Quote of the Week
“It was an overall institutional failure.”
—Former EOC Board Chair Oliver Bains speaking to Fresnoland on the group’s recent financial controversies
This Week in Fresnoland
‘There has been lots of board turnover’
The highly-anticipated audit of Fresno EOC finances found no evidence of “abuse” but didn’t say how the New Deal-era anti-poverty agency managed to drain nearly $15 million in reserve funds in just five years.
Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver takes a deep dive into the organization’s quiet chaos of recent years, including raising new questions about the role the EOC board played as agency reserve funds dwindled.
In addition to the evaporating funding and CEO turnover in recent years, Greg speaks with recently-departed board members to find out why the board removed so many financial guardrails just as the agency began bleeding cash.
About one-third of the EOC board abruptly quit earlier this year and the current administration has refused to answer questions about cleaning up and reorganizing the agency after years of chaos, taking the position that it’s more important to focus on the future — which they also don’t want to discuss.
—Rob Parsons
Officials project Fresno Unified reserve teetering on the edge
Fresno Unified’s tough budget conversations continued at its board meeting this week. California’s third largest school district is projecting a $55 million deficit next year.
One major detail in the district’s financial projections: reserves could get as low as 2.77% two years from now, as reported by Fresnoland’s Diego Vargas.
That’s flirting with state-takeover territory.
If Fresno Unified’s reserve goes below a 2% threshold, the district could be taken over by the State of California under a state receivership process.
It’s just one figure that helps describe the precarity of Fresno Unified’s financial situation, as the teachers union says the district can find ways to cut costs without layoffs.
The district is planning to send out layoff notices by Sunday, after announcing cuts of at least 200 positions.
—Omar S. Rashad
Karbassi changes his mind again
Fresno Councilmember Mike Karbassi is stepping down from his role as City Council President, two officials confirmed Friday.
Karbassi did not respond to Fresnoland’s request for comment, but told GV Wire, “I’m excited to devote my full attention to campaigning for a better Fresno County and continue fighting for Fresno residents while representing Fresno City Council District 2.”
Council Vice President Nelson Esparza received Karbassi’s endorsement for the president’s gavel and Esparza confirmed plans to lobby for the position next week.
“I appreciate Councilmember Karbassi’s service as Council President, and I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues to lead the Council for the remainder of my tenure at City Hall,” Esparza told Fresnoland.
Karbassi has been council president since January 2025 and lobbied his colleagues to become the council’s first two-term president on Jan. 15 under recent changes to its leadership rules.
In the email to his colleagues, Karbassi said he is handing off the president’s gavel to focus more on his campaign for county supervisor in the upcoming June primary election.
Karbassi is not resigning from the city council and will continue representing his northwest district while campaigning in a six-way race to replace outgoing Supervisor Brian Pacheco.
—Rob Parsons
Fresno Unified weighs in on transportation-tax debate
The Fresno Unified School Board approved a resolution this week officially endorsing the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation plan, a would-be ballot initiative that aims to replace the county’s longstanding transportation tax, which expires next year.
FUSD trustees endorsed a plan that allocates 65% of an anticipated $7.4 billion toward local road repairs. Another 25% would go toward public transportation, 5% to regional projects, 4% to access and innovation and 1% to administration and oversight.
The measure faces a possible rival transportation initiative known as the “Fix Our Roads” plan. This plan will apportion 50% of an anticipated $3.9 billion pot of money for local road repairs. Another 16% would be set aside for major streets and highways, 16% for a flexible category for local jurisdictions to allocate as they see fit and 18% for public transit.
“We have had a 17-fold increase in our students being hit walking to school or biking to school; we’ve had at least two deaths, one by bike and one pedestrian,” said Veva Islas, president of the FUSD board of education, who voiced her support for the measure.
“When we have asked for investments, we have not gotten the cooperation that we need from our city and our county, and this would be the funding that would allow us to invest in those improvements,” Islas added.
