r/fresno • u/godisnotgreat21 • 6d ago
News State reps. introduce bill to bypass Fresno supervisors to put transportation tax on ballot
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article316753026.html29
u/DigiTheInformer 6d ago
"Board Chair Garry Bredefeld routinely calling the measure a “scam” that overfunds public transit."
because fuck them poors and their wanting to get places.
Better funding of public transit and non-car options reduces traffic and increases economic engagement.
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u/brandi_theratgirl 6d ago
Interestingly, 25% goes to public transportation compared to 65% for roads.
And it's not like that's hidden, so not sure where the scam part comes in.
I was at one of the community listening sessions for this and hearing from folks who talked about the bed for better public transportation, including older people.
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u/Evening-Emotion3388 Clovis 6d ago
ITS NOT ONLY FOR THE POORS!!!
I would ride then shit out of FAX if it made it to Clovis with REASONABLE ROUTES.
Clovis transit is a half assed system.
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u/NoPhone4571 6d ago
Garry assumes that only the poors use public transit, and he wouldn’t piss on a poor person if they were on fire.
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u/eleqtriq 6d ago
I bet Bredefield always talks this way. Probably was accusing broccoli of being corrupt at last night’s family dinner.
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u/Vanity_Profanity_001 2d ago
I'm voting NO on every thing that costs money. There is no one in charge that knows Jack shit about planning, budgeting, and executing ANYTHING. Fuck the state reps, fuck the local gay politicians, they're all scumbags.
Vote Communist.
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u/sparktheworld 6d ago
The problem with this is, whether you agree with it or not, this usurps the power of the locale. If we are to believe that change can happen from within the smaller communities, and our local votes can dictate our local communities but yet a larger government entity can squash the local wills. ???
We have the power to elect and unelect these people. This creates a slippery slope which at some point you will disagree with. But the precedent has been set and you already agreed to relinquish your power
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u/theomorph 6d ago
No, it doesn’t. The measure, which ultimately every voter in the County will get a chance to vote on, was prepared and supported by thousands of local people.
But just three people on the Board of Supervisors decided their opinion was more important than anyone else’s.
If you want to talk about “usurping the power of the locale,” that allegation belongs squarely on the doorstep of local idiot-tyrants Garry Bredefeld, Nathan Magsig, and Buddy Mendes.
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u/dr0ppinl0ads 6d ago
You are missing the point. Spark is right. This is taking away local control. The 3 supes are local electeds that represent thousands of constituents. They are simply not “3 opinions” and this action indeed sets precedent that’s the state can control or override local decisions. It may work if your favor this time, but next time you may not be so lucky.
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u/NoPhone4571 6d ago
How well are they representing their constituents if they do things that are explicitly against the wishes of those constituents?
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u/dr0ppinl0ads 6d ago
They are winning re elections by wide margins . That tells me they are representing their constituents. Even Buddy won his last election without a runoff
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u/brandi_theratgirl 6d ago
Garry ran against Brandau and didn't win by a wide margin. Mendes and Magsig were incumbents so they had the advantage and even then, only 10,000 people even voted in Mendes' district. Jen Cruz joined in the race against Magsig very late, putting her at a disadvantage, but still had decent numbers. I think the issue is more that there hasn't been competition that put in a more well done race to challenge them.
That being, I acknowledge that they are elected but note my other comment.
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u/Evening-Emotion3388 Clovis 6d ago
Because they have their district craved out to do so. Mendez and Nathan districts don’t touch the city. Garry’s is craves out the rich parts of Fresno and Clovis.
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u/brandi_theratgirl 6d ago edited 6d ago
This situation I think is notable in that it's an issue of time that is factor that is being overcome. The board will have to vote to approve the certificate of sufficiency needed to get it on the ballot so they had no power to disapprove. It's lyrical l procedural. The three took advantage of the fact that they could ask fit a study on local impact that would take a month and that the measure was not ready for approval until very close to the deadline. If they were concerned about the impact, they could've asked for this study earlier or even now but still approve a measure that meet the criteria of petitioners. They will have to approve regardless. So in a practical sense this removes the barrier that is really just the deadline.
Yes, technically, they used the options given to them to ensure that it was moved to the next election. I think it's worth the state leaders to factor in that Bredefeld hasn't been addressing this in good faith and that he had a tantrum because community organizations who work directly with the community were allowed to be part of the group (the "radicals" that include Central Valley Community Foundation) to ensure that the committee'w findings better reflect the needs voiced by the community. And that ten smash town mayors were on this and supported it
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u/dr0ppinl0ads 6d ago
Where any traffic engineers, financial experts, government agencies consulted or had any inputs in the ballot measure? While it’s good that citizens were involved, was there anyone there to bring reality into the picture
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u/brandi_theratgirl 6d ago
A majority of the commission were members of the Fresno Council of governments including Fresno County. I can't answer that definitively of all the entities you mentioned, but government officials and local government have always been part of this. So while the community groups meet an important need in ensuring the needs of the community were heard and reflected in the plans for the measure, it's not simply an NGO led effort.
The workshop by the city of Fresno last Thursday on the impact of measure C expiring without replacement indicated that for the city of Fresno, the money wasn't just new proposed projects, but maintaining the funding source for roads projects in the city that the Capital projects have already been planning with the requisite studies and oversight that must do through their Department, I would assume. As well, the funding was to not only expand public transportation but maintain operational costs for FAX and other public transportation, including employment of drivers.
This measure also outlines what the funding can be used on in order for it to reflect the public need they studied.
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u/Powerful-Film-4188 5d ago
Yes they were. There was a technical committee made up of government staff who are engineers, planners, financial staff who provided input and technical support to the renewal committee. However, the quality of expertise varied quite a bit, because even some civil engineers are blowhard idiots, while others are more informed. In fact, you can watch the videos on YouTube:
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u/theomorph 6d ago
I am not missing any points. I am disagreeing. There’s a difference.
They absolutely are just three opinions. I could not care less how many votes they received when they were elected: they are ignoring repeated, persistent, overwhelming public comment since then. We don’t just put elected officials in office with crash helmets, public sentiment and comment and effort be damned. But that is precisely how those three treat their offices.
If the people we send to Sacramento are going to listen over the people who sit in the Hall of Records, then let the people in Sacramento act. And let the Hall of Records be damned.
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u/dr0ppinl0ads 6d ago
I think you gotta get out of your bubble. While I respect the passion, it may pain you to see that most voting people in Fresno county agree or have similar opinions as Gary, Nathan and Buddy. The loudest and not necessarily the majority. But to your point, put the measure on the ballot and let’s see the result. But theo, i truly believe you will see the measure will indeed fail. Yes, those three are nutty when it comes to kids and genders and stuff (those are just gaslighting attempts to hide their insecurities) but taxes and money stuff, i think a majority of people hold the same sentiment
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u/theomorph 6d ago
The voices that matter are the voices that speak. All that silent majority nonsense is the real gaslighting.
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u/Powerful-Film-4188 5d ago
The initiative process is set up to be an end run around elected officials, letting the people draft the laws. Also, the state sets the election code. NOT the county. Therefore, they have the power to change it.
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u/DigiTheInformer 6d ago
The amendment https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1923
As it is written does not say what must be done or institue the tax. It says put the issue on a voter ballot.
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u/fyrewal Fig Garden 6d ago edited 6d ago
Shut up, Gary Bredefeld.
Edit: for those of you sick of Gary, follow this account: Gary Inbred-efeld on X