FRESNO, CA (KMJ) -With a 51.81 percent vote over challenger Andrew Janz, Mayoral candidate Jerry Dyer has won the race for mayor.
The latest returns from the Fresno County Elections office show Dyer with an 11,000 vote advantage– totaling 51.81 percent to Janz’s 39.91 percent.
In a tweet Wednesday, Janz said he called Dyer to congratulate him, and concede the race.
A few minutes ago I called Jerry Dyer to concede and congratulate him. Thank you to all of my supporters and volunteers for believing in me and my campaign. Even though the race is over, I will never stop fighting for a more inclusive and prosperous Fresno. -AJ
— Andrew Janz (@JanzAndrew) March 11, 2020
Dyer, the former Fresno Police Department Chief, has expressed making homelessness a priority during his term in office.
Dyer says he wants to build navigation centers, tent-like shelters that would provide temporary housing for the homeless while providing a number of different services.
“A navigation center to me is a location, a centralized location that you bring people to, where you can provide them with services for mental health, a drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and you stabilize that individual,” Dyer said. “In this case, a navigation center would be sprung up structures like they have in San Diego, where you can house up to 100 people in each of those centers and it’s a temporary place to stay for say 90 days.”
Dyer said the purpose is to centralize services in one place for these individuals and then help them transition into more permanent housing.
Dyer has faced backlash from several city councilmembers who say they don’t want these navigation centers in their districts.
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
