Fresno Unified Area 1 Candidate Reports Campaign Sign Burned Days Before Election

Deshunna Ricks, a candidate for Fresno Unified School District’s Area 1 trustee seat, reported Wednesday that someone burned holes in her campaign sign outside her southwest Fresno home. Video reviewed by Ricks showed a masked person approaching the property, reaching over a fence, and damaging the sign.

Ricks is one of five candidates in the Area 1 race. The others are Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, cattle rancher Rizpah Bellard, education advocate Michelle Longoria, and retired school administrator Daren Miller. Election Day is Tuesday. Only voters who live within Fresno Unified’s Area 1 can vote in this race.

Ricks said the damage appeared deliberate. “You pass one sign. You pass two signs, and then you grabbed my sign and started burning it,” she said. She noted that her campaign signs are displayed throughout the city, including on billboards and in supporters’ yards, and questioned why her sign was singled out.

Ricks, a social worker and education advocate who previously worked for Fresno Unified, said she believes her calls for change within the district may have made her a target. “We want to run because we want to make a change and somebody does not want this change to happen,” she said.

Ricks said her personal experiences — being raised by her grandmother and spending a decade in foster care — shape her views on education and student support. “I see the gaps because education is so focused on academics. Our students have different needs,” she said.

Vote centers across Fresno County are scheduled to open for in-person voting Saturday.

The Breakdown

• Ricks discovered the damaged sign Wednesday morning after reviewing video that showed a masked person approaching her property.
• The person reached over a fence, grabbed the sign, and burned several holes into it.
• Ricks believes the damage was intentional and may have been an attempt to intimidate her campaign, though she stated she does not know who was responsible.
• The Area 1 trustee race has five candidates; only voters within Fresno Unified’s Area 1 boundary can vote in it.
• In-person voting at vote centers begins Saturday; Election Day is Tuesday.

What This Means for You

If you live within Fresno Unified’s Area 1, you will vote Tuesday for one of five candidates seeking the trustee seat — the person who will represent your area on the school board. This reported incident raises the question of whether intimidation or interference is occurring in a race where the candidates’ approaches to education policy differ. Ricks has framed her candidacy around addressing gaps in student support beyond academics; the other four candidates include a sitting city councilmember, a cattle rancher, an education advocate, and a retired school administrator. Your vote determines which of these five will hold the seat and set policy for the district’s Area 1 schools.

What You Can Do

If you are a registered voter in Fresno Unified’s Area 1, vote centers open Saturday for in-person voting. Election Day is Tuesday. Only voters within Area 1 can vote in this trustee race.

What to Watch

Ricks has stated she believes the sign damage was deliberate and may have been an intimidation attempt, and that “somebody sent” the person who burned it — but the material provides no evidence identifying who was responsible or whether the incident is connected to any other party in the race. The claim that it was coordinated rather than random vandalism is Ricks’s own interpretation, not a finding backed by an investigation or a documented connection. What would settle it: a police report, an arrest, video evidence identifying the person, or any documented link between the incident and another campaign.

Related Coverage

• Five candidates vie for Fresno Unified Area 1 trustee seat in crowded November race
• City Council Candidate Singh Arrested on DUI Suspicion Days Before Election; Police Silent, Toxicology Reports Disputed
• Fresno Unified Area 1 candidates split on school closures as district faces 4,000-student enrollment drop