A local political consultant who recently had a $100,000 contract with the city canceled is behind the dark money group that sent an attack mailer in the recent Fresno City Council special election.

In an amended filing with the city clerk last week, Fresno Future Forward now lists Alex Tavlian as its principal officer and treasurer. The independent expenditure group sent mailers to District 5 voters accusing candidate Brandon Vang of statutory rape in the 1990s.

Vang won the election and took his southeast Fresno seat on the council last week.

In an interview last month, Vang and his wife, May Lee, said he was 20 and she was 15 when they had their first child in 1993. They married in 1995, and Vang was never criminally charged.

Tavlian, who is also the executive editor of the San Joaquin Sun digital news site, did not return messages seeking comment.

City Attorney Sends Letter to Tavlian

City Attorney Andrew Janz emailed Tavlian a letter, forwarding the same document he previously sent to Fresno Future Forward last month.

Janz fined Fresno Future Forward $1,000 for not filing its initial paperwork on time. The March 11 letter notified the person believed to be the principal officer and treasurer of Fresno Future Forward of the violation and fine.

The group filed its forms a day after Janz held a March 10 news conference, launching the investigation.

However, the information Fresno Future Forward provided did not reveal its money source. Funding information is expected in future filings by July. Some legal experts said that information should have been included already.

Fresno Future Forward listed Riley Moore — a person local campaign experts were not familiar with — as its principal officer and treasurer. Moore hasn’t responded to repeated requests for comment.

The new letter restarts the 90-day requirement to pay the fine.

“The case is closed. If someone files a new complaint, we will look at it,” Janz said on Tuesday.

Pedro Ramirez, Vang’s campaign manager, said another complaint is unlikely. He is still awaiting the documents showing who is funding Fresno Future Forward.

Tavlian initially denied his other public affairs firms were involved in the mailer. A GV Wire investigation linked Tavlian to Fresno Future Forward, both through a phone number connected to the group, and the real address listed on its paperwork.

The address listed a north Fresno mailbox store, which said Tavlian registered there for Fresno Future Forward. The address differed from what Fresno Future Forward included on its mailer.

The mailer included an address for a downtown Fresno mailbox store. The owner of the UPS Store, Lisa Murray, said that neither Fresno Future Forward nor Tavlian had a current account there.

Janz said any potential investigation into the address allegation would not be conducted by his office. Murray said she filed complaints with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and the State Bar. Tavlian is a licensed attorney.

Contract Canceled

Before he left office necessitating a special election, former District 5 representative Luis Chavez signed a contract on Dec. 17 with Tavlian’s public affairs firm, Local Government Strategic Consulting, to provide public outreach services.

The contract called for the district to pay Tavlian’s group $100,000 for the year. He already billed the city $33,333 before Vang canceled the contract last Thursday.

Fresno Future Forward filed its amendment hours after Vang canceled the contract.