County voter-approved sales tax measure that pays for over half of the library’s annual budget. Lawsuits were possible as well, she said. Cobb also pointed out that parents must sign for their children’s library cards and that they have the right to select books for their own children.
Sara Smith, a resident of Clovis and a librarian in Sanger, asked the board to “let professionals do their jobs” and said that the proposed process conflicts with library processes. Crow Fitzpatrick said that “this is fascism.” Others said they were “appalled” at the measure and that it was “shameful” and “embarrassing,” that it was a “bad idea” and an “abuse of power.” Annie Nguyen of Clovis said that it was “heartbreaking to see adults so scared of children’s books” and that it was “cowardly to silence perspectives you don’t agree with.”
Dr. Lenny Villagomes Reeves, a former ER physician at Valley Children’s Hospital, said that “anyone who thinks books are a top problem for Fresno County youth has not yet begun to think.”
Brandau only commented that “we heard a lot of misinformation today” and complained about “a lot of exposure in the media.”
Mendes asked Cederborg if the committee would be subject to Brown Act regulations regarding public meetings; Cederborg said yes, that meetings would need to be publicly noticed and agendas posted 72 hours in advance. Live streaming the meetings was not mentioned, but meetings are required to admit members of the public and allow for public comment.
Pacheco said that he did not want to comment further on the matter, that it had been discussed at the previous meeting, and that today’s agenda item was merely to vote on the amendments.
A roll call vote ensued; the item passed 3-2, followed by shouts from attendees of “Shame on you!”
Agenda Item 10, Supervisor Committee Reports and Comments
Mendes said that he will attend an air resources board meeting, which he called a “two-day deal.” He said that he was reelected to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) “Urban Counties” group as a representative of Fresno County. “For some reason, they like me,” he said, grinning, but he called the assignment “another one-year sentence.”
Magsig said that he attended the State Association of Retirement Systems conference. He spoke for a few minutes using financial terminology, such as “instability in markets.” He mentioned that his office had some complaints about noisy outdoor live music performances and that there would be a children’s Christmas parade in Clovis on Saturday.
Brandau said that he attended a ribbon-cutting for Veterans Boulevard.
Pacheco reiterated Brandau’s comments about Veterans Boulevard.
Quintero mentioned the annual children’s coat drive but gave no details other than to say that bins for donated coats were placed outside the board chambers, the Fresno Center and the Department of Social Service building. He also told some anecdotes about individuals unconnected to charities who cooked and donated Thanksgiving meals to neighbors in need.
Agenda Item 11 The board made and approved various appointments to several regional committees: Mendes made one, Magsig two, and Quintero one.
Agenda Item 12 Public comment regarding items not on the agenda — there were none.
Agenda Items 13-17 Closed session. Items entailed litigation and labor negotiations. There were no reports following, so the public portion of the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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