Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Did Chavez Use Public Funds to Support Wife's Campaign? Arambula Asks for Probe
Edward Smith updated website photo 2024
By Edward Smith
Published 15 hours ago on
March 12, 2025

A complaint alleges former Fresno City Councilmember and current Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez used taxpayer funds to help pay for his wife Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas' campaign to fill his vacated seat. (GV Wire Composite/Paul Marshall)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Former California Assemblymember Juan Arambula and a well-known community activist say there is “substantial reason to believe” that former Fresno city councilmember and current county supervisor Luis Chavez used taxpayer funds to support his wife’s campaign for his vacated seat.

Chavez is married to Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, a Fresno Unified trustee who is running for Fresno City Council District 5 in a special election.

Arambula and Luisa Medina, a community activist and former Fresno Unified trustee, are calling on Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz to investigate Chavez.

A letter to Janz from Arambula and Medina claims that Chavez directed his staff to do campaign work, used his district newsletter to promote Jonasson Rosas, and contracted with political consultant Alex Tavlian, who is also editor of the online news site The San Joaquin Valley Sun.

Calls made by GV Wire to Tavlian were not returned. Jonasson Rosas declined to comment for the story. A call to Janz was not returned.

“I am writing to formally request your office investigate violations of the California Political Reform Act,” the letter stated. “Based on publicly available information, there is substantial reason to believe that the former District 5 Council Member unlawfully used City resources to distribute a taxpayer-funded newsletter for the benefit of his wife, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, to aid her candidacy for Fresno City Council District 5.”

Chavez rebutted the allegations in the letter and said “no city funds were used for political purposes in the district.”

He went on to say that the newsletter celebrated the opening of a health center in the Calwa community and also was intended to assure residents that their needs would be taken care of after Chavez moved on to the Board of Supervisors.

“There are phone numbers in the newsletter to report illegal dumping and loose dogs and to have trees trimmed and potholes filled, those sort of things,” Chavez said. “The newsletter was not mailed; it was handed to every single resident in the surrounding neighborhoods to let them know the health clinic was open and accepting new patients there.”

Asked his reaction to having Arambula and Medina, both Democrats like Chavez, seek the investigation, the supervisor said, “Juan is someone I consider a pioneer and a friend. It breaks my heart to see him engaging in mudslinging. We need to be working with each other, not cannibalizing each other.”

Complaint: City Employees Distribute Newsletter Featuring Jonasson Rosas

City documents show Chavez paid for two $100,000 contracts to Tavlian’s group Local Government Strategic Consulting with district funds. The contract was for “strategic communications and public relations.”

A city council resolution prohibits spending more than $100,000 with a single contractor in a fiscal year without council approval.

Contracts between Tavlian and Chavez’s city council office go back several years. Sources have told GV Wire about contracts between Tavlian and at least one other councilmember. GV Wire has filed a Public Records Act request with the city of Fresno for those contracts.

The contracts with Tavlian include reimbursement for data subscriptions, mass-texting subscriptions, and print, television, radio, or outdoor media placements.

The second contract, made after Chavez secured his win for Fresno County Supervisor, extends through the end of 2025.

“Why would I sign a contract if I’m not going to be around to execute it,” Medina commented to GV Wire about the 2025 contract.

One high-quality District 5 newsletter made by Tavlian — the complaint alleges — distributed throughout the community prominently featured Jonasson Rosas at the top.

Chavez addressed the placement of the photo featuring Jonasson Rosas on the newsletter’s cover: “She represents Calwa Elementary on the school board and worked on the agreement for students to get care at the health clinic. She was part of the celebration event.”

Political Consultant Jason Carns Responds

The complaint also alleges Chavez used part-time staffers to distribute the newsletter. The paid political consultant for Chavez and Jonasson Rosas, Jason Carns, directed the newsletter’s distribution, according to the letter.

Carns told GV Wire that he has not “directed any drops of any kind at Fresno City Hall during Elizabeth’s City Council campaign. Any claim to the contrary is 100% false.”

California law prohibits the use of public funds for campaign-related mass mailings. As recently as Feb. 25, staffers in Chavez’s former council office were distributing the newsletter featuring the couple, according to the complaint sent to Janz. Chavez vacated his seat in January. The special election will be on Tuesday, March 18.

“These violations are not minor oversights,” the letter states. “We are concerned that City funds have been used for improper campaign-related activities. A deliberate misuse of public resources justifies scrutiny and remedial action to prevent further violations and to promote fair elections and election integrity.”

In addition to Jonasson Rosas, the other candidates for the District 5 seat are Sanger Unified trustee Brandon Vang, nonprofit leader Jose Leon Barraza, Paul Condon, and write-in candidate Nickolas Wildstar.

