Supervisor Garry Bredefeld makes his feelings known with a special sign. Screenshot from livestream, May 12, 2026
“What a Drag”
At its April 21 meeting, the County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approved an agreement between the county library and the Fresno Chaffee Zoo to hold summer programs for children.
Because BOS Chair Garry Bredefeld has a record of attempting to control public-library programs and his opposition to public affirmation of homosexuality, such as library displays during Pride Month, Fresno County Librarian Sally Gomez appeared before the Board to request permission for the agreement.
Alluding to the controversy Bredefeld raised in 2022 over after-hours, RSVP-required “family friendly” drag events at the zoo, which at the time he called “despicable and evil,” Bredefeld asked whether there would be any such drag events.
Gomez replied there were “none in the plans.” Bredefeld continued, “What if the zoo wanted to do that? They have done family drag shows in the past.” Gomez explained that the theme for the program was “Go Wild for Reading.”
Fresno Arts Council
The Board unanimously agreed to maintain the Fresno Arts Council (FAC) as the County of Fresno’s local partner with the California Arts Council for fiscal 2026–27, facilitating state arts funding.
The vote followed remarks about FAC made by both Bredefeld and Supervisor Buddy Mendes (District 4), after the recent FAC embezzlement scandal where its former operations manager pleaded guilty to stealing $1.8 million over the course of three years.
Andrea Mele, interim executive director of the FAC, gave a presentation regarding the organization’s services and programming and described how they advocate for and represent Fresno’s creative economy to the California Arts Council (CAC).
Acknowledging that the employee who stole the money was the subject of a criminal investigation, she outlined steps the FAC is taking to safeguard funds in the future, including engaging an outside accounting firm to manage finances.
In making the case for maintaining the FAC as the State Local Partner (SLP) for the state arts agency, Mele said that canceling it would mean the county would be without a representative to advocate for state funds.
She described several FAC programs, some of which operate with state funding, such as hiring art teachers for the Selma public schools, the city of Fresno’s Poet Laureate program, Arts Alive in Agriculture, the San Joaquin Valley Book Fest, Poetry Out Loud and more.
“FAC is committed to earning back your trust through vigilance, transparency and dedication to the programs and grants we manage,” she said.
The Board’s tone was generally measured, despite Bredefeld’s later questioning. CAO Paul Nerland said that “often entities this happens to become the strictest and best to work with because of the experience.”
Supervisor Brian Pacheco (District 1) said that he “applauded” Mele and Simpson for “hitting it head-on,” adding that “I was good to go” as soon as they mentioned “ag art.” Pacheco is a dairy farmer.
Bredefeld asked whether any of the stolen money was recovered and how it was that “no one noticed” the money disappearing. Simpson said that “full restitution” had been ordered by the court.
Bredefeld then stated that “there was pressure from community groups” for the City not to handle the money and to hand it over to the arts council. Mele replied that FAC’s management of funds had been written into the ordinance.
Both Mendes and Bredefeld have previously connected the FAC embezzlement affair with the “Better Roads, Safe Streets” replacement plan for the Measure C transportation tax, which recently qualified for the November ballot and which Bredefeld has called a “scam,” by discussing the possibility of future funding mismanagement.
Mendes said, “This is the kind of thing that happens when you have these citizen-led initiatives—you have these ‘deals’ where there are holes for potential problems,” adding, “but that’s just a comment.”
Bredefeld then discussed the new Measure C proposal, saying, “On the measure that just got on the ballot—I don’t know what they call it—it’s the new Measure C—it has oversight by a supposed citizens’ committee, so it’s fraught with problems,” concluding, “but that’s a problem for another day.”
The discussion regarding possible future Measure C issues did not appear to affect the Board’s treatment of the FAC organization.
Public comment was opened on the matter and local arts figures addressed the Board: Shine Theater’s founding artistic director Tony Sanders cited the support of the FAC as “profound, relevant and necessary.”
Educator and author Megan Anderson Bohigian, who served as the fifth Poet Laureate of the City of Fresno, said that “Fresno is known internationally as a poetry center” in part because of the work of the FAC.
When the vote was taken, it was unanimous and Bredefeld said, “You won.”
His calm at that meeting contrasted with his conduct at the May 12 meeting.
Library Pride
On May 12, the Board determined that county libraries may not observe Pride Month and will not be granted permission to participate in this year’s Pride Parade.
This meeting marked another debate regarding LGBTQ+-related library programming and visibility.
The agenda item involved a request by the county library to spend $125 on a booth at the Pride Parade and to recognize Pride Month each June for the next five years via book displays.
After public comment and debate, the vote broke along ideological lines. Republicans Bredefeld, Mendes and Nathan Magsig (District 5) voted no, while Democrats Pacheco and Luis Chavez (District 3) supported the requests but were outnumbered.
The matter appeared on the agenda because of earlier policies requiring departments to seek Board approval for discretionary spending and for observing holidays or civic events. Under these rules, department heads must request approval to spend discretionary funds.
The controversy had begun weeks earlier. In April, a parent reportedly complained to Bredefeld that county library staff visiting a middle school had distributed bookmarks featuring young-adult titles, some involving LGBTQ+ themes.
Bredefeld responded with a Facebook post accusing the library of making a “deviant effort” to “indoctrinate” children into homosexuality.
The bookmarks became connected to the May 12 agenda item as Bredefeld broadened the discussion to LGBTQ+-related issues.
When discussion began, Bredefeld displayed a printed sign reading “NO INDOCTRINATION OF OUR CHILDREN” on the dais.
Public comment was crowded enough that speaking time was reduced to one minute per speaker.
The first supporter of the library, Pride Parade volunteer coordinator Tracie Cisneros, announced that the parade had waived the library’s booth fee. Opponents included people who said they did not want to discuss sexuality with their children.
Chavez defended the LGBTQ+ community, stating that “God makes people a certain way” and condemning “dehumanizing rhetoric” directed at LGBTQ+ residents. He praised County Librarian Sally Gomez and declared that “Fresno will not ban books.”
Magsig complimented Chavez’s remarks, then questioned Gomez about the many other events the library observes and whether there is “a fine line between support and advocacy,” implying there was in this case.
Gomez explained that the library participates in community events when invited, if it has sufficient resources and staff, but under California law the library will not engage in partisan political activity or commercial promotion.
Pacheco attempted to narrow the discussion to the specific requests before the Board, noting that book banning itself was not under consideration.
When Pacheco asked County Counsel Doug Sloan whether the Board could legally regulate library Pride displays, Sloan clarified that California law gives libraries authority over book selection and displays, meaning the Board could not prohibit Pride-themed displays regardless of the vote.
Bredefeld then criticized “woke nonsense” and revisited issues such as the “condoms and lube” distributed by the Health Department at past Pride events.
He discussed what percentage of library books had gay themes and referred to titles such as “Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed.”
Why did he presume the title to be sexual? A quick Internet search shows the book is a short-story and poetry anthology by Hispanic youth and the title alludes to “the struggle for linguistic identity,” per published criticism.
He questioned librarian Gomez about LGBTQ+-themed materials and asked whether she saw a problem with such books. After she answered no, he replied, “Then I have a problem with you!” He concluded by threatening to privatize the library.
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