FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A major legal roadblock has now been cleared in the fight to fund Fresno County road repairs.
“We had to be moving forward at full steam,” Fresno County Clerk James Kus said.
Kus said his team was getting ready all along to place the Measure C replacement tax known as Measure S on ballots in the upcoming election.
He said he had been following state law after an Assembly bill authored by Esmeralda Soria was signed by Governor Newsom. That law put the “Better Roads Safe Streets” initiative on the ballot for November.
“It takes literal weeks and months to put all of this together. Our first ballots actually need to be mailed out in mid-September,” Kus said.
The legal back-and-forth started when Fresno County sued the state and high-profile supporters of Measure S, saying they had already voted to delay putting Measure S on the ballot until March of 2028.
But in the meantime, Kus says his team didn’t have time to wait.
“The actions today don’t actually change any of our approach to this election. We’d already been taking that approach. There’s actually just not enough time to not take that approach for an election,” Kus said Monday afternoon.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer released this statement on the matter, explaining what the judge’s ruling means for the city.
“Today’s ruling brings much-needed clarity and ensures Measure S, the Better Roads, Safe Streets initiative, will appear on the November ballot.
A tremendous amount of work has gone into bringing Measure S before the voters. There have been disagreements along the way, but now is the time to put those differences aside and focus on transportation needs across all of Fresno County, including 15 incorporated cities. Our residents deserve improved neighborhood streets, safer roads and reliable public transportation.
The City of Fresno’s general sales tax measure, Measure D, was also placed on the ballot as a backup while the future of Measure S remained uncertain. At this stage, it is too late for the City to remove Measure D because the legal deadline has passed.
As a result, Fresno voters will see both measures on the November ballot. If both are approved, Measure S will take priority, and Measure D will not go into effect. This safeguard was included to ensure residents do not experience an increase in local sales tax.
Both measures were developed to address the funding gap created by the expiration of Measure C in 2027. Measure S provides a countywide solution, and I continue to support the work behind both measures, knowing they will not overlap. Ultimately, the decision now rests with the voters.”
Jerry Dyer, Fresno Mayor
One of the plaintiffs of the county’s lawsuit is former Fresno County Republican Chair Fred Vanderhoof. He said he doesn’t plan to appeal the judge’s ruling, meaning he measure now into the hands of voters.
Fresno County supervisor Garry Bredefeld released this statement about the ruling.
“I respect Judge Skiles, believe he gave all sides a fair opportunity to present their arguments, and accept his decision. The Board of Supervisors followed California election law when it exercised its statutory authority to study Measure S, and we believed the Legislature’s last-minute attempt to change the rules and create a brand new law targeting Fresno County raised serious constitutional questions. We made our case. If the radicals promoting this scam had correctly collected their signatures and not required the Clerk to hand count their signatures, this delay would never have happened. Nevertheless, the Court has ruled, we accept that ruling, and we will not appeal this decision,” said Bredefeld.
“The legal battle is over. The November election battle begins today. The fight to protect Fresno County taxpayers now moves from the courtroom to where it has always belonged — with the people of Fresno County. Between now and November 3, we will make the case directly to voters about how their hard earned money will be misused for THIRTY YEARS, why this measure is a betrayal of every resident who has waited decades for their roads to be fixed and how the measure will be the largest misappropriation of taxpayer money in the history of Fresno County.”
“Fresno County taxpayers should understand exactly what they are being asked to approve. Measure S stands for SCAM,” said Bredefeld. “Supporters are marketing it as a roads measure. It isn’t. It is a NEW, 30-year, multi-billion dollar public transportation tax scheme that will take billions from Fresno County taxpayers while directing enormous sums toward building 120 miles of bike lanes, spending billions on empty buses, and enacting Sacramento’s radical transportation agenda — getting people out of their cars and riding buses, bicycles and scooters to work-instead of fixing the deteriorating roads our residents have demanded be repaired for decades.”
“Measure S will eliminate driving lanes and increase traffic congestion. It prohibits cities and the county from spending a single dollar to widen roads until achieving a pavement quality standard that has never been met in Fresno County’s history. It locks 25% of all revenue into public transit — guaranteed regardless of ridership — for the next 30 years.”
“We have had Measure C for nearly 40 years and our roads are still in desperate disrepair,” Bredefeld said. “Fresno County does not need a 30-year, multi-billion dollar blank check designed to get people out of their cars and onto buses, bikes, and scooters. The people behind this measure couldn’t follow the rules to gather their own signatures, couldn’t answer basic questions about where the money would go, and when we did our job and asked for a financial study, they ran to Sacramento and had their political friends rewrite California election law to target us — and us alone out of 58 counties. That is what unbridled corruption looks like. And we will defeat that corruption and not allow our children and grandchildren to be ripped off for thirty years by radicals that want to destroy our way of life.”
Garry Bredefeld, Fresno County Supervisor