Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Okay, it's 09:30. Madam Clerk, roll call.

Supervisor Chavez?

Here.

Supervisor Magsig? Here. Supervisor Mendez? Here. Supervisor Pacheco?

Here.

Chairman Bredefeld?

Here.

All present, thank you.

Thanks. Good morning and welcome to the Tuesday, 05/12/2026 meeting of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. We'll begin with the invocation, then the flag salute. The invocation will be led by pastor Ron Killian of New Covenant Community Church. After the invocation, please remain standing for the flag salute. Pastor, welcome.

Thank you.

Father, as we begin this time together, this proceedings, I'm reminded of Paul's prayer to the Ephesians in chapter one where he says, I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would give to us a spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of who you are that we might know you better. Lord, I pray for each and every person here represented today, specifically with our leaders of county government that you would bless them, bless their homes, their families, their marriages, so Lord, they would be in the best mindset possible when they arrive here to make the decisions that affect this great county that would honor you and bless us as the people. Again, we pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of who you are that we might know you better. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. Please Salute.

Pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. Agendas. Agendas are on the back table for anyone wanting to follow along. Madam Clerk, first item, please.

Item number one, approve agenda.

Is there a motion and second to approve the agenda?

So move. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Item two.

Item two, approve consent agenda item number 19 through 48. Item 29 is being pulled due to the Levine Act by supervisors Magsig and Pacheco.

Okay, these matters are routine in nature, usually approved by a single vote. Would any board members like an item removed from consent for discussion other than number 29? Would any members of the public like an item removed for consent for discussion? Seeing none, is there a motion and a second to approve the rest of the consent agenda?

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? None opposed. Motion carries. And we will hear item number 29 after item seven. Next item, please.

Item three, proclaim May 2026 as Mental Health Matters Month in the County Of Fresno.

And behavioral health is here to present.

Behavioral health is here. So good morning Chairman, Supervisor Susan Holt, your Behavioral Health Director and Public Guardian. With me here this morning is Division Manager, Gladeh Castro. I'm super excited to have invocation from my next door neighbor, Mr. Killian, who warmed our hearts and reminded us that spirit is part of our mental well-being. So today,

we want

to appreciate the proclamation before you to support awareness of mental health. The Mental Health Month awareness is seventy seven years strong and one of the largest national awareness movements. We know that there is no health without mental health. A behavioral health director before me used to say, you know, the head is attached to the body. So we want to make sure that when we think about our total health, we're thinking about our wellness.

One in five nationally, one in five individuals has a mental health diagnosable condition in their lifetime, and significantly more than that have mental health symptoms that don't reach that threshold. So we want to talk about access to treatment. Mental health conditions are treatable. They're one of the most treatable health conditions that exist. And in addition to that, some disorders can benefit from prevention.

When we recognize signs and symptoms of mental health conditions early and get access to supports and treatment, we're able to minimize the impacts of those disorders. Our department is very active in our community throughout the month of May. Gleda's team has been out at schools already this month promoting mental health awareness in our high schools, and we will be out at the NAMI Walks event on Saturday morning with many other community based organizations as we all come together to appreciate the access to behavioral health services in our community and come alongside all of us in our community who've been affected by mental health. With that, again, chairman and supervisors, we thank you for the opportunity this morning.

Sure. Did did you wanna have anything to say?

Thank you. I just wanna thank our community and thank all of you, boardmen and chairman, for the opportunity to promote and continue to be present for our community mental health services. Thank you all.

Okay. Any comments from the board? I would just say, I appreciate all that you do. It's a tough job that you have. You're helping people in the community with all kinds of mental health issues. And I know also have come to learn all of that you have to do in terms of grant funding and the funding for all of the programs that have to go on through the county. It's a tough job and appreciate what you do. Any comments from the public? Oh, go ahead.

Chairman, if I may, I neglected to take this moment of sincere gratitude and appreciation for all of the Department of Behavioral Health employees. I appreciate your acknowledgement of my leadership, but it really is the department's strong passionate workforce that makes it all possible.

Yes, that is absolutely true. Any comments from the public? Is there a motion and a second to approve the item?

Second. All

those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries unanimous. Wanna step forward and have a photo with us.

Agenda item number four, adopt resolution honoring local heroes for their courageous actions in protecting children in Fresno County.

I'll turn this over to Supervisor Chavez.

Yeah, thank you, chair and thank you, clerk. A couple of weeks ago, we had an incident in our community that, many of you saw in the media and it was scary situation where you had a parent that had their, children kidnapped, from their driveway. And the reason I wanted to bring these folks here today and honor them because I think they symbolize what our community is about. At a time when there's a lot of selfishness going on and folks just looking out for themselves, they did the opposite and hearing the distress calls and the scary situation for that mother, they stepped up and they stepped up big time and it wasn't just, adults that did that, it was actually young people that participated in this amazing rescue and actually following the kidnapper, with the child and if we could have the folks, come on forward, and be honored. And so, want and to specifically name them by name.

We have the heroes that are starting off with Ms. Maricela Pacheco, who was the parent that sprung into action. And you I think you're you're you're the superhero of of of this this story. Along were her teenage son, Along with her teenage son, Marco Antonio Pacheco, Trey that's sitting in the car taking care of his baby brother and Micah Francisco Pacheco and calling 911. So thank you young man for your quick thinking and bravery.

We also have our heroes that, and I saw the video. I don't know which one of you held them down, but, but that was that was some good that was some good some good work there. Mister Isaiah Diaz, Gerald Garcia, and Roberto Mejia that are part of our FUSD, Daley Elementary School SEIU Local twenty one, five twenty one family. Thank you guys so much for what you did that day. This This is really a story that could have turned out for the worst, but it didn't because of what you did.

And we just wanted to thank you, from the bottom of our heart, for what you did for the family and the children. I am sure that they are very happy. They were very happy. But thank you guys so much for what you did and if we could have maybe say a few words. Does anybody want to say a few words? Simone?

Don't be shy.

God did not give me a spirit of fear. Beautiful.

I'd like to just thank the board for recognizing what we did. And again, in God we trust, you know what? He put us there in right place, right time. That whole day was just crazy. This is one of those things, you know, you say that you start out your day, it's just another day. It's just another day and until it happens, you know what? You gotta do what you gotta do like I've said before, just take care of the business. Thank you again. Thank you guys.

Well, thank you guys for your bravery and for really stepping up. We really do appreciate that. And I've seen the videos. If you guys need some extra work, I think our sheriff deputies, will be interested in in hiring you, or hiring you for security detail, later down the road. But thank you guys so much. With that, Mr. Chair? Any comments from the board?

Yeah, I just want to say as a citizen, thank you. You did great work.

Great work. With that, I'll make the motion.

Well, we got to go out to the public first. But go ahead, Brian.

Well, I would say, being we have the same name, I'm sure we're cousins, so I think it'd be appropriate if I second it. Any

comments from the public? Yeah, come on up.

I'd like to thank the Pacheco family and first responders and heroes of our community in stepping up when we most need you. I'd like to thank the county board of supervisors for bringing this agenda to the community. And I wanna remind us all how we unite together when it comes to protecting children. No matter what side of the aisle we are on politically, no matter what views we hold religiously, for the most part, we unite together to defend children. We have different opinions about how to do that in many cases, but this is a perfect example of how we can unite as a community. We all want to protect children. We all love good music. We all love good food. We love good weather. We love beautiful places.

We're all people. We are all God's creation. I'm just grateful that we have this moment to acknowledge our heroes and unite together as a community to protect our children. Thank you.

Very well said.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Would like to make a moment to recognize three remarkable individuals from Fresno Unified School District and our SCAU five twenty one chapter. Gerald Garcia, Isaiah Diaz, and Roberto Mahia, you guys probably said their names already, who displayed an extraordinary bravery during a challenging incident by Daley Elementary. These workers confronted a kidnapping attempt with incredible courage, putting their safety on the line to protect the children. Their quick thinking and calm demeanor in a crisis averted to potentially a tragic outcome, demonstrating not only their commitment to our community, but also their selflessness in the face of danger.

Today, we honor them for their bravery, dedication, which serve as an inspiring example for us all. Let us celebrate these heroes and acknowledge their heroic action that reflect the values we hold dear in our organization. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else from the public wish to speak? Okay, I'll bring it back to the board. Is there a motion?

Motion. Second.

All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Carries unanimously. Thank you. Would you come up for a picture?

123. 123. Thank you. Thank you.

Well done. Well done, Luis.

Agenda item number five, proclaim May 2026 as walking works challenge week in the County Of Fresno. Good

morning, Board Hollis McGill, Director of Human Resources. With me is David Joseph and Matthew Wilfong to kick off our Walking Works.

Supervisor Magzi, did you have anything you want to say?

