Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
Where Were Warrior Mascot Activists During Debate Over Filling Fresno Trustee Seat?
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 4 years ago on
August 5, 2021

Share

The dozens of people who faithfully showed up at Fresno Unified School Board meetings in recent months to lobby trustees to keep the Fresno High Warrior mascot image may not be as keen to have a say in who will represent the Fresno High area.

Check out my other School Zone columns at Nancy Price’s School Zone Facebook page.

Only three community members stepped forward to speak at Tuesday afternoon’s special meeting, which was called for the board to discuss its options on whether to appoint Trustee Carol Mills’ successor or order an election.

Only one of the three who spoke, Andy Fabela, is a resident of the Fresno High area.

Jim Tuck, a spokesman for the Fresno High pro-mascot group now known as Save Our Schools, told GV Wire on Wednesday that the turnout does not reflect a lack of interest by the area’s residents about who will replace Mills. The five-term trustee died July 21 after battling ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Tuck said several factors impacted meeting attendance: Organizers had assumed the initial conversation would take place at the regularly scheduled Aug. 11 meeting and were surprised when a special meeting was scheduled, and many people — including himself — have been out of town on summer vacations.

But mainly, he said, opponents of the board’s decision to change the mascot image from a Native American man — an image that opponents say is racist — to a line drawing of historic Royce Hall feel like they’d be wasting their time and breath in asking the trustees to hold an election. He and others believe, based on recent experiences over the mascot change and the naming of the new campus at 10th Street and Ventura Avenue, that no matter how many speak out on issues, the trustees have already made up their minds and won’t be swayed.

“The board doesn’t care. They told us to ‘move on,’ ” said Tuck, who grew up in the Fresno High area and whose parents still live there.

Focus Efforts on Recalls

Instead of spending time in front of the board, Tuck said, the Fresno High mascot supporters are putting their efforts toward recall campaigns to oust the trustees who approved the mascot image change in December 2020.

But as of Wednesday afternoon, the Fresno County Elections Office had not received any notices of intent signaling the campaigns are under way, County Clerk James Kus said.

Tuck said he’s pretty sure that someone from the pro-mascot group will apply to be a candidate for the Area 5 appointment. Under state Education Code, the board has 60 days from Mills’ death to make an appointment or order an election.

If trustees decide on a provisional appointment, they must pass a resolution signaling their chosen method of filling the seat, advertise for applicants, review the applications for eligibility, interview the vetted candidates at a public meeting, and then vote to make the appointment, by Sept. 19.

If the board fails to either make an appointment or order an election within 60 days, Fresno County Supervisor of Schools Jim Yovino would order a special election under state law.

Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas noted Tuesday that the board is not obligated to choose any of the vetted candidates and could yet order an election.

Recent Vacancies Filled by Appointment

That, however, hasn’t happened in recent memory. The most recent provisional appointment was in 2012 when embattled McLane High Trustee Tony Vang stepped down in the face of a recall effort sparked by documents showing that he didn’t live in Area 4.

On Tuesday, Fabela recalled that Mills voted against the board’s appointment of longtime educator Christopher De La Cerda to succeed Vang because she wanted the McLane High voters to choose their representative.

De La Cerda ran unopposed in the 2014 election and then was defeated in the 2018 election by Veva Islas.

Fabela said that as an attorney Mills “hated” the appointment of De La Cerda and compared it to communism. “I believe we should memorialize her, with the wish that she had shown during the Tony Vang thing … she said, ‘we can afford $100,000, we’ve got $100 million in the bank, we can afford a hundred grand, let the people have their choice.

“And so, I’m saying, don’t disrespect her by appointing someone. That is not what she would want.”

Clovis resident Eric Rollins, a Fresno High graduate and mascot supporter, urged the board to opt for an election.

“The people’s voices need to be heard. You’re accountable to the people,” he said.

Rollins reminded the board that they are also accountable as role models to the community and said he was disappointed that they had failed to salute the U.S. flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the meeting, a tradition at School Board and other public meetings. Chief of staff David Chavez quickly headed to the podium to take the blame for the omission, and then the trustees stopped the meeting, stood, turned to face the flag, and said the pledge.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Executive Order Seeks End to Wind and Solar Energy Subsidies

DON'T MISS

US Threatens California With Legal Action Over Transgender Sports Law

DON'T MISS

US Veterans Affairs Will Cut Nearly 30,000 Jobs, Far Fewer Than Planned

DON'T MISS

Houston Astros Donate $1M to Help Recovery From Texas Floods

DON'T MISS

Tucker Carlson Aired Interview With President of Iran

DON'T MISS

California Fails to Stop 23andMe Founder From Re-Acquiring Company

DON'T MISS

Madera County Multi-Agency Effort Leads to Arrest of Felony Suspect in Atwater

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest DUI Driver During Crackdown on Illegal Street Racing and Sideshows

DON'T MISS

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Seizes 300 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks Over Fourth of July

UP NEXT

US Proposes Rules That Could Boost Oil, Gas Output in US West

UP NEXT

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

UP NEXT

Texas Girls’ Camp Mourning Dozens Dead in Floods as Search Teams Face More Rain

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

UP NEXT

Trump Impounds Billions in Education Funding. For Fresno Unified, It’s $7.1 Million

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

US Threatens California With Legal Action Over Transgender Sports Law

4 hours ago

US Veterans Affairs Will Cut Nearly 30,000 Jobs, Far Fewer Than Planned

4 hours ago

Houston Astros Donate $1M to Help Recovery From Texas Floods

4 hours ago

Tucker Carlson Aired Interview With President of Iran

4 hours ago

California Fails to Stop 23andMe Founder From Re-Acquiring Company

4 hours ago

Madera County Multi-Agency Effort Leads to Arrest of Felony Suspect in Atwater

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest DUI Driver During Crackdown on Illegal Street Racing and Sideshows

4 hours ago

July 4 Weekend Was No Picnic for Fresno-Area Firefighters. How Bad Did It Get?

6 hours ago

Tulare County Seizes 300 Pounds of Illegal Fireworks Over Fourth of July

6 hours ago

US Proposes Rules That Could Boost Oil, Gas Output in US West

6 hours ago

Netanyahu Nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told President Donald Trump he had nominated him for the Nobel Peace ...

3 hours ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during a bilateral dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured), at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 7, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
3 hours ago

Netanyahu Nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 7, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
3 hours ago

Netanyahu Meets Trump at White House as Israel, Hamas Discuss Ceasefire

A wind farm is shown in Movave, California, U.S., November 8, 2019. (Reuter File)
3 hours ago

Trump Executive Order Seeks End to Wind and Solar Energy Subsidies

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon testifies before a Senate Appropriations hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request for the Department of Education, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 3, 2025. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

US Threatens California With Legal Action Over Transgender Sports Law

United States Department of Veterans Affairs logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

US Veterans Affairs Will Cut Nearly 30,000 Jobs, Far Fewer Than Planned

A group of search and rescue workers paddle a boat in the Guadalupe River in the aftermath of deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 7, 2025. (Reuters/Sergio Flores)
4 hours ago

Houston Astros Donate $1M to Help Recovery From Texas Floods

4 hours ago

Tucker Carlson Aired Interview With President of Iran

Attendees visit the 23andMe booth at the RootsTech annual genealogical event in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., February 28, 2019. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

California Fails to Stop 23andMe Founder From Re-Acquiring Company

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend