Fresno City Hall erupts as councilmember and city attorney threaten to investigate each other over botched candidate arrest — Photo: Beyond My Ken — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fresno City Hall erupts as councilmember and city attorney threaten to investigate each other over botched candidate arrest

November 1, 2026 Dale Ruiz

Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias and City Attorney Andrew Janz are calling for investigations into each other following the arrest and swift exoneration of city council candidate Naindeep Singh — an incident that has sparked allegations of election interference, racial profiling, and corruption just days before voters head to the polls.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Arias called for an independent investigation into Singh’s Oct. 24 arrest and its leak to the media. “The integrity of our elections are at stake,” he said.

Arias specifically questioned Janz’s contract with political consultant Alex Tavlian, who is involved with multiple PACs that have spent thousands on mailers attacking Fresno City Council candidates. One of those PACs, Fresno Healthy Communities, retracted a mailer attacking Singh on Wednesday — a mailer it submitted to the U.S. Postal Service the morning after news of Singh’s arrest broke, before Singh was cleared.

Janz was the city official who first confirmed Singh’s arrest to a blogger over the weekend. His office doesn’t handle DUI cases — ever — but has oversight roles in local elections, including Singh’s race.

Janz fired back an hour later, vowing to call for an investigation into Arias next week for “interference in the City Attorney’s legal obligation to disclose public records and potential violations of the Brown Act.”

“My office follows the City Charter and the law,” Janz said, “and we will continue doing our job without getting dragged into Councilmember Arias’ political theater.”

The Bains Law Offices, which donated $5,500 to Singh’s campaign in September 2025, also submitted a letter to the city council Tuesday calling for an inquiry into Janz’s involvement. The letter questions “whether Mr. Janz’s involvement was necessary to fulfill an assigned legal responsibility, or whether he exercised personal discretion in a manner unrelated to the ordinary duties of his office.”

Singh was arrested Oct. 24 after being pulled over in the Tower District for expired registration tags. Police Chief Mindy Casto said he failed six of eight field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug. A blood test cleared him Tuesday, and Casto apologized publicly.

Casto defended the officer’s actions and said the traffic stop was legitimate, with no political motivations involved. Singh, a school board trustee and the executive director of the civil rights nonprofit Jakara Movement, has been one of the police department’s loudest public critics.

Sandra Celedon, president and CEO of Fresno Building Healthy Communities and a Singh supporter, called for an independent review to determine whether race played a role in the stop. “The city should commission an independent review of this stop and release the body camera footage,” she said. “That review should look at whether race played a role.”

The city refused to release body camera footage Wednesday, citing an “ongoing investigation.” It wasn’t immediately clear what, if anything, officers might still be investigating after the negative test results.

Celedon’s group co-authored a 2025 report examining racial profiling at the Fresno Police Department. The report analyzed 2022 data showing higher rates of traffic stops involving Black and brown drivers, and lower rates for white drivers. “Mr. Singh’s stop began with an expired registration sticker. That is exactly the kind of low-level violation our report flagged as a doorway to unnecessary escalation,” she said.

The material also documents a 2023 meeting between police brass and members of Fresno’s Hindu community, who, police acknowledged, asked officers to monitor Singh and another man — without evidence — for alleged ties to organized crime. Singh told Fresnoland late last year that he had been followed by unidentified people following that meeting, though current and former Fresno cops denied following him.

Arias called on Janz to terminate his contract with Tavlian and disclose all contracts with Tavlian and affiliated entities — information Arias said he has unsuccessfully requested. Fresnoland submitted a records request in July for all written agreements between the city and multiple political consultants, including Tavlian, between January 2025 and July 2026. The city requested a deadline extension in late August, promising an update by the end of September. As of now, a month past that deadline, Fresnoland has yet to receive any update.

Fresno Healthy Communities has received all of its reported funding as of July 2026 from another PAC, Central Valley Council. That PAC is run by Tavlian and is a major donor to multiple candidates on the ballot, including Singh’s opponent, Rob Fuentes, as well as council candidate Nav Gurm and sitting Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who’s running for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

Arias’ and Janz’s demands are expected to come before the council at their first meeting post-midterm on Nov. 5.

