Judge Robert Whelan, left, and Judge Virna Santos, center and Judge Lisa M. Gamoian, right, from handout photos.
A third judge is now out in a lawsuit brought by Fresno County to determine when a countywide transportation tax measure should be on the ballot.
Ahead of a scheduled Tuesday hearing, the court named a fourth judge to the case — Fresno County Superior Court Jonathan Skiles.
The pending lawsuit was sparked by a state law that overrode a Fresno County supervisors’ decision to delay the Better Roads, Safe Streets transportation tax ballot measure until March 2028, instead of the upcoming Nov. 3 General Election ballot.
In its lawsuit, the county named the state and Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus as the main defendants, claiming county supervisors, not state lawmakers, should have the right to set the election date.
Four other high-profile individuals are listed in the lawsuit as “real parties in interest:” Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer; Clovis City Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck; Veronica Garibay-Gonzalez, who is co-executive director of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability; and Joan Eaton, a supporter of the measure. The four are listed in the lawsuit because they are official supporters of the sales tax initiative, now called Measure S, having signed their names to campaign documents submitted to the county in January.
Several developments emerged this week in motions filed with the court.
Multiple parties are asking the court to hurry up with its decision, noting that a key hearing scheduled for Sept. 23 is too late to decide the fate of Measure S. The county needs to have ballots ready by Sept. 3 to send them to approximately 2,000 military members and overseas voters. Kus originally said the deadline was Sept. 9, but in correspondence with other attorneys, recently moved it to the earlier date.
Measure S would add a half-cent countywide sales tax and is scheduled to be on the Nov. 3 ballot. It would replace the current Measure C, which expires June 30, 2027.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to place Measure S on the March 7, 2028, ballot. A state law, AB 1923, preempted the supervisors’ right to schedule the election.
Election case law says any ballot issue must be decided before going to the printers and being sent to voters.
Here are the latest developments:
• Skiles will preside over a status conference Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the B.F. Sisk Courthouse in downtown Fresno. Skiles is now the fourth judge on the case.
• On Friday afternoon, the Measure S campaign and three of its four official supporters, filed a motion to disqualify judge Lisa Gamoian “on the grounds that said Judge is prejudiced.” Two previous judges, Robert Whalen and Virna Santos, were disqualified on similar motions by the county, and state, respectively. None of the three motions explained the reason for the disqualification.
Ashbeck, Garibay-Gonzalez, and Eaton signed their names to the peremptory motion. Dyer did not. The campaign and the three “real parties in interest” then filed a motion to withdraw the earlier motion to disqualify on Monday morning.
But the withdrawal motion came too late to return Gamoian to the case. It is now assigned to Skiles.
Brian Hildreth, attorney for the county and co-plaintiffs Fred Vanderhoof and Michael Der Manouel Jr., filed an objection to the Gamoian disqualification. No ruling was made before the fourth reassignment of the case.
• Kus’ attorney, Gary Scott Winuk, in a letter to the other attorneys in the case, wrote that “the Court must rule for the Registrar to be able to successfully perform his duties are as follows: September 3, 2026, by close of business, if the judge does not rule in favor of the State. September 8, 2026, if the Judge rules in favor of the State.”
Kus initially set the printing deadline to send ballots to approximately 2,000 military members and overseas voters as Sept. 9. He told The Bee on Monday that the Sept. 9 date is the deadline to send material to the printing vendors. He needs to have an answer by Sept. 3 to format the ballots.
The attorneys have been emailing each other throughout the weekend to set filing deadlines to achieve a ruling from the court by Sept. 3.
This story was originally published August 24, 2026 at 3:38 PM.
The Fresno Bee
David Taub joined the Fresno Bee in 2026 after reporting 10 years for digital publication GV Wire. He has worked in the Fresno market since 2007. Prior to moving to the Central Valley, he worked for TV and radio stations on the Central Coast. He has also worked behind the scenes in local TV and radio. During his career, he has covered City Hall, the state Capitol, the White House and several houses of government in between. When not in a reporting capacity, he works tracking stats for the Fresno Grizzlies as an official scorekeeper, and also with televised basketball and football games. He has worked the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and several MLB games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue!