Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission board members are scheduled to conduct interviews with four chief executive officer finalists starting at 8 a.m. Monday, June 30, and then possibly make a selection and job offer by the end of that day, board chair Oliver Baines said at Monday evening’s meeting.

Baines did not identify the four candidates but said they will all be asked the same questions, with no follow-up questions permitted.

“From a board commissioner’s position, it’s probably one of the most important things that we do together, and this will be a very serious one,” he said. “So we’ll conduct our interviews in the morning. I assume, and I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that we as a commission can make a decision by that afternoon and hopefully be making an offer to one of the candidates.”

Finances in Disarray for Years

Fresno EOC, one of the nation’s oldest anti-poverty organizations, had been struggling with growing budget deficits and shrinking reserves for three years when the board decided not to renew the contract of the former CEO, Emilia Reyes, in December.

The board hired former CEO Brian Angus as interim CEO on a short-term contract that expires Monday — the same day as the candidate interviews.

Reyes was put on administrative leave in November after Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula wrote a letter to the commission expressing alarm at how the agency was “hemorrhaging” money. Arambula had appointed himself to the commission board to the seat formerly held by his mother, Amy, who said she was unable to get clear answers on the agency’s finances.

Joaquin Arambula pushed for a forensic audit of the agency’s finances that is now underway, although the commission decided to limit the audit only to 2024 spending.