Bryce Herrera, 27, hopes to survive crowded District 2 field for Fresno County supervisor
In a Fresno County Board of Supervisors District 2 race that is held by a Republican and features two veteran Republican politicians, a 27-year-old small business owner making his political debut believes he is right for the job.
“I know that there’s a lot of people who believe that you should take a certain pathway from lower office to an office of this level,” said Bryce Herrera, a Democrat. “Being a young person, I connect better than most to people who are experiencing lived experiences that I’ve had myself.”
Herrera is relying on social media and a small army of volunteers to get his message out to voters in the most urban supervisorial district. The boundaries are mainly in northwest, northeast and central Fresno, including a portion that runs down to Shields Avenue.
The latest financial reports showing how much cash the candidates have on hand places Herrera lagging incumbent Steve Brandau ($138,000) and Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld ($476,000). Herrera has $2,175 available.
Fresno County Assessor Paul Dictos, another Democratic challenger, has $12,300 available. Brandau and Bredefeld are Republicans. The race is non-partisan.
A candidate must get 50% plus 1 of the March 5 primary to avoid a November runoff.
Herrera, who has indigenous (Southern Apache) and Latino roots, shakes off the lackluster fundraising.
“We are not accepting special corporate interest money,” said Herrera, who founded Calico Catering in 2018. “We’re trying to build a community-based coalition of people who are fed up with the status quo; who want to see change, but for real.”
Herrera touts endorsements from the Fresno County Democratic Party, the Central Valley Progressive PAC, Democratic Women in Action, Fresno Stonewall Democrats, Central Valley Leadership Roundtable, and the Fresno Muslim Caucus.
His campaign website: herreraforfresno.com
Vida en el Valle recently interviewed Herrera. Here are the questions and answers in condensed form.
Q: What is the top issue in District 2?
A: “The top issue is homelessness. We have a (homeless) population that’s grown over the last year. From 2022 to 2023, the population of our unhoused/unsheltered grew from 4,200 to 4,500. So it was a 7% increase. We’re seeing 200 to 300 people that are being added to the population.
“It’s important to address this from a housing first approach. That means that those who don’t have shelter, we need to make sure that they have shelter. And right now we’re not doing a good job of that. The county is taking a stance that they’re doing everything that they need to be doing within their lane; and that the city is responsible for staying in their lane.
“But the county has the majority of the social service dollars. And so rather than making those arguments, we should be leveraging the resources that we have. There’s gridlock between the County of Fresno and the City of Fresno. A partnership with the city is essential.”
Q: Are higher housing costs contributing to the homeless problem?
“We have an unaffordability crisis, and it’s on two fronts: Housing and homelessness. We need to look at those two in the same light, because if we don’t address housing, then more people are going to end up on the streets. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing. The fair market rent has increased by 43% since 2021. One out of five residents fall below the poverty standards for the region. We need to take bold initiative to stabilize the rents and buyer’s market.
“The state of California allows us to implement a rent stabilization policy of up to, but not more than, 10%. I would support a policy at 3% to 5% for existing properties that were built before 1990.
“We need more affordable housing. We need to entice more builders and more businesses to invest in District 2, and elsewhere in the county. That means providing incentives in the form of tax credits.”
Q: What got you interested in running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors?
A: “I’ve been interested in politics for several years now. I’m a lifelong Democrat who’s been involved with different projects. I was the president of the Native American Student Association at Fresno State. The CSU Indians is a statewide alliance of students, staff and faculty from eight different CSU campuses. We were organizing for change on our respective campuses in terms of boosting graduation rates, boosting retention rates, advocating for (graduation) ceremonies to be more institutionalized at the CSU level; and, getting land acknowledgments done at official events.
“So that work inspired me to connect with the local political scene. I got involved with the Young Democrats while I was still president of the Native American Club, and then met current (Fresno) city councilmembers to push that issue.”
Q: Did you work at city hall?
A: “I was a staffer for Councilmember (Luis) Chávez from February to October of last year. I was part-time, but I conducted research and policy and briefed him occasionally.”
Q: Do you support growth northeast of the Fresno city limits?
A: “I’m not supportive of it. As a Native American candidate, I think I should be in support of preserving our wildlife and wildlands and the landscape as it’s been for over a millennia. I’d like to see that preserved for the next generation. We need to do a better job of planning development.”
Q: How do you self identify?
A: “I have a mixed heritage. I’m Mexican American, and Native American and Filipino. I’m 13th generation American on my mom’s side.”
Q: Tell us about your campaign.
A: We are self-funded. We are not accepting special interest money. We’re relying on the community to get behind our campaign and to support it. We are trying to build a community-based coalition of people who are fed up with the status quo; who want to see change, but for real.”
Fresno County Supervisor Brandau has challengers in District 2. What are their priorities?
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