Well, I mean, so yesterday we kicked off WalkingWorks and I led a group of individuals who work for the county around Downtown Fresno and for those of you in the audience who are not aware, just a few 100 yards from where we are is the birthplace of the city of Fresno. A lot of people don't know but the city of Fresno was originally called Greenbush and later was changed to Fresno. And so we went by the exact location where the city was birthed. And then I took people by and we looked at a Renoir. We have one of just a handful of statues that was created by Renoir a long time ago and it is a priceless piece of art that the public can go out and look at and literally put their hands on.

I think we're the only place in the world that has a Renoir on display for the whole world to see and just appreciate. So we spent about twenty five minutes walking around and exploring Downtown Fresno and we got a lot of steps in. We covered over a mile. This week is about health and there are opportunities for us to live a healthy lifestyle, to walk, to ride bikes. This morning I rode 54 miles, got to ride out into the foothills, watch the sun come up and of course by doing these types of things, it lowers our blood pressure.

Now, that being said, we are challenging the County Of Tulare and I'm still very disappointed because when I use my calculations on how many steps 54 miles on a bike is, it is absolutely wrong. So, we need to make some modifications because as we challenge Tulare County, I'm confident that if the right methodologies are used, Fresno County will be number one when it comes to our healthy lifestyle. So with that, I'll turn it over to staff to talk more about our walking works challenge.

Yeah. Good morning, chairman, board of supervisors. My name is Matthew Wilfong. I'm an HR analyst with Department of Human Resources. I wanted to thank you for your continued support of the walking works challenge in this the the tenth year of the challenge. And I'd also like to thank our wellness champions. It's a dedicated committee of employees from across the county that helped me promote wellness in their departments and divisions and with their coworkers. We're excited to bring walking walk WalkingWorks back again and proud to share that it is one of the highest participation wellness challenges that we offer. And like supervisor Magsig mentioned, it is a competition between the County Of Fresno and the County Of Tulare. We like to call it a friendly competition.

That's up for debate. But it's to see who can be the most active. And in addition to that, within the County Of Fresno, county departments compete against each other to see who can have overall participation rate that's the highest and average steps the highest as well. To make this participation more rewarding for employees, we also have number of prizes from both gift card prizes to prizes donated by some of our health and wellness vendors to encourage participation and getting those step counts up. And like you mentioned as well, we have a series of lunchtime walks throughout this week.

Today, we actually are encouraging department heads to lead walks with their departments and staff in the various county locations. But for the rest of the week, we also have official walking works walks that start right here in front of the Hall Of Records just like we had yesterday. So we encourage everybody to join in, get moving, and help us step our way past Tulare. So thank you again for your time and support and your continued commitment to employee wellness. I I did wanna say one more thing too.

I it seems well timed that this is during mental health matters month as well because of the positive impact staying active and walking can have on mental health. So happy to have already been communicating with Susan Holt and the Department of Behavioral Health as well about the challenge and about getting people active for it.

Thank you.

Anybody else? Any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second? Second. All those in favor, say aye. Passes unanimously. Would you come up for a photo and proclamation?

56 miles.

Are you crazy? 54.

54. On a bike. I know.

We now move to item six, adopt resolution recognizing the one hundred and seventieth anniversary of the County of Fresno.

And I'm going to pass this over to Supervisor Magsiek.

So, our actual birthday was in April where the county turned 170 years old and, you know, this is something which, while we're celebrating the nation's two hundred and fiftieth, we have to remember this county's birthday as well. And so 1856 was yesterday, right? Wow. There's so much that has happened since the birth of Fresno County and I look at where we are today and the work that still needs to be done. But one thing that was pretty amazing, when we planted the two hundred and fiftieth tree, we were doing that literally within a few days of the County Of Fresno's birthday.

So I think about our original courthouse, which is still on display out at Millerton Lake, I look at the many things that have happened here in this community, the fact that this county was birthed from Mariposa County. A lot of people don't realize that, but Mariposa is one of the original counties and we are a recipient of some of that land to create this particular county. But we're 6,000 square miles, we're a county that is approaching 1,100,000 people and very diverse and we need to celebrate that diversity. We need to celebrate our agricultural roots. We need to celebrate the fact that the nation relies upon us. So I'm excited to bring this proclamation today and looking forward to all of your support.

Any other comments from the board? Any comments from the public? Okay. Is there a motion?

I'll move for acceptance of this resolution. Second.

Okay. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Passes unanimously. We will move on. There's nobody here for the to accept this?

Well, was Paul.

Okay, Paul. You, Paul.

I'll give it to you, Paul. Here you go, Paul.

I'm just glad we're not the city of Greenbush.

That's good.

Can't tell you.

Next one.

We now move to item seven, adjourn in memory of former Fresno County Supervisor John P. Phil Larson who served with great distinction from 2003 to 2014.

Gentlemen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of Supervisor Mendez and I, we bring this item forward today to honor our good friend, as the clerk said, John, most commonly known as Phil Larson. For me personally, he was obviously the predecessor of mine and he was both a mentor and a friend.

Phil lived in for those who don't know, I'll give a little brief summary here. Phil lived in the Kerman area most of his life and became a leader and a champion for Fresno County agriculture and he was 92 years old when he passed away. He served three terms as a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. He was also the past president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau between 1996 and 1998. He spent thirty eight years of his life in the agricultural products distributor for Wilbur Ellis.

He farmed 40 acres near Kermit. He called his service as a county supervisor his second career and he covered the Western part of Fresno County with honor and dignity. He brought the West Fresno Regional Center to Southwest Fresno to allow residents in Southwest Fresno, where many people don't drive, to have access to benefits and services within walking distance of their neighborhood. He also brought library improvements to Mendota Tranquility and worked with West Hills Community College District in blending the county library with the new Fireball College campus. Bill was a supervisor at a time when our county budget was constrained due to the 2008 recession, yet he strived to make lives better.

In leaving the Board of Supervisors, he said, We are doing things. They're not flashy, but they're serving people. An Ag One scholarship was established in his name in 2014 at the Fresno State Jordan College of Ag Science and Technology. For the people that didn't know Phil, he was kind, he was gentle, he was a family man and he was a man of deep faith. He was married to his wife, Joyce, of sixty eight years and they had two children, Tim and Lisa, which I went to school with.

So I appreciate taking a moment to recognize him for all the great work that he did for the county, not just as a board of supervisor, but in his everyday life. Was also when I was in high school, he was the announcer of our football games for twenty years. So public service has been in his life since he was a young man. So I thank you for the opportunity today. Anything else, Supervisor Mendez?

Yeah, well, I I knew Phil way before he got elected. I want to tell a little story about Phil. Phil was a hard worker. He was a farmer. And I think that when he got elected, the first major holiday, it wasn't a major, but one of the holidays, know, that the county was off, he comes to work, nobody's here.

And security tells him supervisor this is a holiday. Oh, well I'm here ready to work. So you know that's just how Phil was. I mean he was all in with everything he did. I actually had the opportunity to work close with him in 2006 when he was a supervisor during that flood year situation where I came and addressed the board and explained exactly what was going on out there in the field.

And it was kind of an interesting deal. Before that, I guess he had been talking to Gary Serrato, who was the manager of FID. And Gary says, you know, Phil, I don't know all the answers, but I know somebody that knows more than I do. So that's how then Phil goes, oh yeah, I know him. So he calls me up and we have a couple conversations for a while and then I end up coming to a meeting and like I said, Phil was all in and he was, he couldn't ask for a nicer guy. He'd be really missed.

Any other comments from the board? Yes.

I too will miss his mentorship. I can remember traveling into Kerman to meet with him at the McDonald's and he would share his insights into different issues. But getting to work with him on the second iteration of Measure C in the early 2000s and again, both my attempts at Board of Supervisors, he of course poured into me so that's something that I will miss but always appreciate.

Just really briefly, a lot of people don't know, I actually started working in politics here in this chamber. I worked for Susan Anderson back in 2008 and, the very first memory that I had Supervisor Larson was he actually kicked me out of his office. But it's not because I did anything bad. I was there to ask him for support and, he had to take a quick call, he was very professional about his job. And so afterwards, when we were walking out, he said, What'd you want to ask me?

And I asked him, he goes, Yeah. And what I wanted to ask him was ask him for his support and supporting bicycles for foster kids. And he said yes right away and he was very, very helpful in doing that. And so he had this side about him that he was like rough and tumble, but he had a really good heart, especially for kids in our community.

That's great. I didn't really know him, but what I've heard is, you know, what a legacy, tremendous man, tremendous businessman, farmer, great supervisor and has left a tremendous legacy. So I'm glad we're able to honor him today. Did we go out to the public yet? Anybody want to speak to this from the public?

Okay, we'll bring it back. Is there a motion?

I'll make that motion, Mr. Chairman.

All those in favor, aye. Aye. Passes unanimously. I think we're gonna next deal with the pulled item.

We now move to the item pulled from consent. Item number 29, pulled by supervisors Magsig and Pacheco for the Levine Act. From the consent agenda under general services, approve and authorize the chairman to execute an easement deed with Pacific Gas and Electric for new electrical and communication services and the right to maintain utility services at the Reedley Library.

Morning Mr. Chairman, members of board, Ed Hill, your chief operating officer. This item before your board today is the approval of an easement deed with PG and E to provide electrical and communication services to the Reedy Library.

Okay. Any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? Okay. Is there a motion?

So moved.

Second. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Passes unanimously. We can bring these gentlemen back.

Okay. Yeah. Okay.

Item eight, approve and authorize the library to contribute funds for participation in the Fresno Rainbow Pride Festival for fiscal year twenty twenty five to twenty six in compliance with administrative policy number 80 and approve and authorize the library to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month annually for five years or until approval is rescinded by the board in compliance with administrative policy number 81.

Good morning, Sally Gomez, your County Librarian and Director of the library. We have before you a request. The library participates in many awareness items and celebrations throughout the year. Pride month is one of the many. Additionally, the library participates in outreach to promote our services and resources. This is one of the many ways that we reach our diverse communities. So we bring before you item number eight, approve funding to participate in the Rainbow Pride Festival with an outreach booth and to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month.

Okay. So is that your entire presentation?

Yes, but I'm available to answer any questions that you might have.

Okay. What I'm thinking is, I know there are a lot of people to speak on this issue before we go to the board. I think we should let people have their say from the public. I assume there are at least 15 people who want to speak. What we're going to do is we usually allow fifteen minutes per side to speak.

I'm gonna say one minute per person. So we'll have 15 people who can speak to one side and 15 people to speak to the other side, and then we're gonna end the public comment, and I will bring it back to the board for discussion. So what you can do is first let's have the people who support this item. You can line up by the podium. Again, we're gonna allow 15 people, one minute each, and then we'll stop that and have the other side fifteen minute people, 15 people, one minute each. Yeah. And, Sally, if you would just hang in case there are questions or anything. And, clerk, are you prepared on the one minute? Okay. So I'm gonna let

Okay. Ready? Hi. My name is Tracy.

Hang on one second. I wanna just make sure we get this set up. We good? Yeah.

Does my time restart?

Oh, yeah. We're not starting till we get it set up. Okay.

Great. Thank you.

Okay, we got the 15. Okay, go ahead.

So my name is Tracy Cisneros. My pronouns are sheher. I am the volunteer coordinator of Fresno Rainbow Pride. I'm also a disappointed and rather disgusted constituent of supervisor Gary Bredefeld. Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade is attended by approximately 16,000 community members and another 20,000 attend our festival.

It's the largest single day event in the Central Valley. No better way for organizations to provide outreach, visibility, and connection to our community. So because pride strongly believes in the value and necessity of these organizations, we are hereby waiving any fees for participation for any county offices or organizations who wish to participate at our pride parade and festival. And then also Supervisor Butterfeld's vote against the library request, that's predictable. It's fully in line with his years long pattern of targeting the queer and trans community with diverse rhetoric and bully behavior. As for the rest of you, a no vote on the library request is a decision to stand beside him and support his language and his behavior. We're watching and we're all taking note. Thanks. Okay,

I'm gonna.

Good morning. My name is Madison Neal. I am a Fresno County resident and a PFLAG Fresno board member. Supervisor Bredefeld calls our libraries deviant. I call them American. The First Amendment does not protect only comfortable ideas. It protects all of us, including LGBTQ families, from government officials deciding which identities are acceptable for children to learn about. The supervisor frames books about people real people's lives as an agenda, but LGBTQ children exist in this country. They attend our schools. Some may read these library books and for the first time see themselves as reflected back with positivity, and that experience can save their lives.

The real agenda here is erasure using taxpayer funded meetings. This is a waste of time in Mundy. And using taxpayer funded meetings, inflammatory language, and manufactured outrage to make a group of Americans feel unwelcome in their own public institutions. Libraries don't indoctrinate, they illuminate, and no supervisor has the right to dim that light. Please approve item number eight, support our democracy. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Sahasa Wariusem Soxie. I am a student at Fresno State under the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and a local community organizer here, born and raised in the city of Fresno. I'm here in support of item eight. One of the things that black and brown trans elders of the ballroom seem to have passed down to later generations of queer people to learn early on their journey is that reading is fundamental. Reading is not just the act of carelessly insulting others, it is the very act of educating yourself and standing up for yourself to keep and your community safe.

In approving and authorizing item eight, this provides an opportunity for the library and to the extension, the governing body of Fresno County to educate the larger community on the resources that exist and to foster connection and educate yourselves on the diverse intersectional and marginalized communities that have been put down by the systems that exist and to present day. Something I think all of us who have shown up today know that Gary, Nathan, and Buddy have

Thank you.

Hello. Andrew Simpson, Northern Fresno chapter member, Saint James Cathedral carrying our proclamation recognizing pride month. As Christians, we are called for our community to include all Jesus turned away, no one. The Cathedral of Saint James stands in support of item eight. The public library should be a place of knowledge and learning for all, not for the select few who temporarily hold earthly power. Earlier in this meeting, you passed consent agenda approving 24 other celebrations trusting in the experts of our public library administration. This is the only subject you chose to try and exclude from public life after at least six years of library participation. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Drew Harbo. I am the co chair of PFLAG Fresno. I wanted to speak today about your attempts to censor and silence LGBTQ voices at our libraries. Some of you erroneously seem to believe that you can legislate us out of existence, which always kind of makes me chuckle. This book actually proves my point. So I visited my childhood library back in the Deep South last June during Pride Month. That was a space where as a kid, I always looked for books and stories of people like myself. And when I visited, while the librarians at at that library were legally prohibited from having display to celebrate the beauty, diversity, and resilience of our community, everywhere I looked, there was evidence of us. Even in the deepest of the Deep South.

From books on the shelves to in cap displays featuring LGBTQ families and characters to even the Friends of the Library book sale where I bought this book. We have always existed and our families and our people will continue to exist and thrive despite what you may decide today. You can write all the laws you want, prohibit all the celebrations you want, we still exist.

My name is Brooke Payton. My pronouns are she, they. I'm the Tower District Library advocate. I feel the need to state that Pride Month is an officially recognized observance. Public displays and festival participation are protected expressive activities.

A public library having a pride display is constitutionally protected in support of a recognized observance. Library participation in community events like consistent with the library's mission to engage and serve the full community, prohibiting participation specifically because the event affirms LGBTQ plus identity is viewpoint based discrimination. This discrimination violates California law. Sexual orientation and gender identity are protected classes under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act. A public institution restricting programming and displays specifically targeting LGBTQ plus identity constitutes discrimination against protected class.

Hello.

Hi. I'm Mora Ganna. I am a drag queen. I am an activist. I am a substitute teacher. I am part of County District Number 1, and I am here to advocate that libraries are safe spaces. Our part of our queer youth are 30 to 40% in the Central Valley. They need this month, month of mental health awareness month, is very important. So I'm really glad that we talked about this today because mental health issues are extremely important for LGBTQ community, and that's why libraries are safe spaces. They are more than just to go for books.

They are for warmth. They are for our unhoused youth. They are for all people. So please remember, keep libraries safe. If Fresno City College can fly a pride flag, if Fresno State can fly a pride flag, why can we not at the library?

Yeah. Thank

you.

Good morning. I'm just a constituent who happens to be queer. I did not grow up with access to queer representation, and it did not stop me from being queer. But what it did result in was myself and my trans brother being bullied for decades because our community didn't have any resources or language to understand us. Hearing this may make some families uncomfortable.

Some people may not agree with core identities or think that our queer community should only exist in the shadows. I personally hate guns. I have both moral and ethical objections to gun ownership. I believe that using guns to hunt is cowardly and easy, and I believe that using guns against another human is a despicable act. However, I also understand how ridiculous it would be for me to demand that the library never discuss the Second Amendment, remove all books containing gun violence or mention of guns from their shelves, and never tell children about hunting or our past as a country. The library is a public resource, and it is not a place of one interest group to demand the removal of another from that public resource. It contradicts both the first amendment and California state constitution.

Thank you. Good

morning board. My name is Reverend Simon Biasall. I serve a pastor at the Big Red Church in the Tower District. It is my honor that every Sunday our sanctuary is filled with diverse families, families that would identify with members being LGBTQ. I've heard it said that you cannot hate someone whose story you know.

And I believe and I want to believe that no one here woke up today because they wanted to show hate to somebody. But what I do believe is that you probably have not heard the stories that I have heard. The people who are going to speak after this group, I don't know if you've heard the stories of my congregation. The individuals who don't feel like they belong anywhere else in the county except for the Tower District, except for the Big Red Church and other open and affirming churches. Please hear their stories.

Good morning, supervisors. I'm Lady Diana, the founder and CEO of Casita Feliz Latine LGBTQ plus center here in Fresno. Today, our community is facing a defining choice. This vote is not just about books or displays. It's about fundamental human truth. LGBTQ plus families are Fresno families and we deserve to exist with dignity. We will not allow ourselves to be erased. At Casita Feliz, we built our own haven of queer books because we know the lifesaving power of being seen. But it should not take private nonprofits dedicating our own limited personnel hours, community resources, and energy just to maintain the basic visibility that our own tax dollars pay for. We fund our public libraries to represent all of us.