The front a City Hall communication in January 2025 from outgoing councilmember Luis Chavez to District 5 residents that features an image of Chavez and his wife, Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas, a Fresno Unified School Board trustee who is running for Chavez’s former District 5 seat. The message was produced at taxpayer expense. (City of Fresno)

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

SpaceX Delays Flight to Replace NASA’s Stuck Astronauts After Launch Pad Problem

DON'T MISS

49ers Cut 2 More Players, Increasing Dead Cap Charge to More Than $86 Million

DON'T MISS

Did Chavez Use Public Funds to Support Wife’s Campaign? Arambula Asks for Probe

DON'T MISS

Two Men Identified as Suspects in Fresno County 2016 Double Homicide

DON'T MISS

Fresno Candidate Brandon Vang and Wife May Lee Emotionally Respond to Attack Mailer

DON'T MISS

Chargers Sign Former Steelers Running Back Najee Harris and Cornerback Donte Jackson

DON'T MISS

After Fresno Unified Student Dies, District Punishes Whistleblower: Lawsuit

DON'T MISS

USDA Ends Program That Helped Schools Serve Food From Local Farmers

DON'T MISS

Military Leaders Warn of Risks to Armed Forces’ Readiness in Temporary Funding Bill

DON'T MISS

Education Dept. Layoffs Gut Its Civil Rights Office, Leaving Discrimination Cases in Limbo

UP NEXT

49ers Cut 2 More Players, Increasing Dead Cap Charge to More Than $86 Million

UP NEXT

Did Chavez Use Public Funds to Support Wife’s Campaign? Arambula Asks for Probe

UP NEXT

Two Men Identified as Suspects in Fresno County 2016 Double Homicide

UP NEXT

Fresno Candidate Brandon Vang and Wife May Lee Emotionally Respond to Attack Mailer

UP NEXT

Chargers Sign Former Steelers Running Back Najee Harris and Cornerback Donte Jackson

UP NEXT

After Fresno Unified Student Dies, District Punishes Whistleblower: Lawsuit

UP NEXT

USDA Ends Program That Helped Schools Serve Food From Local Farmers

UP NEXT

Military Leaders Warn of Risks to Armed Forces’ Readiness in Temporary Funding Bill

UP NEXT

Education Dept. Layoffs Gut Its Civil Rights Office, Leaving Discrimination Cases in Limbo

UP NEXT

Trump to Name Michelle Bowman as Top Bank Regulator at Federal Reserve

Edward Smith,
Multimedia Journalist
Edward Smith began reporting for GV Wire in May 2023. His reporting career began at Fresno City College, graduating with an associate degree in journalism. After leaving school he spent the next six years with The Business Journal, doing research for the publication as well as covering the restaurant industry. Soon after, he took on real estate and agriculture beats, winning multiple awards at the local, state and national level. You can contact Edward at 559-440-8372 or at Edward.Smith@gvwire.com.

Two Men Identified as Suspects in Fresno County 2016 Double Homicide

16 hours ago

Fresno Candidate Brandon Vang and Wife May Lee Emotionally Respond to Attack Mailer

16 hours ago

Chargers Sign Former Steelers Running Back Najee Harris and Cornerback Donte Jackson

16 hours ago

After Fresno Unified Student Dies, District Punishes Whistleblower: Lawsuit

16 hours ago

USDA Ends Program That Helped Schools Serve Food From Local Farmers

16 hours ago

Military Leaders Warn of Risks to Armed Forces’ Readiness in Temporary Funding Bill

16 hours ago

Education Dept. Layoffs Gut Its Civil Rights Office, Leaving Discrimination Cases in Limbo

17 hours ago

Trump to Name Michelle Bowman as Top Bank Regulator at Federal Reserve

17 hours ago

Kuwait Frees a Group of Jailed Americans, Including Contractors Held on Drug Charges

17 hours ago

Senate Democrats Balk at Funding Extension, Raising the Risk of a Shutdown

17 hours ago

SpaceX Delays Flight to Replace NASA’s Stuck Astronauts After Launch Pad Problem

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NAS...

14 hours ago

14 hours ago

SpaceX Delays Flight to Replace NASA’s Stuck Astronauts After Launch Pad Problem

14 hours ago

49ers Cut 2 More Players, Increasing Dead Cap Charge to More Than $86 Million

15 hours ago

Did Chavez Use Public Funds to Support Wife’s Campaign? Arambula Asks for Probe

Jonathan Morales Ramos (left), 27, of Soledad, and Erik Madrigal Garcia, 26, of Orosi, have been arrested in connection with a 2016 gang-related double homicide near Reedley, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said. (Fresno County SO)
16 hours ago

Two Men Identified as Suspects in Fresno County 2016 Double Homicide

16 hours ago

Fresno Candidate Brandon Vang and Wife May Lee Emotionally Respond to Attack Mailer

16 hours ago

Chargers Sign Former Steelers Running Back Najee Harris and Cornerback Donte Jackson

16 hours ago

After Fresno Unified Student Dies, District Punishes Whistleblower: Lawsuit

16 hours ago

USDA Ends Program That Helped Schools Serve Food From Local Farmers

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

Search

Send this to a friend