Both LLCs are co-owned by prominent local developer Darius Assemi. Supervisor Nathan Magsig recused himself from the vote, and referenced California\u2019s Levine Act. That state law<\/a> requires public officials to abstain from voting on matters involving their political donors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Board Chair Garry Bredefeld said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting that he was looking forward to the sale potentially going through, so that \u201csheriffs have their needs met, and this body has its needs met, and the people in this building will have their needs met as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The need for more office space is not new for Fresno County, as noted on documents related to Tuesday\u2019s hearing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year<\/a>, Bredefeld reinitiated efforts to look for a new building for the county board of supervisors and the rest of the staff at the county\u2019s aging Hall Of Records.<\/p>\n The buildings the county will look to purchase were built in 1989, according to data from Co-Star<\/a>, a commercial real estate data provider. The property was last purchased in 2022 for about $28 million.<\/p>\n The two properties will provide almost 300,000 square feet of property and parking space for the sheriffs office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veronica Stumpf, a local commercial real estate broker, told Fresnoland that the county\u2019s purchase price of $25 million for the two properties could be considered above average, but \u201cnot automatically unreasonable,\u201d especially since purchases of this size \u201care pretty limited\u201d in Fresno.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fresno County Sheriff Jon Zanoni told Fresnoland that the move comes following plans to build a new courthouse. The new building includes plans to demolish the current Sheriff\u2019s Administration at Courthouse Park.<\/p>\n The plans also gave the deputies a move-out date of April 2027, he said, putting pressure to facilitate a move soon. The size of the PG&E buildings would provide opportunities for the sheriffs office to consolidate their departments into one building, a luxury their current building doesn\u2019t provide.<\/p>\n \u201cIts proximity to the court, proximity to the jail, how close it is to what we do downtown, it just all seems to make sense,\u201d Zanoni said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Other locations were looked at, Zanoni said, including the old University of California Extension building on Fresno and Shaw streets, across from Fashion Fair Mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, many of the other options either would have not fit their move timeline or necessitated an additional investment for infrastructure improvements. Zanoni said the shape of the building allows for the county to hit a tight turnaround time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re going to be cutting it really close to that one year time frame,\u201d Zanoni said. \u201cOnce this sale goes through, we\u2019re gonna be full steam ahead on improvements for that building to make it work for use so we can move in.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacific Gas & Electric are currently tenants at the two buildings. They are expected to move out soon. PG&E declined to comment on the potential sale, and on their plans to move.<\/p>\n The purchase plans were approved unanimously by the board in a 4-0 vote, with Magsig\u2019s recusal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following Tuesday\u2019s vote, the county will undergo a 90-day due diligence period, which includes a review of the property and its lease agreement. Should the sale go through, the county would close the sale on the property on July 7.<\/p>\n The Fresno Police Department moved last year<\/a> to a new building across the street from their old offices, choosing to stay in the heart of the city. That deal saw the city pay about $42 million to Ed Kashian, a local land developer<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Supervisors OK independent audit of Fresno\u2019s DSS<\/p>\n The board of supervisors also authorized the county administrative officer to hire an auditing agency to conduct an independent review of Fresno County\u2019s Department of Social Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Calls for an audit started earlier this year <\/a>when Lorraine Ramirez, a former county social worker, appeared at a board meeting to say she was retiring following years of concerns from her and other workers that foster children were being placed into situations of abuse and neglect going unaddressed by their department\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n Board Chair Garry Bredefeld and Vice Chair Luis Chavez introduced the item at Tuesday\u2019s meeting following a private meeting with Ramirez<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal in this audit is not to ascribe blame to anyone, but define what changes are needed and make them,\u201d Bredefeld said. \u201c\u2026We must be committed to having accountability and having positive outcomes for these children. Our children deserve this, and we\u2019re going to make sure they get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanja Bugay, the director of the county\u2019s department of social services, said that the caseload for child welfare workers has improved, but that \u201cworkload for our social workers has really increased when it comes to the amount of work per case.\u201d<\/p>\n Nine members of the public spoke at the hearing Tuesday, all in support of the county\u2019s proposed audit. Among those speakers were current and former social workers and members of the county\u2019s foster care and oversight committee.<\/p>\n Hunter Morton, an ex-social worker for the county, said he\u2019s had similar concerns to Ramirez. He said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting that he now works for the county\u2019s in-house supportive services, but that the problems there are the same as the ones shared by all public commenters at the day\u2019s meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur clients, they try to reach us. There\u2019s no standard of getting back to them,\u201d Morton said. \u201cI\u2019m at a different agency now, and it\u2019s the same thing\u2026you can\u2019t reach your social worker.\u201d<\/p>\n Ramirez also spoke on Tuesday. Appearing visibly emotional, she thanked the board for their approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart is overjoyed that all of those\u2026current and past employees will now have a voice through this audit,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cThe lives of our most vulnerable in this county can now be heard loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n Fresno County poised to add new hotel tax for tourists<\/p>\n The Fresno County Board of Supervisors seem poised to add a tax on the ballot that would charge out-of-town visitors and tourists when booking short-term housing rentals and hotel lodging.\u00a0<\/p>\n The board unanimously approved the measure on Thursday, during the first hearing to place a Transient Occupancy Tax on this year\u2019s November general election ballot.\u00a0<\/p>\n The county is looking to add a 12% tax on those hotel stays \u2014 a rate that matches those already established in other cities like Clovis and Fresno, and the counties like Los Angeles and Sacramento.<\/p>\n That rate should bring in about $5 million in annual revenue, according to Paige Benavides, the county\u2019s budget director, at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n The tax would also only be applied to lodging properties on the county\u2019s unincorporated areas, allowing residents to avoid a situation where fees from the city and county would stack on top of one another.<\/p>\n Plans to place the tax on the ballot were first discussed earlier this year<\/a>. County staff noted that Fresno was one of three counties across the state that do not have a Transient Occupancy Tax<\/a>, a move that they said could be leaving over $5 million in revenue on the table.<\/p>\n Since it would be a general tax, it would only need a simple majority, or one vote over 50%, to pass should it make the November ballot. The general tax status also allows the board to have flexibility on where to allocate those funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Transient Occupancy Tax funds typically go toward paying for public safety and infrastructure improvements and maintenance, especially in areas surrounding the short-term housing properties.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A second hearing must still be heard before the tax can officially make its way to the ballots. The second hearing is scheduled for the board\u2019s April 21 meeting. An approval would bring the tax\u2019s final ballot language before the board in a June meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Remote particpation coming back this summer<\/p>\n The Fresno County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to pre-emptively approve online and telephone participation in their meetings starting in the summer<\/a>, following newly approved state guidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DSC1531.jpg\")
The Fresno County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Pablo Orihuela | Fresnoland<\/p>\n