Our hard earned tax dollars shouldn't be used to fund our own erasure. When an LGBTQ youth walks into a Fresno County Library and sees a pride display, it's not about politics, It's a lifeline. It tells them you are seen. Please vote.

Good morning. My name is Alexandra Dela O. I am a Fresno State student, and I am here as a resident of Fresno because I urge you to protect and maintain LGBTQ voices in our local library's collection programs and displays. Libraries have always been cornerstones of intellectual freedom, offering safe, inclusive space for all community members, especially those who've been historically been marginalized. I remember the first time I walked into the library and I saw a Pride Month display, and I remember feeling so warm and so seen just by that. So please allow us to continue seeing those in our libraries.

Good morning. My name is Paige Adington. I am a white female. I live in Clovis. I'm a member of Wesley United Methodist Church. But today I speak as a CASA, court appointed special advocate. I work with the LGBTQ youth at CASA. And my CASA student asked me to speak to you today because the library was her lifeline. She was without parents. She was without family. Now she has CASA. She has a wonderful social worker. But if without a library, she said, I

was

lost. So please do not take the libraries for our LGBTQ students away. Let them go where they feel safe. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Alfred Aldredi. I am and son of the Central Valley, born and raised here, resident of District 3 in Fresno, member and cofounder of the community activist group, Fresno Resistance. I come to you today not only as an ally to my LGBTQ community, but to also defend the basic principle that our public institutions and taxpayer dollars should serve everyone fairly and responsibly. Recently, the actions and rhetoric led by supervisor Bredefield have crossed the line to constitute a direct attack on a protected class that actively contribute to a climate of exclusion and stigmatization.

This is not about politics. This is about whether our county leadership will use its authority to divide or to unite. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has a clear duty to ensure that taxpayer resources uplift all of Fresno County, not subsidize and embolden discrimination against vulnerable communities. Let's be precise about the facts. Measure b and local property taxes exist to support broader community, including the public library.

I am speaking on behalf of the indigenous people on Yokuts Land. We know that this is Yokuts Valley, and we are strong here. My people have been here. Queerness is not new. We've been here since the colonizer, and we will always be here. This is an eraser because when I say you start with the county libraries, what are you gonna do? The institutions? What are you gonna do? Barnes and Noble is gonna stop doing it? Next thing you know, you're gonna start arresting people for writing queer books in queer spaces. What's next? Passage agenda? We've seen this in history before. We've seen it with communism. We've seen it with our people force assimilation, our boarding schools.

You can never erase queer history because queer history is American history. And if you erase indigenous queer history, then you're erasing the history that you choose not to have. And we are not as indigenous people. We do not force assimilate, and we do not convert. That comes from the colonizer and comes from the people that always wanna cancel culture. It's not our community that does that. It is the community that always wants to force and assimilate and I will never assimilate. This is Yokuts Lam.

Good morning, counsel. I am here to state that the banning these books in any way, shape, or form would be a would be a direct violation of the First Amendment as they constitute free speech. They are public libraries. I believe that it would be hypocritical to do so because there are how many books that have violence, how many books that has have other inappropriate content in them. I don't see you complaining about that.

But furthermore, I would like to direct the public's attention that I believe that limiting public comment to 15 is in direct violation of California government code five four nine four five four nine five four point three section c, which states that the legislative body of a local agency shall not prohibit public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs, or services of the agency. With that said, I would like to request that time be extended as we have a lot of people here.

Thank you. Thank you for the comments. The next we'll have the next 15 people on the other side, if you would line up. Let me just make sure we get the fifteen first. Are we good there?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Okay. Please.

Good morning, supervisors. Hi. I heard about erasing people, banning books. All I know is I don't want my tax dollars going to an ideology. We pay taxes here. As you can see, there's one side. It's it's amazing that this is mental health month because you seen you you heard from a clown. You heard from a lot of different things, but my tax dollars don't need to go to fund this. June is when school gets out. That's when my son starts going to the library on a regular occasion.

And again, if you wanna, I don't know, do you wanna make something for a Christian month or something else? We need to stop dividing. We need to stop doing special things for one group. We just need to again, I want my tax dollars to fund things that actually betters our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, supervisors. Public libraries are to serve all people, not just a select few.

Excuse me. You're gonna be asked to leave if you can't control yourself.

I believe our Fresno County Public Library should reflect the perspectives and beliefs of the majority of its patrons. Approximately 69% of Fresno County residents identify as Christian. That equates to approximately 759,000 people. In Fresno County, approximately 23% of residents identify as LGBTQ. So I respectfully ask the board, since there are three times the number of Christians here, is the library gonna have a Christian month every year for the next five years? Why stop with this demographic?

Like early. Hold on.

Will there be a Veterans Month? It's Hold time

on. You're out.

Will there be a Veterans Month? It's time to stop picking winners and losers. Please vote no on agenda item eight. Thank you.

My name is Bill Scott. I want to begin by telling you I had two brothers who were gay. I loved them dearly. I never thought they should be punished but anyone who harmed them should be punished. However, homosexuality is a sin. There's no argument against that. The words gay pride are two of the seven deadly sins. They're not something that should be presented to children as a positive goal. And why the library? Because children are there.

If you want to celebrate gay pride, run a banquet hall, have a great party, but don't try to rub my nose in your sin and leave our kids out of it. Finally, I volunteer with two groups where I work with children. Both groups have me take child protective classes required by the state. One of the lessons is about grooming. I'm required by law to report any time I hear examples of grooming. This celebration of immoral sexual behavior fits the state's description of grooming. The biggest red flag is telling any child, let's keep this between us. We won't tell your parents. Vote no on on this. Thank you.

Good morning, chairman Bredefeld, members of the board. My name is Diane Pierce, and I serve the city of Clovis as mayor pro tem. I would like to thank you for taking up these issues today. Unfortunately, Fresno County Libraries have turned from a simple mission of information into one of indoctrination. A library simple focus should be on books and a safe place to enjoy them.

What does participating in the gay pride parade and gay pride displays in the library have to do with providing reading opportunities? Citizens, gay, straight, and otherwise, all have equal access to our libraries. These items stray into inappropriate and unwelcome advocacy. Please vote no on these items and remind the staff of the Fresno County Libraries that they are there to serve all residents, not promote the agenda of a few. Thank you.

Thank you.

My name is Dennis McCord. Thank you to the County Board of Supervisors for this opportunity to urge you without apology to reject and vote no on this agenda item using my tax dollars to promote a political agenda and a particular lifestyle of which I find to be sinful. As a Christian evangelist, my role is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, that he died for your sins, for my sins, for the sins of the whole world. He rose from the dead. He's coming back to judge the living and the dead.

We will all be held accountable for our lifestyles and the choices that we make. We affirm all people, not all lifestyles. I join in with the governor and with my fellow citizens on the other side of this issue with regards to banning books. We all agree we should ban books. Everyone in this room agrees there are certain books that should not be allowed into the library. It's a matter of where do you draw the line. Well, for many of us, I believe most of us in this community, the line has been crossed. Okay. And we need to

Thank you.

Vote no on this, please. Thank you. Thank you.

Fred Vanderhoof. I was a school teacher in fourth and sixth grade for thirty years, and that's about a thousand students in that in in my tenure. I just noticed that in the last fifteen years, the school libraries have increasingly dark themes in their books and it was very concerning to me and my colleagues. And now we have video games, of course, that are not just violent but sadistic violence that our young children are getting into, young children even five, six, seven years old. So I think it's educational malpractice to to teach these types of dark and sexual themes and sadistic violence and some of the books that would be available if this goes through.

So I just appeal to the board to protect our children. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi. My name is David Borchardt. I'm here to ask you to vote no for this resolution. My feelings are that the libraries are a neutral area for all people, homosexuals, all all sexualities, and it shouldn't be promoting one over another. And a whole month of money spent to promote one ideology is a bad idea and should be completely neutral and should vote no. Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning. Jay Smith, US vet, served this country for almost thirty years. I got three bullet points. Individual freedoms and legal standards. There is no legal prohibition against being homosexual, transgender, bisexual, whatever the case. However, personal identity and sexual orientation are distinct from the specific legal frameworks of historical context of Civil Rights Act, Black History Month, and or indigenous native American peoples too. Basically, you can't compare the two LGBTQ against Black History Month. They don't they don't fit. Protection of minors. Laws strictly prohibit any sexual relations or sexual conduct involving children because minors are not mentally or developmentally mature.

Any such contact is illegal and classified as a serious offense. Point three, public conduct. Sexual exhibition exhibitionism or sexual acts performed by adults in public settings, especially in the presence of children remain illegal and subject to law enforcement protection. Okay. Please, let's not do this. But we do include.

Thank you. Cindy. Go ahead, Cindy.

