One of Fresno’s leading developers is calling on local labor leader Dillon Savory to resign over his opposition to development in southeast Fresno. 

Ed Kashian, the CEO of property management firm and developer Lance Kashian, penned an Op-Ed in GV Wire blasting Savory for his opposition to the Southeast Development Area (SEDA) plan. 

The backstory: Fresno has been working to develop the southeastern portion of the city for decades, with SEDA finally picking up some steam under Mayor Jerry Dyer’s administration.  

SEDA spans 9,000 acres in southeast Fresno and would provide up to 45,000 new housing units if seen to completion. 

Driving the news: Savory, the Executive Director of the Fresno-Madera-Tulare-Kings Central Labor Council, has been loudly opposed to SEDA. 

During a press conference outside of Fresno City Hall last November, Savory said SEDA is “dumb growth” and promised to defeat SEDA in the courts or at the ballot box. 

“The keys to City Hall have always resided in the pockets of the residential home builders in this community,” Savory said at the time, according to a report from The Business Journal. 

Savory told the San Francisco Chronicle last November that SEDA is not viable and doesn’t pay for itself. He also claimed that “nobody wants to be here” because of sprawl development making Fresno one of the worst-planned cities in the nation. 

Kashian’s response: In his Op-Ed, Kashian said the current debate on SEDA has been framed as a false choice: either growing outward or focusing solely on infill. Kashian called that framing a mistake. 

“The right approach is both,” Kashian wrote. “Fresno must grow smarter by increasing density where appropriate through mixed-use and infill development while also expanding outward to the southeast and southwest. These strategies are not mutually exclusive; they are complementary.” 

Kashian said the community cannot allow a small but vocal group of people to stop the housing production Fresno desperately needs. He also directly targeted Savory. 

“To be clear, I have been an ardent supporter of skilled labor. They are the backbone of this country,” Kashian wrote. “Savory, simply put, does not represent the best interest of the wonderful workers in the labor movement and is a false prophet. He should resign.”