Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez defended contracts he awarded while he served on the Fresno City Council, bristling at what his successor appeared to imply at City Hall on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
During an unusual six-minute news conference<\/a>, Councilmember Brandon Vang appeared to call into question the city\u2019s public reporting policies regarding contracts paid to third-party consultants and what he called a lack of transparency.<\/p>\n He left the news conference without taking any questions despite a room of reporters asking for clarifications. Vang appeared to be referring to a story from nonprofit newsroom Fresnoland<\/a> that examined contracts awarded by Chavez.<\/p>\n The news story found city leaders, including Chavez, handed out third-party contracts that exceeded the $100,000 threshold that requires a vote from the council between 2020 and 2025. In some cases, the accumulation of multiple smaller contracts exceeded the threshold.<\/p>\n On his first day after winning a special election to succeed Chavez as District 5 council member, Vang canceled a $100,000 services contract<\/a> awarded by Chavez to public affairs firm Local Government Strategic Consulting to provide outreach services for the district. The firm is owned by Alex Tavlian, who is featured in the Fresnoland report.<\/p>\n Vang said he was looking into whether any of the money paid out to consultants who worked for District 5 in southeast Fresno could be recovered, though he did explain how that would be possible.<\/p>\n Chavez called Vang \u201cinexperienced\u201d in a statement to The Bee, and said all of those contracts were already probed.<\/p>\n \u201cAll contracts proposed by past and current council members are vetted, scrutinized and approved by the City Attorney\u2019s Office,\u201d Chavez said. \u201cIn addition, before any payment is issued, they are again scrutinized and ensure adherence to scope of work and legal requirements are followed by the finance department.\u201d<\/p>\n Chavez\u2019s comments were echoed in the Fresnoland news story by City Manager Georgeanne White.<\/p>\n Chavez and Vang have been at odds since the special election in March<\/a> in which Vang won while running against Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas<\/a>, a Fresno Unified Trustee and deputy general manager for external affairs for the Westlands Water District who is married to Chavez.<\/p>\n That race turned bitter after an attack ad paid for by dark money accused Vang of an improper relationship with his wife of 30 years. Vang and his wife said the accusations in the negative mailer were false<\/a>.<\/p>\n It remains unclear who paid for the ad. However, weeks after the election, it came to light the ad originated from the Fresno Future Forward PAC, which notes Tavlian as its treasurer.<\/p>\n Vang issued a statement on Thursday saying the City Council\u2019s policy needed to be reformed to look at the contracts cumulatively rather than piecemeal, a cause he said he would champion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must ensure that taxpayer dollars are directed toward the greatest possible impact, delivering the best possible value for our residents,\u201d he said in the statement on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n