Hi. I don't support this agenda item. I encourage you to vote no for the following reasons. I don't believe this is the role of a public library. I've been a taxpayer here for forty seven years and I pay for the library services and staff. And I know many everyone here in the room who pays taxes does that on both sides. I realize that. I believe it is a family's role to educate children in these matters library. I respect people's personal beliefs and what they do in their home, but I also want that same respect for my beliefs and for my grandchildren when I take them to the library. I don't necessarily want those books up front because then they ask me questions and that's fine.

I'm willing to tell them how to how I believe and what I believe, but it's just, it's not right to just have it in their face all the time. A lot of small children go to the library as well as teenagers. Thank you.

Thank you, Cindy.

Good morning, board. My name is Brent Berdyne. And it's my understanding the issue with item eight is should the county be spending taxpayer dollars in a community event? And should the county have a county office, county representation participating in a county event? And as a taxpayer, I urge you to vote no. I don't believe that taxpayers' money should be involved nor should the county representation be involved in any community events unless it's a county sponsored event. Thank

you. Thank you.

Good morning. As a mother of four young boys, I spend a great deal of time reading children's literature with my family. Books such as The Giving Tree, Goodnight Moon, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar are more than beloved stories. They help shape the moral and emotional development of young children. They teach patience, kindness, gratitude, self control, and the natural process of growth and maturity.

My first grade son, Joseph, has recently become interested in reading in a wide variety of books. We spend a lot of time at the library. If Pride Month related displays or materials are formally implemented in public spaces directed specifically toward children, it would impact our experience, the experience of many Fresno County families. However, many families believe that parents should remain the primary role in guiding their children through complex moral, cultural, and personal topics

and that they

are introduced to their children. As illustrated in Anthony's favorite book, The Good.

Thank you, Molly. Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for standing for the faith that we are proclaiming in this country. I didn't prepare anything. I'm not here to disrespect anybody. I am a Catholic woman who loves her family and stays home.

And I do feel very uncomfortable taking my children to the library during the month of June. I avoid it because I do not wanna explain things to my kids that are in my face, just like I do not like to impose my faith into anybody. I tell my kids what I do know best is to pray for them so God can guide us all to see him one day because we are all going to serve and we're all going to see Him one day. And my soul is more important than my life. So I pray for everybody in here and like I told some people, let the Holy Spirit speak to you. I do not agree that talking about sex to children, it is okay. It is pornography, and I disagree with that. And I'll stand for that, and I pray that you guys vote against it.

Thank Thank you. And with that with that, we'll close the public portion. I'm gonna bring it back to the board for comments. Council member Shah? No. Council Member Sharpe. I mean,

about Why are you demoting me? Sorry. You. And thank you to everybody that spoke. I listened to what you had to say. And I think what upsets me a little bit and bothers me is that we need to keep this conversation for what it is. And it's about people, it's about our community. And it's no secret. I support our LGBTQ community. I've been a sponsor at the parade for the last couple of years.

I will be there this year in my official capacity with my county logo to support the Pride Parade. But I also feel that our libraries belong to everybody, not just one single group. Earlier, the phrase was used that we pay our taxpayer dollars. Well, guess what? LGBT folks pay taxes too, and they end up paying a lot of the cost for personnel, the cost for the facilities.

And by the way, they pay the cost for the salaries of every single one of us up here as well too. And so they that right to share that library. But what has bothered me was the rhetoric that I've seen online. And I got a number of emails and text messages from folks that really dehumanize people that are different, people that are still part of our community and are part of our families, part of our close friends. I do believe with the statement the gentleman made that Fresno history does have queer history.

They've been here. And not just because you read a book or got a bookmarker or saw a poster, I believe our folks are born that way. It's not a choice that you make. God makes people a certain way. I am certainly not gonna support banning books, censoring them, hiding them, or placing them in the closet of the back of a library with the illusion that if we do that somehow gay folks are gonna disappear from our community. They're not. They're here. They've been here. And I'm gonna speak me as a supervisor. I support you.

I love you. I love you that you're part of our community. Thank you for being you. Now I wanna get to the part that's important for me, as well. Our employees have taken so much personal attacks recently. Our librarians, and I wanna speak to our librarians directly. You have done nothing wrong. You have a responsibility to do your job and you have been doing your job. And I want you to know that there are certain protections that you have for passing out information, for providing library materials to people that come up and ask you for that material. You have done nothing wrong and there are protections that you have.

I also wanna make clear that Fresno County is not gonna be banning any books in the library. That is specifically prohibited by law. And at this moment, I wanna actually submit an official request. I had our legal counsel prepare a legal opinion that outlines exactly what those parameters are so that there's no confusion and that people don't have this misnomer that we're gonna somehow erase the history of people that have been in our community. And so I wanna submit that as a request, mister chair.

There's been a public available legal opinion that our folks have done just so we can disseminate that to the community so that they know exactly what our parameters are because I the undertones that I've seen from our librarians getting specific threats. And to the people making those threats, those threats are going to be forwarded to law enforcement and they're going to be followed up. I don't think it's acceptable for people to be subjected to that. The last thing I wanna say is as we're having these conversations and this seems to be a yearly tradition here, I want folks to keep in mind that we're all human beings. We're all human beings and we're all part of Fresno.

And when we engage in conversations about a policy difference or as somebody phrased it, a lifestyle difference, I want us to keep that perspective. And I really appreciated the words that the pastor from the Big Red Church, mentioned earlier. Just hear people's stories. I think that's exactly how we transcend a lot of the misnomers, a lot of the misinformation, a lot of what's really truly in somebody's heart. Get to know them, get to listen to their stories.

And I think you'll find that we have a lot more in common than different. So with that, I'm gonna be supportive of the request that our librarian made today. I do think there's value in our library attending these events and making sure that folks have access to our library services. They pay taxes. They also participate in our community. And thank you to Sally and your team for doing what you do. With that, Mr. Chair, I would like to make a motion to approve the request from staff.

Would you like to speak?

Yeah. I've got a couple of questions. So, I appreciate Supervisor Chavez, your comments and I do agree that we serve again one. 1,000,000 people approaching that throughout the entire county but I do have some questions for for Sally, some some general questions I wanna ask And it comes down to, we need to support the people that we represent, but there is a fine line between support and advocacy. So, Sally, can you talk to me about other events that the library has participated in, parades, where you have gone out to participate? Can you talk about some of those, please?

Yeah, excuse me. So, some of our larger reaching events have included the Zubu outreach, that's by far our largest event that we participate in. The City of Fresno Park Trunk or Treat is another event that reaches a lot of audience. The Young Arthur's Fair Stone Soup Fresno Open House Kingsburg Downtown event, UMatter Day, we do a Spring Fest. These items that we've done in the past.

Spring Fest at Einstein Park, in addition to the Rainbow Pride event, West Fresno Family Resource Center Summit of Hope, Grizzlies Community Partner Night, Clovis Farmers Market Back to School Edition, Goveganza Job Fair, Big Sandy Rancheria, Annual Pow Wow, Fresno Art Museum Family Day, Selma Raisin Festival, Women's Empowerment Fresno Parole Complex Outreach, Big Sandy Rancheria, Annual Pow Wow, Fresno State Library Card Sign Up Month, Arte Americas Poetry Contest Outreach, in addition to a number of schools throughout the county. These are just kind of our biggest reaching events, but we have others that we've done. And this goes back just a year from now, so.

And so like we just had Clovis or Big Hat Days in Clovis. And so was that something that the library participated in? Because I think that may be the largest or one of the largest single day, multi day events that bring people out.

Absolutely. So the way that we have been participating in outreach up and through now is by invitation. So we have a form on our website, it's contact the library, invite us to your event. And so all of these events are events that we've been invited to. The only outreach that we do that is not through an invitation is school outreaches.

Those are through partnerships. It's part of our education and literacy services. So a lot of that is, the contact is made from the staff to the school or sometimes the school invites us. It's a combination of both. But all of our other events, we don't have enough, unfortunately, staff and resources to do like cold calls or to go to events that we're not invited for. We get so many requests that we can barely manage all the invitations that we get. So primarily they're all by invitation, but we're certainly happy to welcome any of those invitations as well and add them to our calendar given time and resources.

Would there be an invitation that you would turn down?

So

far, we haven't received anything in my immediate memory that we would have turned down. Most of the times we don't attend events is because we either don't have enough staff to manage the outreach event or sometimes the request comes in too close to the event date and we don't have enough time to process the paperwork to be able to have a booth there. So those are the reasons why we typically are not able to participate. Certainly, outside of our out of our policies for things like our meeting room, so we wouldn't go to like a political activity and do an outreach booth. We wouldn't go to something that would have a cost, like somebody to make money, like a, I don't know, a Tupperware selling event or something like that.

So we prohibit people from using our meeting rooms to profit, so we would in turn do something similar. Some of these events do have a cost to enter, like the Fresno Fair or something like that, but in general. Most of our requests are usually community related events.

And again, mentioned that we don't want to participate where maybe an entity or organization is profiting or making money. Did I hear that right?