Trustee Valerie Davis also voiced her support for the measure, noting that a school in her area has asked the city of Fresno for better drainage nearby, saying that the street becomes flooded and hampers students.
—Diego Vargas
‘What we’ve been begging for’
Three Fresno Iranian Americans told KVPR this week that they hope the U.S. and Israel’s regime change war they’re waging against Iran will lead to change in the Middle Eastern country.
“For millions of Iranians, this is not just seen as a typical war. This is seen as a rescue mission,” said Shabnam Pooya, a nutrition professor at Fresno State. “For 47 years, the Iranian people have been held hostage by this regime that has suppressed every single voice and invested national wealth into the act of terrorism instead of its own citizens.”
Many Iranians view the country’s regime as repressive. It violently cracked down on its own citizens during January protests. Its judicial system issued the death penalty to more than 1,000 people in 2025 alone.
To Mehdi Ghajar, a Fresno Iranian and local ophthalmologist, the “potential for change in Iran has so far outweighed the costs of the conflict” KVPR reported.
“This is absolutely what we’ve been begging for,” Ghajar told KVPR via text.
Today marks two weeks since the U.S. and Israel began bombing Iran and killed many of its top leaders, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s now-former head of state.
The U.S. and Israel have also killed more than 1,400 Iranians, as reported by Al Jazeera.
A Feb. 28 U.S. and Israeli airstrike on a school killed 175 people, mostly children, according to The Guardian and The New York Times, with reports of the latest evidence contradicting President Donald Trump, who has said it’s his “opinion” that Iran was responsible for the school tragedy.
Last weekend, the U.S. and Israeli bombing of a massive oil storage depot in Tehran sent “black rain” into the air, making Iran’s capital city — which is also its largest — “unbreathable.” Experts have warned the weekend bombing will lead to long-term environmental repercussions.
On Friday, Trump announced sending 2,500 U.S. Marines to the Middle East. He also announced last night that U.S. forces may target oil infrastructure at Iran’s Kharg Island.
—Omar S. Rashad
Outside the Lines
Fresnoland is hiring: That’s right, we’re hiring for our first-ever Senior Revenue Officer to help lead and execute our fundraising strategy with local donors and sponsors. Share with your fundraising friends! Fresnoland
Here’s the list of local candidates on the upcoming June ballot. Fresnoland
A Fresno jury came down hard on City Hall this week, awarding more than $15 million to two former workers who sued over racial discrimination in the city’s code enforcement division. The Fresno Bee
So, no, a registered sex offender isn’t running for Fresno City Council after all. KMPH
A record-high rate of attorneys for immigrants contend that their clients have been illegally put in detention. The Fresno Bee
Over a dozen workers at Fresno’s CalPortland Ready-mix facility voted to end their two-decade-long representation with the Teamsters last month. The Business Journal
California’s first-ever mobile dispatch center could soon be coming to a high school near you. KVPR
Block Beat
TOWER DISTRICT: Sour Milk’s next group art show – a tribute to filmmaker and artist John Waters — is set for 5 to 9 p.m. at Sour Milk, 1474 N. Van Ness Ave., in the Tower District. More info
CENTRAL FRESNO: The man behind the viral fall-off-the-bone BBQ “tendernism” tiktok is visiting Fresno on Sunday. Walter Johnson will be at Chop Cheese Bodega on Blackstone between 3 and 5 p.m. on March 15, trying a new sandwich. The Business Journal
HIGHWAY CITY: The ‘Heard it through the Grapevine’ 5K run is set for 9 a.m. March 21 at Kearney Park. Highway City Community Development
BIG FRESNO FAIR: The first round of shows have been announced for 2026. ABC30
DOWNTOWN: Fresno police get a new helicopter. YourCentralValley
ROOSEVELT: California’s Racial Equity Commission with the Governor’s Office will host a town hall in Fresno on Wednesday, April 1 about “addressing racial equity and inequities affecting underserved and marginalized communities.” United Way
KERMAN: The city is losing one of its few grocery store chains. The Business Journal