Attorney Kevin Little, who is working on behalf of Singh, said no claims for damages have been filed yet. Little donated to and endorsed Singh’s opponent, Rob Fuentes. “We are hoping to receive cooperation from the authorities to get to the bottom of what transpired,” Little said. “The election should be decided by people, not police officers, and that is the primary focus.”

The Breakdown

Councilmember Miguel Arias is calling for an independent investigation into the Oct. 24 arrest of council candidate Naindeep Singh and its leak to the media, including the role of City Attorney Andrew Janz, who first confirmed the arrest to a blogger despite his office having no role in DUI cases.
Arias is also demanding that Janz terminate his contract with political consultant Alex Tavlian, who is involved with PACs that have attacked council candidates, and disclose all contracts with Tavlian and affiliated entities.
Janz fired back, calling for an investigation into Arias for “interference in the City Attorney’s legal obligation to disclose public records and potential violations of the Brown Act.”
Singh was arrested Oct. 24 for suspected DUI after being pulled over for expired tags in the Tower District. A blood test cleared him Tuesday, and Police Chief Mindy Casto apologized publicly. Casto defended the officer’s actions and said the stop was not politically motivated.
Fresno Healthy Communities, a PAC that received all its reported funding from Tavlian’s Central Valley Council PAC, submitted a mailer attacking Singh to the U.S. Postal Service the morning after news of the arrest broke — before Singh was cleared. The PAC retracted the claims Wednesday.
Critics, including Sandra Celedon of Fresno Building Healthy Communities, are calling for an independent review to determine whether race played a role in the stop. The city refused to release body camera footage Wednesday, citing an “ongoing investigation.”
Both Arias’ and Janz’s demands are expected to come before the council on Nov. 5.

What This Means for You

Fresno voters go to the polls on Nov. 5 to decide Singh’s race and several others. Arias’ and Janz’s demands are expected to come before the city council at their first meeting post-midterm on Nov. 5. The city council appoints the city attorney.

Questions about the city attorney and the police department are being raised. Whether those questions will be dismissed as “political theater,” as Janz put it, remains to be seen.

What You Can Do

Arias’ and Janz’s demands are expected to come before the city council at their first meeting post-midterm on Nov. 5. You can attend in person at Fresno City Hall or watch online to see how the council handles the matter.

You can also vote in Singh’s race and the other council races on the ballot Nov. 5.

What to Watch

The PAC behind the attack mailer, Fresno Healthy Communities, has received all of its reported funding from Tavlian’s Central Valley Council PAC, which is also a major donor to Singh’s opponent, Rob Fuentes. Tavlian is also under contract with Janz’s office — a contract Arias and others say the city has refused to disclose despite a records request submitted in July.

The timing: Singh’s arrest happened Oct. 24, ten days before the election. Janz confirmed it to a blogger over the weekend. A PAC funded entirely by Tavlian’s operation submitted a mailer attacking Singh the morning after news broke — before the blood test cleared him. The PAC retracted the claims after Singh was cleared, but the mailer had already gone out.

On the traffic stop itself: Celedon’s group documented in a 2025 report that Fresno police stop Black and brown drivers at disproportionate rates, and that low-level violations like expired tags are “a doorway to unnecessary escalation.” Singh, a South Asian man and a vocal police critic, was pulled over for expired tags, failed six field sobriety tests according to the chief, was arrested, had his car towed, and was subjected to a hospital blood draw — then cleared entirely two days later. The chief apologized but said the officer did nothing wrong. The city is refusing to release body camera footage, citing an “ongoing investigation” it won’t explain. What is still being investigated after a negative blood test and a public apology? It wasn’t immediately clear what, if anything, officers might still be investigating after the negative test results.

The material also documents a 2023 meeting where police brass were asked by members of Fresno’s Hindu community to monitor Singh for alleged ties to organized crime — without evidence. Singh told Fresnoland he was followed by unidentified people after that meeting. Current and former cops denied it.

The city is a month past its own deadline to respond to Fresnoland’s July records request for Janz’s contracts with Tavlian and other political consultants.