If the sole purpose of the booths So we would go to like a farmer's market because people where people sell items, but it's more of a community related event. The Fresno Fair would be another example. There's a lot of things there that pretty much everything there is to sell and make funds. Those type of events, we don't usually I mean, I think the reason we don't get invitations is because most people that are going to the fair or to something like that, they're going for the carnival for the fun. We have done that in the long past, and usually people just walk right by because they don't want to stop and get a library card while they're making a beeline for the cotton candy booth.

So that's the reason, for the most part, that we don't probably participate in those. But I don't know if I answered your question.

Kind So

what I

heard I don't want put words in your mouth. What I heard is basically you don't turn down requests. Anybody who requests, you'll process that. But there are some events you don't go into based upon, you know, do you have enough staff? And then some requests come in a little late and so you're not able to participate. The reason I'm asking some of these questions is you also indicated that there's more requests than basically what you can kind of sustain. I look to like the mission and the vision of the library and I don't wanna put words in what the mission are, but I believe the mission is to enrich lives and build community. That sound about right?

That sounds right.

And then the, you know, community enrichment, educational support, equitable access, customer focus. That's the goal of the library. And the vision is to be recognized as a premier resource for education, information and a cornerstone of family, culture and civic life in Fresno County. Is that correct? Yes.

Roughly? For the vision. So, I'm asking these questions because I believe as a supervisor whenever any of our departments are looking at what to participate in, they need to be looking through the lens of their mission as well as their vision that they have. And they also need to be looking through the lens of what mission has the Board of Supervisors set, you know, for the whole county. And looking at the mission and vision, I do believe that that's the case.

But hearing the answer that you'll pretty much attend anything, you know, any request that comes in, I would assume there are some requests that aren't in alignment with what the County wants to promote. And so there has to be a methodology where we reject and don't go to certain things. So the reason I brought up Big Hat Days, you know, as well as Clovis Fest is those are, if part of our methodology is we want to get the most bang for our buck, wherever there are the most people, that's where we want to be to promote the library. I mean, I can support those types of things. So for me as one supervisor, those are things that I'm looking for.

We represent all people. We have limited resources here and so we don't want to spread ourselves too thin. So those are just a couple of general questions that I have. I'd like to hear what my other colleagues have to say and I may reserve a few more comments that I have as well.

Brian, do you have comments?

Sure, I'll go next. I appreciate both of my colleagues' comments. I think Supervisor Chavez, words were very heartfelt. You have a consistent record of that and I would frankly expect that and appreciate your viewpoint. As do you, Mr. Chairman. You're pretty consistent. You don't hide it and you do what you feel is best for your community. I don't always agree with that, but I respect you for that. And Supervisor Magsig, you definitely know how to split the baby.

I'll tell you that. You can find both sides. You're very good at that. You try to be objective and I always appreciate your comments. For me, this is one of those divisive issues that in the public realm for me doesn't really have to be divisive.

I personally believe we should respect everyone. We don't all have the same viewpoints. As many of the parents stated, It's their job to raise the kids, not ours. And I wholeheartedly believe that, but I believe we have to provide access for everyone. And Sally, I appreciate your comments.

Supervisor Magsig, I like how you went, what do we do and don't do and we pretty much do everything when requested. And if there's something that you would have question on and you'd reach out to Paul and now it would come to us. But I'd like to be a little more clear and to as like Supervisor Chavez said, we have two items before us today. We are not here discussing the banning of books or any of that thing. So however that gets out through social media, that's just wrong.

That's wrong. We have two items here. Item number one is to approve and authorize the library to contribute funds to participate in the Fresno Rainbow Pride Festival for fiscal year 2526 with administrative policy number 80 that you supervisor created. So, that's item one. To me, I don't even know if that's an item anymore because I believe one of the speakers said they're waiving all the fees.

So, there's no more yeah, unless in addition to funds, now we're going to go to the second part is to recognize and celebrate. Well, okay, for me, that's inside the library, but are we going to prohibit the library from participating in this event like they do all the other events? And that's to me what it really comes down to. So, we can put everything else aside and we have two items here. So, funds, no longer an issue, but are we going to allow them to participate in that community event?

And number two, are we going to allow them to have a display inside the library? Now, terms of the display, I think a lot of people brought up some good points. It's a protected class and different things. I would like to ask County Council, what is our role in that? Do we have a role in that? Or has that already been decided for us? Because then we could end a lot of this animosity among everyone if we don't have a choice in that. So I would like, if it's all right, Mr. Chair. Of course. Is that okay? Supervisor Chavez said he referenced some public document. I've not seen that. I don't know what it is. I would like County Counsel if you could weigh in on this, please, and tell us, are we allowed to do anything on here or hands off?

First of all, yes. As Member Chavez said, we have prepared a public version of a legal memo addressing mainly the issues about what goes on in the library, but then what's not regulated by state law. Actually, are federal court decisions that said, but for state law, you could regulate books in the library. But California law protects libraries and allows them to control what books are in the library. The board has no role in that other than if it crosses into obscenity or what's appropriate in a children's section, that kind of thing.

State law said it's up to the library to control displays of library materials. So, where the books go, anything that's deemed a library material. If it goes beyond library materials, for example, a mug with an image on it, that could be regulated. And it lays out the various classes of people and issues that are protected and the board cannot interfere with that. The bottom line though is that the item that's before the board today, state law does not address.

And so the board does have discretion whether or not to approve participation and funding of the parade and celebrations. So the actual item on the agenda today, state law does not address and you have discretion to approve or not. But what about item number two that says authorize the library to recognize and celebrate? That's item two. It would depend on what's actually happening.

If it's displays of library materials, books, the board cannot regulate that. If it were throwing parties and putting up maybe celebratory posters, then that could be regulated. It depends on whether what is being displayed is deemed a library material. So, again, for me, let's be clear. The library has the ability to put a display in the library. Of books and of So, the library they can display any book that they want in the library? Yes. That's up to the library under state

law.

And the board has no authorization over that? That's correct. Okay. So, to item two, approve and authorize the library to recognize and celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month annually. What's the ruling on that?

The board can approve that or not, but regardless of the board's action, the library can still display library materials the way they want to. Okay. So, we're basically today under item two, we're going to say if they are allowed to participate in the festival parade or not, Essentially and anything that occurs in the library as far as a celebration that goes beyond displays of library materials. Okay. Mr. Chairman.

Yeah, you, Supervisor Pacheco. Just want to

Want to get

to the

heart of it. Still going because this is basically about item one and item two. The rest is just hyperbola. Yeah. Okay. So item two, I mean, Supervisor Pacheco covered item one pretty well. Okay, item two. Now, right now, do you recognize any months in the library?

Yep. Do. How are they? Let me grab those for you because I have a So our month long celebrations, these are just the ones that we've submitted or intend to submit since AP eighty one took effect. So we have a couple of weeks. Those are Money Smart Week, National Children's Book Week, National Library Week, and Preservation Week.

We're talking months.

Months. Okay, so months are Arab American Heritage Month, Autism Acceptance Month, Caribbean American Heritage Month, Celiac Awareness Month, Disability Pride Month, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Awareness Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Irish American Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, LGBTQ Pride, Mental Illness Awareness Month, National Library Card Sign Up Month, National Pet Month, National Poetry Month, Parkinson's Awareness Month. And longer than that is we have Passover because that's a seasonal much like Christmas and that one is one that we have submitted for approval. So those are in the last year, all the months and awarenesses that we have submitted for AP 81 approval.

I just want to make the record clear here what you're doing.

Okay. So when I first arrived, and I do have some questions for you, at the county in January 2025, we immediately removed all the DEI diversity, equity, inclusion language in the county's hiring practices. Now that woke nonsense was discriminatory and actually was against federal law. Last year, we had the director of public health use $6,000 of taxpayer money to purchase rainbow condoms and lube to hand out at the gay pride parade in June, which is one of the biggest wastes of taxpayer monies I've seen in some time. That was immediately put to a halt and that's not gonna happen again.

In fact, the new director of public health will be coming before this board next week asking to hand out only medical information, no condoms, no lube, to participate in the gay pride parade. Now I see that as an appropriate role of public health and I'm gonna support that at our next board meeting. Unfortunately, we're here again having to deal with another county department, the library now, that rather than serve all members of the community in an unbiased fashion, has chosen to become advocates and promote a political agenda that many people don't support. Now this has become evident with my receiving numerous phone calls and emails from concerned residents over the last several months about what's transpiring in our libraries, as well as the interaction between our local libraries and the schools they visit. Most recently, I received the following letter from a concerned resident.

I'll just share a brief portion. It says, Dear Gary, thank you for calling about my concerns with the Fresno County Public Library. As discussed, the enclosed bookmark was given to my daughter, a student at the school. She's 13 years old. A woman named something, I'm not going to say who it was, visited the seventh grade English class to give a presentation. She handed out bookmarks to each student individually. Many other children received this specific bookmark. It's abhorrent that the Fresno County is using tax dollars to target children suggesting reading materials with sexual, homosexual, and transgender content. Now, this is what was given to her. It's called Anthologies for Teens.

