The Fresno City Council will continue with the same leadership in 2026, albeit with one change.
Councilman Mike Karbassi, who served as the council president in 2025, was reelected by his colleagues on Thursday to remain in the position for another year.
The big picture: The council voted 6-0 to elect Karbassi as the council president for 2026.
Councilwoman Annalisa Perea abstained from the vote.
The council also elected Councilman Nelson Esparza to serve as vice president.
Why it matters: Whoever serves as the president of the city council is responsible for setting the agenda for each meeting and for leading the meetings.
The vice president is tasked with filling in when the president is absent.
The backstory: While Thursday’s vote went smoothly without any controversy, the process for picking a leader has changed over the years.
In late 2024, the council voted to change the rules for who becomes council president by axing the rotation system to implement a vote.
Councilman Miguel Arias, who served as the vice president in 2025, would have been in line to be president under the old rules.
The city council also changed its rules for several years to prevent former councilman and current Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld from becoming president.
The council changed the rules in 2020 to give themselves an option to vote on moving away from the rotation – a notable move given that Bredefeld was in line to become president in 2021.
The council returned to the strict rotation system in 2023.