Joaquin Arambula proposes more public sway over Fresno government boards | Opinion
Local and regional government can’t be fixed from the inside. They must be fixed from the state capitol.
That has been the strategy employed by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula in recent years, and the Fresno Democrat is back at it during the 2023 legislative session.
Arambula introduced two bills designed to reshape the powerful governing boards of government institutions traditionally controlled by elected officials.
The first bill, dubbed the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act, would add four additional unelected board members to the agency that oversees the Measure C transportation tax — just as renewal efforts ramp up following last November’s election defeat.
The FCTA board has nine members. Two are Fresno County supervisors (Buddy Mendes and Steve Brandau), five are city elected officials (Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Councilmember Miguel Arias; Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck, Parlier Mayor Anna Beltran and Firebaugh Mayor Felipe Perez) and two are public at-large members representing urban and rural communities.
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Arambula’s bill, AB 558, proposes a 13-person board. The four new seats would go to a labor organization representative, appointed by the Fresno City Council; a member under between the ages of 18 to 26, appointed by the governor; a resident from a “disadvantaged” and unincorporated area of the county, appointed by the Board of Supervisors; and an educational representative, appointed by the Fresno County Board of Education.
If AB 558 becomes law, the FCTA board would consist of seven elected members and six unelected. Since that wouldn’t take effect until January, the potential impact on any Measure C renewal initiative destined for the 2024 ballot is unclear.
Arambula’s second bill, AB 650, would add four more public members to the governing board of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
The air district governing board is currently composed of eight county supervisors (including Mendes), three city electeds (including Clovis Councilmember Drew Bessinger), a physician (Alex Sherriffs of Fowler) and a health policy expert (Fresno State’s Tania Pacheco-Werner). Two more city elected seats are vacant.
AB 650 proposes to carve out four additional seats for public members, each appointed by the governor. Two for representatives of local nonprofits with “subject matter expertise” in environmental or social justice; one for a representative of a Native American tribe with a presence in the Valley; and one for a “youth” representative between the ages of 18-26.
Second try at air district shakeup
This is Arambula’s second attempt to shake things up at the Valley Air District. His previous bill, which would have granted more state oversight to local air districts that routinely fail to meet federal air pollution standards, was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall.
However, Arambula did get Newsom’s signature on AB 2030, which wrested the authority to draw new Fresno County supervisorial districts from the supervisors themselves and gave it to an independent commission. (And boy, the supes weren’t happy.) The commission will be formed following the 2030 census.
The Democrat representing Assembly District 31, which includes much of central and south Fresno as well as Sanger, Parlier and Selma, also successfully passed legislation that reconstituted the San Joaquin River Conservancy governing board. That board has undergone a minor shakeup over the last three months.
Arambula’s reasoning throughout has remained consistent: He believes the boards of these crucial but often-in-the-shadows government agencies should be more representative of the communities they serve. I agree with him on that.
His political opponents (i.e. those who prefer the status quo) will counter with the argument that members of these important boards should be accountable to the voters.
If recent history is any guide, Arambula won’t have too much difficulty getting AB 558 and AB 650 through both the state Assembly and Senate and onto the governor’s desk. The bigger question is whether Newsom signs them.