And three of the books one of the books says title is Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed. The other one is Out Now. And the third one is Growing Up Trans. Now, this woman is very concerned about receiving something like this to her 12 or 13 year old child. Are you concerned that this is what you're handing out?

I am confident in our staff's ability to promote the library. I know that the materials that we provide are not for everybody. There are marketing materials just to highlight various services and resources. We have quite a number more of those types of bookmarks in various genres, including sci fi, history. This is the one that's particular was chosen.

We realize that that's not for everybody, but we also know that we have a lot of students who might be interested or want to, as somebody said earlier, just have a relatable somewhere, something that they can see themselves and feel like they're understood or recognized. I'm not sure if that answers your question.

Well, it does answer the question, but not the way I like because you're giving the rhetoric of the LGBT community. The fact is there are plenty of children who are not trans, who are not gay, and they're being exposed to this. And I don't think it's right that they are. They're young. If you keep it up, you'll be asked to leave.

Everybody was quiet while you talked. The fact is these are young, impressionable kids. And giving wild tongues can't be tamed and out now and growing up trans seems like a very inappropriate thing to hand out to children who are not trans, who are not gay, who are not asking for this material. And the fact that you can't see it or express that it's a problem is a problem for me with you. So I think there is a real agenda. And my question then after this was, what other bookmarks are you handing out? So my staff did a little research. There are 23 of these kinds of bookmarks that you hand out. This one's anthology for teens. You have others called romances.

You have others for fiction, nonfiction. And what we found is that out of the 23 different bookmarks being handed out with various topics such as romance novels for teens, contemporary fiction, books to film adaptations, graphic novels for teens, each bookmark contains about 10 different recommended books on that topic. It sounds harmless enough until you review the actual books that you are recommending. More than half of the list, there's 236 books out of these 23 bookmarks. More than half, 131 out of the 236 books, 56% includes at least LGBT themes, transgenderism, and other kinds of things.

That's 56% of the books on these bookmarks that you're handing out involve those themes. Are you troubled at all by that?

I would look at those titles myself. We are actually, after we received that communication from your office, we started looking at them ourselves because these are bookmarks that we've had in our collection, in our marketing collection for quite some time, created over a period of years. So as a result of your inquiry, we started looking. We haven't had time to go through every single one because we want to verify that we have the same information that you have before we can address that.

Susie, did you know this was being done?

Yes. We

You knew that 56% of the books you were recommending were transgenderism and LGBT. You knew that.

No. No. That's what I'm saying is these have been in our resources for a time. They are created by the staff members as giveaways or what have you for different things that they to put in the branches or what have And they've been you know, they're in our collection. Staff can request them at any time if they wanna do an outreach or

what have you. So the majority of your books bookmarks involve these themes, whether it's past or present.

And I don't have the entire list. I have not been able to go through the entire list.

Well, you should have gone through the list and you ought to know what's being handed out. Are these being handed out to 10 year olds, nine year olds, eight year olds? No. How do you know?

Because we have a collection of bookmarks for first through sixth through middle school that are specific to that age group.

Yeah. Do they have any LGBT?

No, they don't. Are you sure of

that?

I've looked through those ones already.

Okay. But you didn't look through the young teens?

Not yet. I haven't gotten that far. Okay.

So 17 out of the 23 bookmarks have LGBT themes. That's 74%. I don't think you can suggest that there isn't advocacy and agenda here when you've got that kind of number. Can you?

I wouldn't call it advocacy or an agenda. I think it's representation for the students that are

How about the representation for students who don't want to be a part of that? If you applaud, you're going be asked to leave.

We do have books for those people as well.

That's 74% of your books. 74% involve these LGBT themes.

Of our entire collection.

Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Without question, in my opinion, there's a clear agenda that the library is promoting LGBTQ issues to the young and impressionable children, and that's clearly unacceptable to me and many of my constituents and many of the constituents throughout the entire county of Fresno. I would venture to say that most, if not a super majority, disagree with what's going on in the library.

The library should be a safe and welcoming environment for everyone who simply wanna come, read literature, do research, find information, and explore the world through books, just like you did as a young girl, just like I did as a boy. No one should have to be welcomed into a library with pride flags, having a library story time with drag queens, books that promote transgenderism, or that there are more than two genders. By the way, there's only two genders. That men can get pregnant. They can't.

Or that having boys and girls sports is a good thing and acceptable because it's not. Nor should they be indoctrinated to thinking it's normal or courageous to wanna be the other sex, transgender, or have your genitals removed. It's not normal. It's a mental disorder called gender dysphoria. It's not courageous. It's something that should be treated and shouldn't be promoted. It should be treated by mental health professionals. I hope you understand that. Now, I've heard the false argument that the denial of allowing gay pride celebration in the library is about banning books. That is total bullshit. It's been evidenced here. Nobody's banning. That's total bullshit. Nothing's being banned. No books are being banned.

That's another false argument to cloud the issue. Every book on LGBTQ is remaining in the library and can be accessed by anyone who wants to read them or see them. And I would never support banning them. But they don't need to be promoted either and they shouldn't be. Now the library is asking the county to officially approve participating in the Pride Parade. While they're eager to do this, I don't see that same energy or official endorsement for events that actually bring our community together. And you said you only do this when you're invited. But as supervisor Magsie was pointing out, you don't attend the Fresno Mardi Gras parade. Fres, yes, vintage days, Clovis Rodeo, big hat days, Kingsburg, Swedish Festival, Scotch Scottish Highlands. You shouldn't need to be invited.

You should be actively engaging the community, the entire community. Greek vet. Next one I hear is gonna be asked to be removed. Greeks that sign. Okay. Out. Out.

Who's the fuck? Out.

Taco truck. Taco truck throw down. You don't attend Veterans Day parade, Christmas parade, the Hmong New Year celebration. Let's be honest. This is a choice. This is our public library choosing not to engage with most of the county and instead aligning it with a political ideology and lifestyle movement which involves indoctrinating our kids. When public institutions start choosing sides and are not engaging with the entire community, trust doesn't just fade, it shatters. Parents are pulling back. And with Measure B being voted on in 2028, we're being asked right now to lock the library into five years of LGBT activism. I said, hell no.

Taxpayers are asking hard questions about where their money's really going, and the answers are not good. And you're not helping Measure B gonna be passed. We need Measure B. But as people understand what you're doing, I have a feeling we're gonna have a problem in 2028. And I think this board may have to look at privatizing the library in light of what's going on.

Now in what ways in what ways is the library working to ensure that it reflects the full range of community perspectives, especially when asking taxpayers to fund programs and initiatives? Why are you highlighting and promoting participation in the Pride Parade while not similarly recognized in support of other major community events and parades in town? It's a shame the library is focused on Pride in June, has not yet submitted anything in order to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation in July. Haven't seen anything about that. Nor is it requested to attend so many events throughout our county that actually unite and bring people together.

It raises an even larger question that the public deserves an answer to. What criteria or guidelines are being used to determine which events the library promotes other than being asked? And how's the library ensuring that these decisions reflect a balanced and inclusive approach for the entire community? Our libraries belong to all of us. They should be about books, learning, and bringing families together.

It should never be about promoting a political agenda or indoctrinating young, innocent, and very impressionable children to accept a lifestyle or political agenda they have absolutely no business promoting. It's time to get back to basics. It's time to put our kids and every family first. It's time to recommit to what libraries were always meant to be, safe, neutral, welcoming places for everyone, and in particular, young and impressionable children eager to learn and explore the wonder and world of literature. And with that, I would like to make a motion to deny you celebrating gay pride in the month of June and deny your request to attend the gay pride parade whether or not there's a $125 or not.

That's my motion.

I'll second that, Jared. Oh,

I'm sorry. Go ahead. Well, let I wanna

ask motion. There was a second. Go ahead. Sally, first of all, I don't think you're doing anything wrong. I think you're doing your job, and I think you're doing a great job. Thank you. I just wanna recognize that.

And

and in the and in the spirit of full transparency, because I saw when you took out the markers and the markers that, the chair pulled out, I had this conversation with our staff. What was not disclosed was that we have those same markers that actually identify Christian literature that are also passed out to our community. So when we're being inclusive, let's talk about being inclusive for the whole community, which I don't have a problem with that. Right? You hand that over to somebody that happens to be Buddhist or Jewish. Are they gonna get offended? Are we gonna have to ban those markers now because somebody complained? Or an atheist. Right? They don't believe in in in anything, and they want they're offended by that.

I don't think we should be in the space of as board members singling out one single group or another. And if we're gonna go down this path of denying the library participating to for our LGBTQ, I wanna know exactly what the legal criteria is for reaching that that that consensus, legal counsel. What is the process? We don't have a process right now, a clear criteria on what outlines our determination for not allowing the library to a certain event.

It's the board discretion at this point.

