‘Boring’ is back at Fresno City Hall as council members take a break from mudslinging | Opinion

Packed with nearly 70 agenda items, almost all of them administrative, Thursday’s Fresno City Council meeting promises to be a snoozer.

Just the regular ol’ process of city government going about city business. Boring enough to glaze over all but the most attuned pairs of eyes.

Here’s what’s not going to happen (unless something completely unforeseen happens after writing this): General mudslinging between council members. Angry diatribes. Accusations of corruption and hypocrisy.

Instead, disagreements on the dais will be kept respectful without veering into personal attacks.

“It’s quieter and more civil,” agreed Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents District 3.

Opinion

Since when did the Fresno City Council start behaving like adults and stop acting like children?

Based on interviews and observations, there are three main reasons:

● Esmeralda Soria’s departure for the California State Assembly, coupled with the arrival of Annalisa Perea, fundamentally altered the chemistry among the seven council members.

● Garry Bredefeld, running for Fresno County supervisor in 2024 against incumbent Steve Brandau, stopped stirring up acrimony.

● Council President Tyler Maxwell’s emergence as an effective leader and manager of disparate personalities.

“One of my big objectives was to make City Hall boring again,” Maxwell said. “The last two years have been very chaotic and I think we lost a lot of public trust with some of the antics that go on. … I wanted to make it a priority that we were doing less of the bickering and petty politics.”

Press conferences & angry accusations

For a reminder of how chaotic things were, let’s return to March 17, 2022: The day Bredefeld held a press conference to admonish four of his council colleagues’ use of their operating budgets and city-issued credit cards. Followed one week later by a hostile council meeting that featured two hours’ worth of accusations and insults.

Then on April 6, Councilmember Mike Karbassi (who opposed Soria in the Assembly race) and Bredefeld held a dual press conference so they could blast Granite Park operator Terance Frazier (who happens to be Soria’s romantic partner) and fellow council members for shielding him.

“(Soria’s) campaign was a source of a lot of tension,” Arias said.

While similar politically to her District 1 predecessor, Perea doesn’t carry that same baggage despite her family’s lengthy history in local politics. The 35-year-old is intelligent, level-headed and knowledgeable about city planning matters.

The switch from Soria to Perea appears to have had a calming effect on Soria’s adversaries. Karbassi is back to his measured, mild-mannered former self, while Bredefeld has been on his best behavior lately. (Also in the rearview mirror is the Bredefeld-fueled legal case that resulted in extortion charges, subsequently dropped, against Councilmember Nelson Esparza.)

“Our council president requested we tone down the craziness,” Arias said. “And our firecracker Garry is focused on the supervisor race rather than calling out his colleagues.”

I texted Bredefeld to ask if he was making an effort to keep things more collegial this year. And if so, why?

“My speaking truth and fighting for policies that improve our City has not changed and won’t,” Bredefeld responded via email. “What has changed is the make-up of the Council. Annalisa Perea is collaborative with the entire Council and Tyler Maxwell is inclusive and doing a phenomenal job as Council President.

Better behind-the-scenes communication

Better behind-the-scenes communication between council members has also resulted in less open hostilities.

Here’s an example: During the Dec. 14 meeting, when Bredefeld went on a rant against a family friendly drag show at a Fresno church, the other six council members abruptly got up and left the council chambers.

As the six filed back in the room, then-president Esparza quipped, “We had to take a very LGBTQ+ friendly snack break.”

History didn’t repeat itself Feb. 23, when the council agenda contained an item to grant $100,000 in taxpayer funds to the Fresno EOC’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center.

This time, Bredefeld warned his colleagues in advance that he would both vote against the item and pose questions about what services would be provided with that money. As a result, none of them walked out.

“Garry told us he was going to keep it respectful, which he amazingly did,” Arias said. “He didn’t cross the line.”

“When we go out there we should all be as passionate as we want to be,” Maxwell added. “We should just never make it personal. That’s something I have tried to drill into my colleagues the last couple months.”

All that drilling appears to have paid off. Attend a Fresno City Council meeting these days, or watch the proceedings on a computer screen, and you’re more likely to be bored by the process of city government than entertained/dismayed by diatribes and insults.

Which was Maxwell’s aim all along.

“He’s managed everybody and ensured there isn’t a huge fight between us and the mayor,” Arias said.

Of course, budget season is a couple months away. Meaning the current calm seas may not last.