The Fresno Board of Supervisors and the Fresno City Council will choose new leadership at their first meetings of the year. Both government bodies will follow a proscribed path.

Nathan Magsig is set to take the gavel on Tuesday, as part of a leadership rotation set forth in county charter Section 10.

“The senior member of the Board in terms of total years served on the Board, shall be designated Chairman provided that no member shall be eligible for a further term until each of the other four districts has had a member who served as Chairman,” the charter says.

As all the more senior members had a turn more recently, it is Magsig’s time. He also served as board chair in 2019. Of the five supervisors, he is fourth in seniority — serving since 2017.

Magsig will succeed Sal Quintero as the board leader.

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Perea Set to Be City Leader

Annalisa Perea is set to take the gavel from 2023 president Tyler Maxwell at Thursday’s council meeting. Last year, the council amended its procedure for selecting its president.

For several years, the council had a set rotation, based on district numbers. However, when Garry Bredefeld returned to the council in 2017, the body changed the rules.

The councilmember for District 6 — i.e. Bredefeld— was set to become president in 2017. Ahead of that, councilmembers amended the rules for becoming president to require being on the council the preceding year. The rule before the change just required at least one year of council service, which Bredefeld met because he was a councilman from 1997 to 2001.

Bredefeld’s turn in the rotation was due in 2021 as vice president, but the council changed the policy in 2020 to allow it to bypass the rotation — if a majority of councilmembers desired. The council voted to skip Bredefeld as a leader.

Last year, the council removed the line “the Council, by majority vote, may vary from the rotation” and added “strictly” to adhering to the rotation by council district number.

Thus, the prior year’s vice president, Perea of District 1, will automatically be installed president, and District 2 Councilmember Mike Karbassi will be vice president. Should Karbassi win re-election this year, he will be the council president for 2025.

Among the duties of the council president is to preside over meetings, help set the agenda, and serve as interim mayor if there is a vacancy.

Mathis vs. Essayli Flame War

Two Republican Assemblymembers took to X (formerly Twitter) to fight over providing healthcare for illegal immigrants.

Devon Mathis, R-Porterville, in an op-ed, wrote that providing services to all immigrants could reduce healthcare costs.

“While some claim that offering healthcare eligibility to undocumented immigrants would pose a burdensome cost to California taxpayers, the evidence does not support this narrative,” Mathis wrote. “The best we can do in the State Legislature is to make our healthcare system more efficient and fiscally responsible, which is exactly what expanding healthcare eligibility to undocumented immigrants does.”

His reasoning: universal access encourages more preventative medicine and fewer ER visits.

Mathis also insulted Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Corona, for introducing legislation that would revoke healthcare for illegal immigrants.

“This bill comes from a #NOOB Legislator who clearly does not understand how our healthcare system works and is just trying to create a red meat issue at the expense of our state’s already-failing healthcare system.”

“NOOB” is a term meaning “newbie.”

Essayli responded on X, calling Mathis a “RINO” — Republican in Name Only.

“Does he really support this position? Why did he vote against the bills when he had the chance? Or is he interviewing for his next job, a Sacramento Swamp Lobbyist,” Essayli wrote.

The two continued in an old-fashioned flame war.

Didn’t take you long #Noob
Before you try to launch red meat
Do your homework

Looks like you’re just being a #HeadlineWhore

It’s clear you know nothing about how the healthcare system works.

I spent 8 years as the ranking member on BudgetSub1 Health&HumanServices
✌️ https://t.co/U81pRTofa8

— Devon J. Mathis (@devonjmathis) January 5, 2024