<\/p>\n
Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua and Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce launched campaigns for the upcoming vacancy to represent District 5 on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n
Clovis councilmembers urged colleagues not to launch personal attacks on social media during the election campaign.<\/p>\n
The call came as Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua and Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce are vying for an expected vacancy<\/a> on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n This November marks the first time the Clovis City Council will transition to a district-based voting system from at-large. Seven candidates, as of Aug. 4, are running for council seats in the three races.<\/p>\n At last evening\u2019s meeting, Councilmember Drew Bessinger said he\u2019s concerned that a colleague is normalizing misbehavior, such as name-calling and casting aspersions on opponents\u2019 character in social media campaigns.<\/p>\n \u201cDiane, we need to back off from calling people \u2018woke,\u2019 \u2018weak,\u2019 and \u2018RINO,\u2019\u201d said Bessinger during the councilmember comment section at the end of the meeting. \u201cThe voters expect more from us. I think if we start attacking each other publicly, not on the issues, but making personal attacks, then everybody is going to assume that this is normal and that it\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n RINO is an acronym for \u201cRepublican In Name Only,\u201d which is often used as a political criticism or aspersion.<\/p>\n Mouanoutoua and Pearce are registered Republicans, but they disagree<\/a> on the county\u2019s half-cent transportation sales tax Measure C, which is expiring next year. The renewal proposal has sparked heated countywide debate among various interest groups.<\/p>\n On social media, Pearce called<\/a> the Measure C a \u201c30-year tax scam\u201d and said Mouanoutoua, who sat at the county\u2019s negotiating table to represent Clovis, \u201chas joined the extreme left in pushing,\u201d wrote one post. In other posts, she referred to supporters of the transportation tax as \u201cVong\u2019s radical allies\u201d and called them sick.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can all be responsible for our language and how we choose to address those things, and I\u2019m happy to be responsible for that on my end,\u201d Pearce said on Monday evening. \u201cI think we have a situation with what started out as a measure, but it\u2019s obviously gotten much larger than that, and I think our community and the voters deserve to hear where people stand on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearce said that when some transportation tax advocates rallied<\/a> in the community with inappropriate slogans and criticized the current county supervisors, she felt it was her responsibility to speak out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an opportunity to use language that describes issues, but words like \u2018sick,\u2019 \u2018disgraceful,\u2019 and \u2018wacko\u2019 and \u2018hijacked,\u2019 those are all just social media performance words, and we deserve better,\u201d said Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck.<\/p>\n Ashbeck and Bessinger have announced their support<\/a> for Mouanoutoua. Bessinger is currently running for reelection for his third term on the council.<\/p>\n When an elected official uses inappropriate language, it reflects poorly on the entire council and the community, Ashbeck said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very destructive. It has ruined relationships. It\u2019s terrible,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t talk like that. They are seriously wanting civic leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n As mayor, Mouanoutoua was the last to speak. He outlined the benefits he had secured for Clovis during the Measure C negotiations, such as the flexibility for Clovis to use the tax dollars to build more trails instead of bike lanes in Old Town Clovis.<\/p>\n \u201cAs elected, we have to be accountable for what we say, not because we want to win something or because we got the news in front of us, but because it serves you. It serves you and allows our staff to do the right job,\u201d Mouanoutoua said.<\/p>\n Mouanoutoua delivered a speech on God, tolerance and love in response to Pearce\u2019s criticism that he had joined people who held different political views to promote Measure C\u2019s renewal. He said he thinks about \u201cWhat would Jesus do\u201d when he receives personal attacks. If social media were around, Christ would have been chastised because \u201che stood with prostitutes, he stood with people who took money, he stood with murderers,\u201d Mouanoutoua said.<\/p>\n \u201cDiane, I see you as a sister in Christ. My daily prayer is to always see you as that, to always treat you as such, to respect and to go, \u2018you can do that.\u2019 But the harder thing for me is to go, how do I love you continually? How do I love those who disagree with me continually?\u201d Mouanoutoua said. \u201cWe can do these things because it matters to us, and what matters is the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published August 4, 2026 at 4:43 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n