FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Fresno City Council Member Garry Bredefeld says he wants to shine a light on what he calls City Hall’s incompetence when it comes to the dealings with a developer.
Bredefeld says Granite Park Developer Terance Frazier filed a claim with the City wanting more taxpayer money for the South Stadium Project.
At a press conference held Tuesday at Fresno City Hall, Bredefeld told media it comes after the City found numerous problems with the finances in an audit released in January of 2019.
The District 6 Council Member said nothing has been formally rectified with the City, yet Bredefeld says Frazier was given $150,000 as part of the lease agreement for Granite Park, and 3 of 5 council members voted on August 15, 2019 to award Frazier nearly $700,000.
Bredefeld said features of Granite Park that were promised when the contract was signed in 2015, have also not been completed, yet Frazier asked the city for more money.
“The majority of Council was not aware that he (Frazier) had filed claims against the City for $10 million dollars of taxpayer money, feeling that he has been hurt by the fact that audit has been done and released,” said Council Member Bredefeld.
City Spokesman Mark Standriff responded on Tuesday after the press conference to what Bredefeld calls City Hall’s failure to protect taxpayer money.
“Well, I think you’ve got a couple of different projects that are entirely different, each one of them are different entities and should stand on their own merits,” said Standriff.
“The claims against the City are 100% unfounded and there’s not a single molecule of truth in anything there,” Standriff continued “but we also know that we have an obligation to the taxpayers to try work with the operator to make sure there’s not just substantial compliance but total compliance.”
Bredefeld says Council needs to hold a special meeting and take another vote with all the facts in front of them.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
