At the January meeting of the Fresno County Democratic Central Committee (FCDCC), the body voted to keep in place a ban on having the Community Alliance newspaper in its headquarters that was originally passed in 2022. The 10-10 vote was decided by the chair, Ruben Zarate, who cast the tiebreaker. Three members abstained.
A few days after the meeting, one FCDCC member, Malcolm Gibson, resigned partly because of this curtailment of free speech.
The motion, presented by Dee Barnes and seconded by Gibson, a retired journalist, would have repealed the 2022 ban by allowing the Democratic Party HQ to be a distribution site for the Community Alliance newspaper and restarting the FCDCC’s sponsor page in the newspaper.
Speaking against the motion were two elected officials, Central Unified Trustee Nabil Kherfan and Fresno City Council Member Nelson Esparza, and Gail Gaston, the longest serving member of the FCDCC.
Speaking for the motion were Pat Brown, who had spoken in support of the ban in 2022; Gibson; and Jeni-Ann Kren, who is also chair of the Clovis Democratic Club.
After discussion and prior to the vote, Esparza suggested the motion be amended to allow distribution at the HQ but not include payment to the Community Alliance for a sponsor page. The motion was thus amended, but Esparza still voted no.
In 2022, the motion to implement the ban was put forward by Nav Gurm, at the time a staffer for Council Member Esparza and now a candidate for Fresno City Council himself in District 7. Coincidentally, Gurm has entered his name to return to the FCDCC for the seat Gibson is vacating.
Gurm’s motion asked “that the Central Committee end ties with the Community Alliance” unless the newspaper severed ties with one of its columnists about whom Gurm disapproved. The columnist in question has been critical of elected officials in Fresno County of both parties.
“Members of the Fresno County Democratic Central Committee were elected by the Democrats living in Fresno County to represent them and to help elect good Democrats to office,” said Barnes. “Members were not elected to represent local politicians or to protect them from uncomfortable questions or criticism.”
In his resignation letter, Gibson stated that “I cannot be part of an organization that sees free speech and the First Amendment as something of a smorgasbord—something from which you can pick and choose when you wish to apply it and ignore it when it suits you or you don’t have the courage to challenge.
“Banning the publication from our doorstep because of one columnist, an act again endorsed by this body, is not the appropriate response. It’s anti-Democratic. We’ve become Devin Nunes.
“Engaging in public debate is the only proper response, but that takes courage. Banning and censoring does not.”
Before the ban took effect in 2022, the Democratic Party HQ was one of the downtown distribution points for the Community Alliance newspaper. Moreover, the FCDCC promoted its work and agenda via a sponsor page in the newspaper.
“During the past 10 years, the ‘fourth estate’ has been under constant attack and criticism by Donald Trump and his supporters,” adds Barnes. “He has continually referred to all mainstream and progressive media and newspapers as ‘fake news’ and encouraged his supporters to boo and harass them.
“I am extremely disappointed that local politicians, their supporters and members of the Central Committee would choose to participate in censorship because they do not like the opinions of one contributor writing for the Community Alliance.
“I have read numerous editorials from various sources over the years that I disagreed with but never wanted to censor opposing views.
“I also frequently disagree with the positions and votes of elected officials that I supported and voted for. Our Party is very diverse, and we have a pretty broad spectrum of views on many issues. However, we need to respect different views and maintain communication.”
Barnes intended to pursue a reconsideration of the January vote at the FCDCC’s February meeting but was discouraged from doing so by colleagues who thought the votes still weren’t there to support free speech.
“The 2024 election highlights the need to network and work with organizations that share common beliefs and goals and to support and promote independent news,” says Barnes, “especially with the attacks against media and the threats to our vulnerable communities, government oversight, regulations, education, the justice system, healthcare, democracy and the undocumented.
“Censorship should never be the answer, especially for Democrats.”
Resignation from the Fresno County Democratic Party
(Editor’s note. Below is a letter of resignation from the Fresno County Democratic Central Committee (FCDCC) from Malcolm Gibson, who was elected to represent District 5 on the committee in 2024. Gibson is a journalist and a retired professor living in Clovis. On Feb. 10, Gibson forwarded his letter of resignation to the chair of the FCDCC, Ruben Zarate, and copied members of the county committee, the Community Alliance newspaper, the Fresno Bee and Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party.)
Effective with the receipt of this letter, I resign as a representative of District 5 to the Fresno County Democratic Central Committee.
As a lifelong Democrat, I do so reluctantly, but I feel compelled to do so for a variety of reasons.
I can no longer participate in an organization that, in my view, has failed, and continues to fail, to meet or even move toward what I think should be its main goal: ensuring that Fresno County is blue, not red. Democrats have held the advantage by a wide, though diminishing margin, for a long time. But the opposition is succeeding where we are not because they are more organized, more focused, more disciplined, more determined.
We also live on the edge of bankruptcy and continue to be mired in a “treading water” mentality—never moving to any significant degree toward finding solutions to the problems we face. The problem with a treading water mentality is that it gets you nowhere while expending a lot of energy.
Furthermore, I cannot be part of an organization that sees free speech and the First Amendment as something of a smorgasbord—something from which you can pick and choose when you wish to apply it and ignore it when it suits you or you don’t have the courage to challenge. Our recent actions regarding the Community Alliance newspaper are troubling, to say the least.
The proper response should have been this: address the issue publicly, providing answers and alternatives to those with whom you disagree. Banning the publication from our doorstep because of one columnist, an act again endorsed by this body, is not the appropriate response. It’s anti-Democratic. We’ve become Devin Nunes. Engaging in public debate is the only proper response, but that takes courage. Banning and censoring does not.
In the almost seven years since we moved here and my involvement in Democratic initiatives in Fresno County, and since my election to the Central Committee, we have not moved one inch, in my view, to bring about financial stability to this organization, a key to success and solving a host of problems.
For the past two years, in clear violation of the bylaws, we’ve not operated under a budget. And we again ignored the bylaws at last Wednesday’s meeting [Feb. 5] when, once again, no budget was presented as required. We need a budget; we need a detailed strategic plan that demands attention. We have neither. It’s no wonder that Fresno County is red.
Unfortunately, despite the intentions of many good people in this organization, I suspect it’s going to stay that way unless significant change takes place.
We couldn’t even get something as simple as our Web site fixed for far too long despite repeated requests to the administrator while his PAC raised hundreds of thousands of dollars—some of which has been to the benefit of people on this committee but not to this organization. His and his minions’ focus apparently was there, not on us.
All of this, by the way, is simply a reflection of a lack of leadership.
I have chatted with many members here for whom I have respect who agree with my assessment, but unfortunately their voices, as mine, fall on deaf ears or they are reluctant to press the issue for fear of retaliation. If I have a wish in my departure, it’s that enough fellow Democrats who sit on the committee have the moral courage to speak out for and insist on change—damn the consequences.
My desire has been and remains that Fresno County be blue, and reliably so. Only by making change happen in our own house will that important goal come to fruition.
Finally, I leave you with a quote from a legendary “Pogo” cartoon that I think encapsulates our situation more clearly than any words I might provide and, I hope, each member of this committee will give pause to ponder: “We have met the enemy, and he is us!”
I bid you adieu with the hope that you surprise me and prove me wrong.
—Malcolm Gibson
