Dyer Laces Up His Boxing Gloves for Pivotal Fresno Elections

With about 30 months remaining as Fresno mayor, conventional political wisdom suggests that Jerry Dyer should stay the course, shore up any splintering relationships, and project supreme confidence that everything in our city runs like a finely tuned machine.

But political reality has changed the equation, and Dyer has come out swinging. The headline is that the mayor put a bull’s-eye on Fresno Unified test scores — something he should have done five years ago — while endorsing former Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Brien in what appears to be a competitive race for county superintendent.

However, Dyer also has endorsed in three of the four Fresno City Council races. With three open seats on the June 2 primary ballot, this is Dyer’s — and voters’ chance — to give the green light to projects that will move the city forward and a red light for initiatives that are a waste of time and money.

Dyer’s City Council Endorsements

Who has Dyer endorsed? Robert Fuentes in District 1, Danielle Parra in District 5, and Nav Gurm in District 7. Dyer hasn’t endorsed in District 3, where Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula is the presumed leader, but he told GV Wire’s Edward Smith on Wednesday that an endorsement could come for the November general election. As there are seven candidates in that race, a runoff is likely.

Nothing is guaranteed in politics and all of Dyer’s picks are squaring off against strong challengers. Perhaps Dyer’s most consequential endorsement went to Parra, who is trying to knock incumbent Brandon Vang out of office. This week, Dyer backed up that by donating $5,900 from his 2024 mayoral campaign to Parra’s election fund.

So, what is the big picture view? Dyer is backing people he believes he can work with. And, with Democrats all over the ballot, he is favoring those who present moderate Democratic credentials over those backed by local progressives and statewide progressive political action committees.

SEDA Is the Dividing Line

Support or opposition to the Southeast Development Area is the mayor’s No. 1 decider. He is determined to see the first phase — with its 1,547 acres of research and development land for advanced manufacturing — approved and completed.

Said Dyer, after a majority of Fresno Unified trustees passed a resolution opposing SEDA: “For the life of me, I can’t understand it because we have one in four people living below the poverty line. What it tells me is we have a bunch of uninformed people making uninformed decisions.”

Actually, the four opposing SEDA are highly informed and motivated by political ambition. However, School Board President Veva Islas, and fellow trustees Andy Levine, Valerie Davis, and Keshia Thomas, are kowtowing to the Fresno Teachers Association, which came out early and hard against SEDA.

Wishing to stay in FTA’s good graces, they are playing ball while also trying to drive people to the polls by turning SEDA into the No. 1 local issue on the primary ballot.

FTA’s Funny Numbers

At one point, FTA claimed that approving SEDA would result in the closure of 11 Fresno Unified schools, as families seek homes and apartments there so their children can attend the Clovis and Sanger school districts.

Funny thing is, no one at Fresno Unified can find a document or calculations stating 11 schools would close. In fact, Fresno Unified’s chief of operations says that SEDA would result in the district losing 29 students a year. That’s a pebble in the ocean compared to the 1,200 to 1,700 students the district expects to lose annually over the next seven years.

What’s the reason for the exodus?

Dyer got it right when he said Tuesday: “Clearly improvement is needed in Fresno Unified School District and throughout our county. Fresno Unified is the third-largest school district in the state of California. Yet, last year, only 37% of students met the standard category in English Language Arts. … And only 27% of students met standard in math. This is also 10% below state average, that is completely unacceptable.”

Families are voting every day to seek a better education for their children elsewhere.

Dyer Should Target Islas in November

Looking ahead to November, Dyer would be wise to find a credible challenger to Islas’ McLane High region seat. She won by just 358 votes over a fast-closing challenger in 2022 and has failed to distinguish herself as a fighter for students. Her No. 1 accomplishment: Preserving Fresno Unified’s massive bureaucracy while staving off innovation and transformative educational curriculum.

Toppling Islas could turbocharge the effort to truly put kids first and finally abandon the Machiavellian politics long derailing Fresno Unified.

Neither Dyer nor Fresno Unified is officially on the ballot you’re filling out now, will soon fill out, or totally ignore. Both, however, are very much on the ballot.

We’ll see who prevails.

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