The city of Selma fired its city manager Fernando Santillan with cause at its meeting last night.

By a 4-1 vote in closed session, Santillan — who had a rocky relationship with Mayor Scott Robertson — will be officially relieved when he receives his final paycheck next week. He served as city manager since 2021.

The growing Fresno County community with a population of 25,000 — a 6% increase in 10 years — is 17 miles southeast of Fresno along Highway 99.

Robertson read a statement from the dais, saying the people’s trust in government is broken.

“When a city administration goes too far and believes in its own superiority over the people it’s supposed to serve and has as an accomplice a weak city council majority who refuses to stand up for the people, aggressive measures are called for to make things right,” Robertson said.

Santillan, speaking with Politics 101 on Wednesday, called the move predictable.

“This was a purely politically motivated firing with no wrongdoing involved whatsoever. It’s unfortunate that the taxpayers have to bear the risk and cost of such behavior by the city council,” Santillan said. “But at the end of the day, I’m very happy with the way that in the financial condition of the city, despite the liability caused by the mayor and the council.”

Robertson also referred to the Dec. 12 city council meeting, when he moved ahead with the swearing in of two new city councilmembers — Jim Avalos and Santiago Oceguera, both more like-minded with Robertson than the members they replaced. The city attorney at the time advised the council that it needed to first declare the election results, and did not have a quorum to do so. Robertson scheduled a meeting the following week to include the election declaration. The new council also replaced the city attorney with Neal Costanzo.

Santillan called Robertson’s public statement “improper” and “malicious.”

In a 17-page memo, Costanzo said Santillan failed to perform his duties for making sure declaration of results were on the Dec. 19 agenda, and for continuing to recognize the prior city councilmembers, whose terms expired. Costanzo also said Santillan “acted in excess of his authority” for seeking legal advice from a third-party law firm that yielded a $21,000 bill.

In a statement to Politics 101, Costanzo said the city plans to pursue malpractice charges against former city attorney Megan Crouch.

Robertson, Sarah Guerra, Jim Avalos, and Santiago Oceguera voted in favor of the termination. John Trujillo voted against. Trujillo exited the meeting after the closed session vote, and did not participate in the rest of the meeting.

The city council elevated Deputy City Manager Jerome Keene into the interim city manager role.

Bad Blood Between Mayor, City Manager

In 2023, Robertson and Santillan filed claims against each other for various grievances. Robertson eventually dropped his claim. The previous city council settled with Santillan, which among other things, gave him a raise, extended his contract, and required a 5-0 vote for his removal.

The last contract amendment, approved by the lame-duck city council on Nov. 18, 2024, required the city to pay a $342,000 severance pay if his termination vote was not 5-0.

Costanzo said the votes to revise Santillan’s contract are invalid. His legal theory is the councilmembers violated government code of self-enrichment. That means all the city owes is Santillan, Costanzo said, is accrued salary and vacation pay, and not any severance.

“The city is referring the matter to the Attorney General for criminal charges and will sue Santillan to recover the amounts paid under the void contracts,” Costanzo said.

Santillan’s attorneys said they plan to file a complaint challenging the termination, as well as filing a tort claim.

“We strongly disagree with the message from the city council. Mr. Santillan has in no way engaged in any wrongdoing. They are very simply retaliating against him for raising legitimate concerns related to the elections code and changeover of the city council, raising other concerns about the dealings of the city council, and for resolving his previous employment-related retaliation and discrimination claims against the city and Mayor Robertson,” Santillan’s attorney, Charles Hamamjian, told Politics 101 in an email statement.

Hamamjian also issued a memo in response to the city, refuting its legal argument.

Santillan said he wants to return to city governance in the future.

“I look forward to spending time with my family and kind of resetting so I can continue to do great work,” Santillan said.

Republican Enters Assembly Race

Jim Polsgrove filed to run for state Assembly with $25,000 of his own money.

Polsgrove, R-Fresno, becomes the first Republican to file in Assembly District 31, currently held by Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno. Arambula intends to run for Fresno City Council in 2026.

Regarding the issues, Polsgrove said he believes in increasing penalties for crime, no Medi-Cal expansion for illegal immigrants, pro-guns, and eliminate High Speed Rail.

“There are so many things out there that have come through Sacramento that make no sense whatsoever. The support of high-speed rail, you know, where’s the audit when we’re five times over budget? Where’s the accountability for criminals?” Polsgrove said.

Two Democrats have filed to run — Arambula-backed Sandra Celedon, the president/CEO of nonprofit Fresno Building Healthy Communities; and Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea.

A former engineer supervisor with the city of Fresno, Polsgrove, 68, retired five years ago. He has been active in local Republican politics, serving on the Fresno County central committee for one term. GOP voters opted not to re-elect him in 2024.

It might be a longshot for Polsgrove to head to Sacramento. District voter registration is 44%-24% Democrat over Republican.

But, with the top-two primary system, Polsgrove might have a chance to break through to the general election. It is a strategy Polsgrove is counting on.

“I would imagine that they will split the Democratic vote, which would put me in the general as well as one of those two. So I can save money in the primary and concentrate on the general,” Polsgrove said.

Kern County Supervisor Joins State Senate Race

Kern County Supervisor David Couch filed paperwork to run for a state Senate seat that includes Bakersfield and extends into Fresno and Clovis.

Couch, R-Bakersfield, becomes the third candidate to file. He joins Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, R-Clovis, and former congressional candidate and businessman Michael Maher, R-Kingsburg.

The district favors Kern County, which has 44.3% of the registered voters. Fresno County makes up 39.3%, with the remaining 16.4% in Tulare County.

The current office-holder, State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, is termed out after 2026.

Republicans hold a 46% to 27% voter registration edge over Democrats in the district.

Term Limits in Clovis?

Members of the Clovis City Council broached the idea of term limits in future elections, possibly as soon as next year.

Matt Basgall mentioned the idea during his councilmember report on Monday night.

“We have to go to districts, we’re doing all these things. So my question is, do we start talking about term limits for city council members?” Basgall said. “I know that’s kind of a bombshell to drop, but we don’t really get to talk about anything otherwise.”

The council changed the election system in Clovis from at-large to five districts. The first district election takes place November 2026.

Colleagues Diane Pearce, Drew Bessinger, and Lynne Ashbeck openly supported having the term-limits discussion.

City Attorney Scott Cross said the city council could take the issue to voters, in time for the June 2, 2026 primary ballot. If passed, it could go into effect for November 2026.

Clovis Not Ready for Historic District

The Clovis council wants to give the concept of a historical preservation district more time.

At Monday’s meeting, staff presented options on what the district would look like and what it would do. Namely, it would create a framework to preserve historic buildings (minimum 75 years). The Clovis-Big Dry Creek Historic Society first asked the city to create such a district and/or committee in 2022.

The proposed one square-mile district is roughly bounded by Sierra, Minnewawa, Sunnyside, and Barstow avenues.

Several residents spoke at the meeting unsure if this was the best idea. Some were concerned about another layer of government regulation. Others debated on who should serve on the potential committee.

Ashbeck expressed concerned for the future of Old Town Clovis, but believes more work needs to be done to create a formal committee or district.

Other councilmembers liked the concept of preserving historic spaces but want to work on the details.