Fresno Council Candidate Calls for Recall of County Supervisor Over Blocked Transportation Tax

Naindeep Singh, candidate for Fresno City Council District 1, publicly called for the recall of Garry Bredefeld, chairman of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, over Bredefeld’s role in blocking a local transportation tax renewal from the November ballot.

Singh made the statement during public comment at a Fresno City Council meeting Thursday. “I think there’s a conversation for us to all be having about recalling Garry Bredefeld,” Singh said.

The conflict centers on Measure C, a countywide half-cent sales tax expiring July 2027 that generates roughly $150 million annually shared among county governments. A citizen-led renewal effort called Better Roads, Safe Streets collected around 32,000 signatures — more than required — to place the measure on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot. The proposal has support from nine of the county’s 15 cities, including Fresno and Clovis.

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Bredefeld led supervisors in a 3-2 vote to order a 30-day study instead of approving the measure for the ballot, effectively delaying it until March 2028 at earliest. Bredefeld told The Bee the 30-year measure allocates too much to public transportation and not enough to local roads, calling it “a public transportation tax disguised as a road tax designed to trick people out of their cars and onto buses, bikes or scooters.”

Bredefeld responded to the recall threat: “Bring it on, baby.” He added: “I’m a conservative. I believe in traditional values, and I’m going to fight for those. I’m not going to sit by while you have radical woke leftists like Mr. Singh destroy our community, destroy our city, destroy our county.”

Singh posted on social media Monday that “Bredefeld will burn this county down to feed his own ego. He didn’t beat us; he is trying to stall us. Now a sham study, timed to miss the deadline, on a clock he alone controls.” The post had over 750 likes and 70 comments as of Tuesday afternoon.

Singh told The Bee he is not involved in an official recall effort but wanted to “start the conversation” after hearing concerns from residents. Singh does not live in Bredefeld’s county district, which under California law means he cannot initiate or vote in a recall of Bredefeld.

Two state representatives introduced a bill Monday to bypass the supervisors’ vote.

The Breakdown

• Measure C expires July 2027 and currently generates roughly $150 million annually.
• Better Roads, Safe Streets would run 30 years and generate an estimated $7.4 billion, allocating 65% to local streets and 25% to public transportation.
• The city of Fresno and the county each carry about a $1.5 billion backlog in street repairs. Without replacement funding, Fresno’s infrastructure backlog will increase by $55 million annually and place 217 jobs in jeopardy, according to Mayor Jerry Dyer.
• A recall of a county supervisor requires a formal notice, petition drafts, signature gathering from voters within the supervisor’s district, and can take up to a year. Only someone from that district can initiate the process or vote in the recall election.

What This Means for You

The supervisors’ 3-2 vote delays a transportation tax measure until March 2028 at earliest, meaning Fresno voters will not decide in November 2026 whether to replace the Measure C revenue before it expires in July 2027. Singh’s call for a recall, whether it proceeds or not, frames that supervisors’ vote as something voters should hold Bredefeld accountable for at the ballot box.

What You Can Do

Singh is running against Rob Fuentes, an attorney and State Center Community College District trustee, in the November 2026 general election for Fresno City Council District 1, which covers northwest and west-central Fresno including Tower District, the Fresno High area, and areas west of Highway 99. Singh finished as the frontrunner in the June primary.

What to Watch

The state bill introduced Monday to bypass the supervisors’ vote is a direct challenge to local governing authority. If that bill succeeds, the transportation tax could still appear on a 2026 ballot despite the supervisors’ vote. If it fails, the measure remains delayed until March 2028 at earliest.

Bredefeld’s framing is that the measure is a transit subsidy disguised as road funding; proponents’ framing is that he used a sham study to miss the ballot deadline. The $1.5 billion repair backlog and the $55 million annual increase without replacement funding are not disputed by either side.