Fresno councilmember suing council colleague over defamation following extortion claim

Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against colleague and Councilmember Garry Bredefeld over accusations of extortion.

The lawsuit filed in Fresno County Superior Court accuses Bredefeld of knowingly making false allegations in order to defame Esparza and seeks an unspecified amount of money to be determined later, according to the court filing.

The lawsuit follows a news conference from Friday in which Bredefeld alleged Esparza extorted former City Attorney Doug Sloan by threatening to fire Sloan if he completed work for certain council members.

“At no time did plaintiff Esparza direct, order, imply or suggest to Mr. Sloan that he would only work for ‘the majority’ of the council or only for any certain councilmembers to the exclusion of any others,” the lawsuit says.

UPDATE: Garry Bredefeld responds to lawsuit

During the news conference, Bredefeld compared Esparza to notorious Chicago mafia boss Al Capone, according to the lawsuit.

Sloan “made an unscheduled stop” to Esparza’s office on the day following an April 21 closed session in which the city attorney’s job performance was evaluated, according to the lawsuit.

Sloan spoke with Esparza seeking clarity on an ordinance that was also adopted on April 21 that put a three-month ban on a single councilmember seeking legal opinions that could be used against other councilmembers, the lawsuit says.

Any such opinions could be sought if the council agreed to pursue them in a closed session and would be handed over to an independent attorney, the lawsuit says. Those legal opinions would also have to be reported to each councilmember.

Sloan submitted his resignation about a week after the meeting. He also relayed in an email his version of how the conversation with Esparza went.

The council ban, which would end on July 21, was meant to prevent any councilmember from weaponizing Sloan’s legal opinions against other councilmembers “for the purpose of partisan political attacks,” according to the court filing.

“The lawsuit speaks for itself. I am focused on our work at City Hall,” Esparza said in a statement on Monday. “We have the city budget coming up very shortly and I will continue to work with the City Attorney’s Office and my council colleagues in order to deliver for Fresno residents.”

The Bee on Monday afternoon reached out to Bredefeld for comment.

The lawsuit says Bredefeld has a history of such activity.

Bredefeld has multiple times made attacks against four councilmembers, whom he has called “the corrupt gang of four.” Esparza, Miguel Arias, Tyler Maxwell and Esmeralda Soria are Democrats and often form the council majority. Bredefeld is the only Republican on the City Council and frequently finds himself on the opposite side of the majority.

Allegations of wrongdoing by councilmembers in the past have led to investigations by Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp’s office. However, so far, none of the councilmembers have been charged with any crimes.

The four councilmembers have accused both Bredefeld and Smittcamp of misusing their positions for political gain. Bredefeld’s news conference Friday came the same week ballots for the June primary are arriving in Fresno County voter mailboxes.

Bredefeld’s allegations

Bredefeld alleged during the April 22 meeting that Esparza told Sloan to no longer complete work for Councilmembers Bredefeld, Luis Chavez, or Mike Karbassi.

Esparza allegedly told Sloan that if Bredefeld, Chavez or Karbassi requested him to do work for them, Sloan must decline and report back to Esparza. He also allegedly told Sloan that he was the only one preventing Sloan from being fired, Bredefeld said.

Sloan directly told him about the meeting, Bredefeld said. Other city officials, including Mayor Jerry Dyer, were aware of the alleged meeting between Sloan and Esparza and what occurred, according to Bredefeld.

Dyer has confirmed he was aware of the meeting. He said law enforcement should investigate the incident.

Bredefeld said law enforcement was informed. Fresno police have said they are not investigating and the Fresno County DA’s Office has not confirmed they are involved.