{"id":305127,"date":"2026-05-08T00:21:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/305127\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T00:21:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T00:21:21","slug":"fresno-city-council-district-7-were-going-to-let-the-voters-tell-us-on-this-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/305127\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno City Council District 7, we\u2019re going to let the voters tell us on this one"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve decided not to endorse any single candidate in the primary for the Fresno City Council District 7 race because the three contenders each represent important aspects of what the district needs.<\/p>\n

We want to hear from the voters, and if there\u2019s a runoff in November, we\u2019ll dive deeper and offer some guidance.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know<\/p>\n

Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza will term out by the end of the year, leaving his District 7 seat open in the 2026 primary election.<\/p>\n

Four candidates are vying for the spot: community organizer and consultant Ariana Martinez Lott<\/a>, Blackstone Merchants Association founder AJ Rassamni<\/a>, retired paralegal Jason Keomanee and attorney Nav Gurm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Bee wasn\u2019t able to reach Keomanee to participate in our candidates\u2019 forum, or for other primary election coverage.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s effectively a three-person race of accomplished newcomers who would all be first-time elected officials. Each offers their own unique perspective.<\/p>\n

District 7 includes east-central Fresno and parts of southeast Fresno, including the Manchester, Radio Park, Romain Park, Lafayette Park\/Fresno High neighborhoods. The district also includes parts of the Blackstone Avenue corridor, and neighborhoods near Shields and Temperance avenues.<\/p>\n

Watch the full District 7 candidate forum here: Fresno City Council D7 candidates answer key questions during Fresno Bee forum<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee Editorial Board consists of editors and community advisors. We plan to expand the board following the June 2 primary to include more community members.<\/p>\n

Read about our plans for a community editorial board<\/a><\/p>\n

In this year\u2019s endorsement cycle, we\u2019ve left out SEDA in our considerations because most of the candidates across the four city council races say they do not support the current plan but might in the future with some revisions. We looked for a combination of fresh perspectives and practical experience.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where City Council candidates stand on SEDA, Fresno\u2019s massive development plan<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bee editorial board thinks a new council should rethink the anti-camping ordinance and support sensible economic development projects that can increase economic activity in downtown and elsewhere in Fresno as they raise the city\u2019s profile, such as a new downtown soccer stadium.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the candidates in alphabetical order:<\/p>\n

Nav Gurm\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno City Council District 7 candidate Nav Gurm, seen during a forum held by The Fresno Bee Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown Fresno<\/p>\n

Gurm is an attorney and the owner of Five River Strategies, a Central Valley public affairs consultancy. He is also a former legislative assistant for Esparza.<\/p>\n

One pressing issue Gurm sees facing the district is insufficient infrastructure, such as poor roads and sidewalks, and outdated water and sewer systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf elected, I will fight aggressively to ensure District 7 and South Fresno receive their equitable share of Measure C funds and any future infrastructure measures,\u201d Gurm said.<\/p>\n

Ariana Martinez Lott\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno City Council District 7 candidate Ariana Martinez-Lott, seen during a forum held by The Fresno Bee Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown Fresno<\/p>\n

Martinez Lott is a community organizer and the owner of Coraz\u00f3n Consulting. She also worked for Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias as director of community relations from 2021 to 2023.<\/p>\n

She said many issues in District 7 are connected to \u201cdecades of unchecked outward growth.\u201d To counteract, she said she will prioritize gaps in street repairs, routes to school and public transportation services, as well as expanding Fresno\u2019s local housing trust fund and establishing a public safety residential response team.<\/p>\n

AJ Rassamni\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno City Council District 7 candidate AJ Rassamni, seen during a forum held by The Fresno Bee Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown Fresno<\/p>\n

Rassamni is the founder of the Blackstone Merchants Association. He\u2019s also the former owner of the Great American Car Wash and the author of a business book.<\/p>\n

His top issue is addressing homelessness. He said he sees it as not only a humanitarian issue, but also a public safety and economic stability issue.<\/p>\n

He supports establishing government-sanctioned camps, or \u201csafe zones\u201d where people experiencing homelessness can stay legally while receiving services like sanitation, case management, mental-health treatment, and addiction support. It\u2019s unclear where in the city Rassamni would propose these camps be located.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen encampments remain unmanaged, neighborhoods become unsafe and economic activity declines. When people receive treatment, structure, and a path back to stability, the entire city benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve decided not to endorse any single candidate in the primary for the Fresno City Council District 7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[128527,128528,112,3879,8019,114,113,128529,128530],"class_list":["post-305127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-ariana-martinez-lott","tag-blackstone-merchants-association","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-bee","tag-fresno-city-council","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-jason-keomanee","tag-nav-gurm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}