The study would not be ready until the supervisors\u2019 meeting on Aug. 11, making it too late for the deadline four days earlier to make it onto the November ballot. The supervisors could call a special meeting to vote before the Aug. 7 deadline but that would require the support of board chairperson Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who has been the most outspoken opponent of the measure and its supporters.<\/p>\n
A vote by the majority of the supervisors could also call a special meeting.<\/p>\n
The half-cent sales tax renewal would<\/a> last 30 years and tally an estimated $7.4 billion, with 65% of the funds going into local streets and 25% into public transportation. The city of Fresno and the county each have about a $1.5 billion backlog in street repairs.<\/p>\n The supervisors discussed Tuesday\u2019s vote for more than two hours with Supervisor Nathan Magsig asking a slew of questions. He said he appreciated the measure would earmark 65% of its funding to local roads, which was more than the 34% from the old Measure C, but he was concerned with its guidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one issue \u2014 if I were to call it a fatal flaw, as I see it \u2014 is it was so prescriptive to the county,\u201d he said before voting for the 30-day study. \u201cI don\u2019t know exactly how the county is going to be able to fully expend its portion.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to language in the ballot measure he said appeared to require bike lanes and other improvements to roads where the county would be making improvements \u201cwhen feasible.\u201d Exactly who would decide what roads were feasible left too much room for a court battle down the road, Magsig said.<\/p>\n Bredefeld and Supervisor Buddy Mendes cast the other votes for the 30-day study and to likely push Measure C off of the coming November ballot.<\/p>\n Bredefeld argued the 30-year plan was too long, and he would not support the proposal in part because it was backed by Ashley Swearengin<\/a>, the former mayor of Fresno and CEO of Central Valley Community Foundation. He said her nonprofit was funded by \u201cout-of-town rich radicals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really an effort to get people to stop driving their cars and ride buses, scooters, and bicycles to work,\u201d he said. \u201cComplete environmental wacko insanity.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the proponents behind the plan was Veronica Garibay, executive director of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. She said \u201cthousands\u201d of people helped write the proposal through meetings in every county ZIP code.<\/p>\n She said the paving of local roads was the highest priority of residents, and that\u2019s why the measure was prescriptive about its spending.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do want to see that their tax dollars are spent according to how they voted, and this measure does that and speaks to what residents have said: Fix our local streets,\u201d she said. \u201cBut they give us the ability to make the improvements regardless of whether we walk, ride, bike, or ride a bus.\u201d<\/p>\n Supervisor Brian Pacheco said he had some reservations about the measure but the proponents had met their requirements to reach the ballot. He voted against the 30-day delay.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not here to debate the merits of the issue. I personally believe there are some serious issues with this,\u201d he said. \u201cI fully understand that the mayors of most cities want it because they\u2019re going to get more money than what they\u2019ve had in the past, and that\u2019s what this initiative does.\u201d<\/p>\n The county could take a significant hit without an extended Measure C. County staffers estimated 90 layoffs to county employees without an extension of the measure. The county also does not contribute any money from the general fund to street improvements, and largely relies on grants that usually need matching funds, the staffers said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if we don\u2019t have those dollars, there are going to be real consequences to our community,\u201d Supervisor Luis Chavez said. \u201cOlder neighborhoods that, as one constituent told me about a week ago: His neighborhood hasn\u2019t been repaved since (President) Jimmy Carter was in office.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 3:51 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n The Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability organized a rally on Monday, July 13, 2026, in downtown Fresno to urge support of the Better Roads, Safe Streets ballot measure to extend Measure C in the county. LILIANA FANNIN lfannin@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n