Dyer submits general tax as Better Roads, Safe Streets not added to ballot

The controversial Better Roads, Safe Streets has not been added to the November after all, even after the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom acted to preempt the authority of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. 

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer announced late Friday afternoon that the city has submitted its own general tax measure after learning that Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus is unable to add the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure to the ballot without the approval of the Board of Supervisors, even with the state’s intervention. 

The backstory: Last month the Fresno County Board of Supervisors ordered a study on the half-cent Measure C successor that was submitted by social justice advocates and supported by Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and 10 other mayors in the county. 

With the study set to take 30 days, the measure would not come back to the board ahead of the Aug. 7 deadline to place initiatives on the ballot. 

That led to Asm. Esmeralda Soria (D–Fresno) and Sen. Anna Caballero (D–Merced) to gut Assembly Bill 1923 – a bill originally crafted to help financially distressed hospitals – and amend it to force the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure to be placed on the ballot. 

The Legislature passed AB 1923 Thursday morning, and Newsom signed it into law afterward. 

The big picture: The City of Fresno announced Friday that Kus was unable to add the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure to the ballot without formal action by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. 

The board is not scheduled to meet until Tuesday, which is four days after the deadline to place initiatives on the ballot – even in light of AB 1923. 

While the city said the measure still may ultimately end up on the ballot – without providing any details as to how that would happen – Dyer submitted the general tax approved by the Fresno City Council that will serve as a funding stopgap if the Measure C successor is not approved. 

The city’s measure includes language that will nullify it if a county-wide half-cent transportation tax is passed. The city’s general tax would last for 10 years. 

What they’re saying: Dyer said the decision to submit the city’s measure to the county has been one of the most difficult decisions he has faced as mayor. 

“I know that submitting the City’s measure today may disappoint my fellow mayors throughout the county, and that weighs heavily on me,” Dyer said. “But I want to reassure them – and all of our partners – that this choice in no way diminishes my support for the Better Roads, Safe Streets measure, a countywide initiative I am confident will improve every one of our communities, and I remain fully committed to seeing it succeed.” 

Dyer continued, “Please try to understand, my responsibility, first and foremost, is to the residents of the City of Fresno, and given the new information we learned today, this was the only responsible path to ensure a transportation funding option remains available to Fresno voters in November.”