\t\t\t\t\tWhat’s at stake?<\/p>\n
After not speaking to Fresnoland for its investigation into Fresno city leaders handing out contracts to the same consultants over and over again, Luis Chavez broke his silence after it was published in an interview with Fresnoland.<\/p>\n
After months of not speaking with Fresnoland about city contracts<\/a>, former city councilmember and Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez broke his silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Fresnoland published its<\/a> two-part investigation<\/a> on Jan. 7 into city leaders\u2019 use of a policy \u201cloophole\u201d to hand out dozens of contracts worth $100,000 or less, Chavez spoke to Fresnoland over the phone about how and why he handed out city contracts to political consultant Alex Tavlian\u2019s company.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chavez said it shouldn\u2019t have taken the City of Fresno eight months to provide Fresnoland invoice and payment records<\/a> with Tavlian\u2019s Local Government Strategic Consulting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I think they should be divulged quickly,\u201d Chavez told Fresnoland. \u201cAt the end of the day, this isn\u2019t anybody\u2019s money \u2014 this is taxpayer money.\u201d<\/p>\n Five of the seven current councilmembers spoke with Fresnoland in its investigation and said they\u2019d supported reforming the City of Fresno\u2019s transparency regarding all no-bid contracts, not just the ones worth $100,000 or less.<\/p>\n At a news conference last week, Councilmember Brandon Vang said he was \u201cappalled that it took an outside investigation to bring this issue to light,\u201d in reference to Fresnoland\u2019s two-part accountability probe.<\/p>\n Here are five things Chavez said in response to Fresnoland\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n 1. Chavez says he was never advised against giving multiple contracts to Tavlian\u2019s company<\/p>\n The City of Fresno has a policy on contracts worth more than $100,000: They must be approved by the Fresno City Council. However, if they\u2019re worth $100,000 or less, they don\u2019t get city council scrutiny, and are effectively undisclosed to the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n One outstanding question: Can a city leader hand out two $100,000 contracts to the same consultant in a single year? One city councilmember told Fresnoland there\u2019s a \u201cloophole\u201d in city policy<\/a> that doesn\u2019t expressly bar that from happening.<\/p>\n During the 2025 fiscal year, Chavez\u2019s former council office gave Tavlian\u2019s consulting company two $100,000 contracts<\/a> \u2014 one in July 2024<\/a> and another in December 2024<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chavez told Fresnoland that he was never legally advised by the City Attorney\u2019s Office against giving Tavlian\u2019s company that second December 2024 contract worth $100,000<\/a> \u2014 three weeks before Chavez was sworn in as a county supervisor and left his city council seat.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t recall receiving any legal advice,\u201d Chavez told Fresnoland. \u201cAnd you know that by the way that it was signed off by our legal folks.\u201d<\/p>\n Chavez and Tavlian\u2019s signatures were on each of their contracts over the years<\/a>. So were signatures from either City Attorney Andrew Janz<\/a> or senior attorneys<\/a> from his office<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, Chavez said that invoices from and payments to Tavlian\u2019s consulting company were all vetted by the City of Fresno\u2019s finance department.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThose get forwarded to our finance department that then scrutinizes them,\u201d Chavez said.<\/p>\n 2. Chavez defends using taxpayer dollars for ads while running for county office<\/p>\n In the lead up to the November 2024 election, former city councilmember Chavez\u2019s payments to Tavlian\u2019s consulting company peaked<\/a>, right as he was simultaneously running for county supervisor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chavez paid Tavlian\u2019s consulting company $99,999.99 for constituent outreach services<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also paid the consultant another $31,042.36 in city tax dollars for Facebook ads<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chavez defended it, saying he accomplished a lot of work as a councilmember, and that money needed to be spent so that Fresno residents could know about what he did.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a lot (of money), just given what was going on at the time,\u201d Chavez said, referring to the work he got done on the city level.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said councilmembers are allowed to send out advertisements and materials touting the work they do.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, in my case, that\u2019s part of my job,\u201d Chavez said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way for me to separate my role as a council member and a candidate, oftentimes, with regards to how you message, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Chavez said that, no matter what he does, members of the public will always question whether he\u2019s doing things for Fresno residents or doing it for publicity to get votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s actually not uncommon,\u201d Chavez said of using taxpayer dollars on ads. \u201cIt\u2019s actually very common.\u201d<\/p>\n While Tavlian\u2019s Local Government Strategic Consulting was doing Facebook ads for Chavez, one of Tavlian\u2019s other companies, Park West Associates, sent out attack mailers<\/a> for a political action committee disparaging Chavez\u2019s only political opponent in the county district 3 race, incumbent Sal Quintero<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked if he could see how it appears \u2014 that two of Tavlian\u2019s companies were paid to do work that could be seen as advantageous for him \u2014 Chavez said he couldn\u2019t see what conclusions there are to draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said he had no idea that Tavlian\u2019s Park West Associates sent out mailers attacking Quintero, his only political opponent. Chavez also said he didn\u2019t know what the October 2024 mailers contained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t control what people do on their own time, and I don\u2019t know what he did, to be quite honest.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Chavez says he never had \u2018an army of staffers\u2019<\/p>\n Chavez acknowledged to Fresnoland that most other councilmembers have a staff that takes care of constituent services and community outreach. He added that during his eight years on the Fresno City Council, he didn\u2019t hire a staffer for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI chose not to do that because I didn\u2019t know how much I was going to be using those individuals,\u201d Chavez said. \u201cSo that\u2019s why I decided to enter into that contract with LGSC, which is what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n