And and that's the problem because it's subjective. And we're gonna get challenged legally, we'll probably end up losing because we're discriminated against single group out there. Here's what I'll I'll I'll close by saying. If we're gonna really talk about the library belonging to everybody, as a self abated nerd that spent many, many summers in our library, I want our library to be a little bit controversial. I think we're now in the space where our kids are subjected to a lot of, I'm gonna quote my chair, bullshit that goes on on social media

Go out.

That our kids are are fed every single day. So we're really concerned about our kids. We should probably not give them cell phones and not let them be on social media. Right? True. If you see a book and as a parent, don't want your child to read, don't open the book. Don't go over there and grab the book. Buy them or rent them something else that's different. Right? And so we have now these conversations that I think the undertones have been that we're trying to demonize or vilify people. I don't want us to have that conversation because at the end of the day, we're all presidents. We're all trying to get to the same place. I'm actually open, mister chair, to having a conversation about what is age appropriate. I don't think a five year old should be reading a heterosexual book like 50 shades of gray. Right?

It shouldn't just be constrained to to homosexual folks. Right? And so if we're gonna have that conversation, I do agree, Sally, there needs to be discretion on what's age appropriate for five year olds, and I think you're going down that route already. You mentioned that k through six has one certain group of markers. Right? Middle school, high school. And if there's honestly, if there's a 13 year old looking for a subject matter, I think it's probably for a good reason that they're looking for that subject matter. And I don't think we should be stopping that. But mister chair, I just wanted to to to to say those words just in the spirit of full transparency and making sure that folks know that we're not just promoting one single group. We're promoting Christian literature. We're promoting a number of other subjects. And I think that's how it should be because the library should belong to everybody. A

point of order. Point of order. So there was a motion on the floor. It wasn't seconded. As I recall, I made a motion. It was seconded. Where do we go from here?

The original motion was to approve the item. I did not hear a second, but I don't think there was a call for a second either.

Okay.

So we might revisit that first.

I'll make the motion to approve our staff recommendation to there's a second.

Either way, it's the same thing. So I'll second that motion then.

Okay. Then we have to Okay. All Alright. All those in favor, say aye. You gotta you gotta I'm sorry. Did you By

which motion?

Oh, it was this we're voting on By Chavez's motion. To approve the item.

To approve the item.

The item. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? No. Nay. K. I'd like to make a motion to reject both of what the library is requesting. No gay pride month celebration in the library and not attending the gay pride parade. That's my motion.

But, mister chair, they can still have the books in the library.

Correct? There's no books being banned.

Okay. I just wanna I just wanna

make sure that we're clear about that. I would caution her to use good judgment. I don't think it's been well, I think it's been said. We know where we all stand.

Mister chair, along that line, it'll be helpful to get direction on board consensus of release of the legal memo that addresses those issues too.

Yeah. I don't think anybody has a problem releasing that.

Okay. Yep. I have no issue.

That's so that's my motion.

I'll second your motion.

All those in favor, aye. Aye. Those opposed. Nay. Okay, Pat, motion passes. We'll move on. Thank you.

We now move to item number nine, board committee reports and comments.

I'm surprised your flight's not out here.

What did it say?

Damn. Back in prison.

Yeah. Hey, Gary. Overall, it was pretty respectful. Yeah. Always respectful. No. No. No. I meant the crowd.

Yeah. They were a little a little rude to to to me and overall. Yeah. They could have thrown something up here. Yeah.

Yeah. That's right. We that's true. They could've thrown the boat, buddy. We'll wait for Luis to come back, and

then we'll

get started. Good. Okay. We're ready to begin.

Item number nine, board committee reports and comments.

Okay. Any committee reports, members? I think we're all too stark. Yeah. Go ahead, supervisor Magsie. So I'm on the

board of directors of the National Association of Counties, and there was a Western Interstate Region Conference this past week and I met as a board of director and I just wanted to report out that I did participate in that. Also too, NACo is going be meeting again. We're going to have our annual conference in July and want to encourage this group if there are any resolutions you think we need to present to NACO to do that. Our board was very instrumental last year in submitting a resolution which eventually got adopted, dealing with comprehensive immigration reform and just calling on Congress to really focus in on that particular issue. And NACCO, as these get adopted at the national level, they lobby Washington.

So this is an issue that still is affecting us. So if you can think of resolutions that need to be presented, please let me know.

Thank you. Anybody else? No? Okay. Move on to number 10.

Item 10, board appointments.

Any point? Yes, Supervisor McAfee.

I have one to the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board. I wanna reappoint Rodney Branch to the at large joint city and county education seat which expired on elevenonetwenty twenty four.

Thank you. Anybody else?

Mr. Chairman, I do. I'd like to reappoint Carina Lopez to the In Home Supportive Service Advisory Committee, the provider position for a term ending on 01/07/2030.

Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. We can move on.

Oh,

yep. Sorry. Is there a motion? Oh, yes. Anybody from the public wish to comment on those?

Okay. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. Number 11.

Item 11, public presentations.

Any comments from the public on any matter not on this agenda or on closed session items 13 through 18? Yes, please come forward.

Good morning again. I'm a relatively new Fresnian, so please let me know if I'm misusing this time. I just had a couple questions on fiscal responsibility at the county level as well as personal accountability and responsibility. So I was wondering, is the county aware and this is totally just a curious question of how much it costs to have all those little plaques printed every year and for the little photo ops when you approve resolution? Do we know how much money is spent on that?

Well, could find out, but

That would be great. And how much time is spent administratively, how much we as taxpayers are paying for that process, that would be great. I'm curious if it's more or less than $6,000 that could go toward public health. Are we aware of the cost of STIs in the community, what it costs us in terms of HIVAIDS, unprotected sex, things like that?

Well, again, this is all information we could find out for you.

Okay, that would be great because that seems like just kind of important things for you to know. I am also curious if the board or any individual supervisor has an opinion on the personal accountability and responsibility of parents in a community.

Not sure what you mean by that.

For example, when I was growing up, if I had questions about something, I would go and ask my parents and they would explain things to me. They viewed that as their responsibility to raise an informed citizen, and if I didn't know the answer, they would of course direct me to informational sources. I'm old enough that I'm pre internet, I was directed to the library. But I'm curious if the board is comfortable outsourcing that kind of parental responsibility to a government agency saying, we're not gonna tell people things, we're not gonna share information that we have, because that feels a little bit not in alignment with those particular values. And I'm curious about that.

I don't have anything to respond to you. Is there anything?

No, I mean, this is public comment, not public question and answer.

Thank you so much. Then I will just go ahead and say in my five remaining seconds, it's very disappointing that you don't have an opinion on this because it seemed a little bit critical for today's vote. Thank you.

Thank you. Submit your questions to the clerk to the board. Board.

Okay, thank you. Okay,

anyone else? Okay.

Hello. Hi. You guys should be familiar with me. I sent majority of you an email. Today's mental health awareness month. Right? You talked about stories and how they're important. Believe you're all aware of mine. Okay. I'm not going to go into it right now because we have things that are going to be resolved at some point, but it is still affecting my mental health. So I want to bring that attention to right now. There's a lot that was discussed today. That's a lot going through everybody's mind, but it affects us all. Whether you're a Democrat, whether you're Republican, no matter your race, no matter your, you know, financial, we're all affected by mental health. So it's important that we look at it, especially during this month and how we handle that.

And when it comes to our first responders that we ask a lot for, to do things that are provide safety for your meetings or medical care, our teachers, the librarian that took a meeting today, We need to look at how we're handling this as a whole besides finger pointing, which there's so many fingers I want to point at, but it's not going to get me anywhere. It's not going to help my recovery. It's not going to help my community. When you build, you're building on a foundation. Mental health is our foundation of our community. You can build all you want. You could show up at parades. You could wave. You could do all these things. But if your foundation isn't solid, it's gonna fall.

I had to learn that myself. I didn't have enough training awareness of the trauma that I was gonna see in my life to know what the side effects would be later as I got older. I see that now. I see how people handled it. I see the fear of people's eyes when they see me because of my diagnosis or my side effects or my disabilities. The overreaction and all these things, these things can change with dealing with mental health stigma. And that's what you need to be focusing on, especially with your employees. We say the community, this is our community. I spent majority of the time in school and work in the military and as a peace officer. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else from the public? Go ahead.

Hi, everybody. This administration has declared war, on fraud, waste, and abuse. So if we had any information that might, maybe outline or show where that might be taking place, would you be interested?

Could just continue comments.

Okay. That's all I'm gonna say.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. The public comment portion is closed. Next item.

Item 12, county council reports from previous closed sessions.

Yes. I have one report. At the January 27 meeting, the board in closed session unanimously authorized settlement in Jones versus the county. On April 6, the settlement release is fully executed, providing for payment by the county of $275,000 and payment by California Forensic Medical Group of $50,000 to the plaintiff. A copy may be obtained from the county council's office. Also, I would not expect any report outs following today, so closed session, so the board may, adjourn from closed session.

Okay. So we'll go into closed session. Is there a motion and second to adjourn following the closed session? All So those in favor, aye.

Aye.

Passes unanimously. The board will go into closed session now. Meeting is adjourned. Thankfully.