Political finance watchdog clears allegations against mayor’s One Fresno Foundation

The Fair Political Practices Commission will not pursue any action after an anonymous complaint alleged Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and many of his staffers violated the Political Reform Act in relation to his One Fresno Foundation.

Dyer provided a copy of a letter from the FPPC, the state’s political finance watchdog, to the media during a news conference at Fresno City Hall on Wednesday. During the news conference, Dyer defended the foundation’s work and its board members and slammed The Bee for its reporting on the complaint.

The complaint, filed by an anonymous person on Jan. 6, centered around behested payments, which are donations solicited by public officials that are not campaign donations or gifts. The complaint alleged Dyer and his staffers, some of whom are foundation board members, failed to properly disclose donations.

Dyer launched the One Fresno Foundation last year to raise money to provide opportunities for young people from underserved neighborhoods. So far, he’s used the money to send hundreds of children to Camp Fresno and thousands to visit the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.

Shortly after Dyer and his team were notified about the complaint, they sent a response to the FPPC that included the proper forms filed for behested payments.

“The fact that this investigation is not being furthered should send a strong message that it was without merit,” Dyer said. “Our commitment and my commitment is to continue to invest in our youth.”

The letter Dyer provided to the media is dated Jan. 25. A spokesperson with the FPPC could not confirm the letter’s authenticity. The FPPC doesn’t release information for five days, but complainants and respondents are free to release information when they please.

Bee coverage

The Bee first published a story about the complaint on Jan. 20. The story detailed the allegations in the complaint and included a lengthy response from Dyer, who was quoted saying the complaint had no merit.

Neither Dyer nor anyone on his staff sought a correction, but Dyer and his communications director, Sontaya Rose, did complain to the reporter and Bee editors about the headline.

Without naming The Bee, Dyer criticized the coverage in his Wednesday news conference.

“Less than a week ago, a local publication chose to publish a story on these flimsy allegations, with no one even having the guts to stand behind the complaint,” Dyer said. “If the publication that chose to write this story had bothered to do the legwork to research the allegations, they would have found that these allegations had no merit and were not worthy of a story.

“It’s a shame that people are able to make anonymous false allegations and then be enabled by a publication that sacrificed their journalistic integrity to get more clicks to spread these lies to the community,” Dyer said.

Dyer said he worried the coverage tarnished the foundation’s reputation and its board members and affected donations. He and his staffers fielded phone calls with questions about the foundation, he said.

“We care about our youth, and to have our integrity called into question is absolutely incredible and unbelievable,” Dyer said.

The Bee’s editor, Joe Kieta, defended the story.

“Covering an FPPC complaint is textbook journalism. We always write about FPPC investigations of local politicians when we know about them,” Kieta said. “Our story was thorough and detailed the complaint and the mayor’s response to it. And when the issue was resolved, we wrote about that, too. That’s journalism, and it’s what Fresnans count on The Bee to provide.”

Big changes happening at Fresno’s City Hall

Wednesday’s news conference followed a tumultuous couple of weeks at City Hall. On Tuesday, The Bee broke the news that Dyer’s city manager, Thomas Esqueda, chose to retire.

Esqueda’s retirement is the latest of a number of departures from Dyer’s administration, including his chief of staff, airport director, and personnel director. Some job boards also list a posting for Fresno’s director of public utilities.

Esqueda submitted his resignation letter after sources said he stormed out of a closed session City Council meeting and never returned.

The closed meeting discussion was about the police union contract, which has been another point of contention at City Hall. Earlier this month, Fresno Police Officers Association membership rejected the city’s proposed contract by an 82% no vote.