Follow the Money: Who Is Really Funding Measure S - and Why?

Measure S asks Fresno County taxpayers to make a 30-year commitment through 2057.

Before making that commitment, voters deserve to know more than what the measure promises to accomplish. They should also know who financed the effort to put Measure S before them, where that money ultimately came from, and what interests the organizations financing the campaign have in the policies contained in the measure.

Campaign-finance reports covering January through June show that the Measure S campaign raised approximately $1.35 million.

The largest contributor by far was the Central Valley Community Foundation (CVCF), with $810,000.

The North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters Issues PAC contributed $250,000, and Fund for a Better Future contributed $150,000.

Since then, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability reportedly contributed $75,000, and Kathryn “Kat” Taylor contributed $20,000.

Those names appear on campaign reports. But they lead to another question:

Where did the money behind those organizations come from, and why are they investing so heavily in Measure S?

Follow CVCF's $810,000

CVCF deserves particular scrutiny because it is not a traditional political action committee. It is a 501(c)(3) charitable community foundation.

Federal law does not prohibit a 501(c)(3) organization from supporting or opposing a ballot measure. The IRS treats ballot-measure advocacy as lobbying rather than prohibited candidate-election activity, subject to applicable lobbying limitations.

So this is not an accusation that CVCF violated the law. It is a question of transparency.

California campaign-finance law contains disclosure requirements for multipurpose organizations, including nonprofits, when they engage in certain levels and types of political spending.

But there is an important distinction between meeting the minimum requirements of campaign-finance law and providing complete transparency to the public.

Even if CVCF is not legally required to disclose every underlying donor, what prevents it from voluntarily telling Fresno County taxpayers exactly which CVCF account or funding source supplied its Measure S contributions?

More Than Writing a Check?

CVCF's involvement also appears to extend beyond simply making a contribution.

CVCF maintains a Better Roads. Safe Streets. page on its own website. In August, the foundation used that page to urge people to submit letters supporting legislation connected with allowing Measure S to go before voters.

The page carries the Measure S campaign disclaimer and identifies CVCF, the North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters and Fund for a Better Future as the campaign's top funders.

CVCF also publicly celebrated Measure S qualifying for the November ballot.

News reports have further reported that CVCF paid former Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau $8,000 per month and consultant Cary Catalano $4,000 per month for work supporting Measure S.

That deserves additional explanation.

What exactly has CVCF's role been? Did CVCF help develop Measure S? Did it participate in deciding its transportation priorities? Did it participate in campaign strategy? Who decided CVCF should commit more than $800,000 to this effort? What portion of CVCF's staff time, consultants and other resources has been devoted to Measure S? And what charitable purpose does CVCF believe is advanced by this level of ballot-measure involvement?

Nearly Half a Million Dollars to Gather Signatures

Measure S did not arrive on the ballot through volunteers alone.

Campaign records show approximately $490,000 was paid to The Outreach Team, an Ithaca, New York-based company specializing in signature gathering, to help qualify Measure S.

The campaign submitted 32,562 signatures. Fresno County ultimately found 22,205 valid signatures after reviewing them.

That means a substantial portion of the campaign's early money was spent simply getting Measure S onto the ballot.

CVCF supplied the majority of the campaign's early financing.

That raises another straightforward question: Without CVCF's $810,000, would Measure S have had the financial resources necessary to qualify for the ballot?

What Motivates the Other Funders?

The other major contributors deserve examination too.

The North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters Issues PAC contributed $250,000. The organization represents tens of thousands of construction workers.

Measure S would finance billions of dollars of transportation construction over three decades.

Does the union anticipate that Measure S-funded projects will generate work for its members? If so, voters deserve to understand that interest when evaluating the organization's financial support.

Fund for a Better Future contributed $150,000.

Its California director, Alfredo Gonzalez, publicly explained that the organization works on conservation, climate and community issues. In discussing Measure S, he connected improved transit with reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, limiting sprawl and protecting open space.

That gives voters useful information. It also raises an important question: Are some organizations supporting Measure S primarily because Fresno County needs road repairs, or because the measure advances broader climate, transit and land-use objectives?

Those motivations are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But taxpayers should understand the policy interests of the organizations financing the campaign.

CVCF's Broader Climate and Regional Planning Work

CVCF is also involved in major regional planning initiatives.

It serves as the regional convener and fiscal agent for the Sierra San Joaquin Jobs Initiative, covering Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties and funded through California Jobs First.

That initiative is developing a regional economic plan involving more than 100 organizations and includes climate-related economic transition and clean-energy planning.

CVCF has also received outside philanthropic funding.

Public nonprofit records identify a $1 million grant from the Waverley Street Foundation to CVCF for “Regional Planning Support.”

Waverley Street Foundation describes itself as focused on climate solutions.

One of its current senior program officers, Geri Yang, previously served as CVCF's Senior Fellow for Climate Equity and helped lead development of what Waverley describes as the Central Valley's first community-led, climate-forward regional investment plan.

None of these facts proves that Waverley Street's $1 million financed Measure S. I have found no documentation establishing that connection.

But that absence leads directly back to the transparency question: If CVCF receives millions of dollars from foundations, government programs, donors and donor-advised funds while simultaneously spending hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting a ballot measure, shouldn't taxpayers be able to determine which pool of money paid for the political activity?

CVCF Also Acts as a Financial Intermediary

There is another reason source-of-funds transparency matters.

Public records show CVCF has acted as a fiscal intermediary for the California Partners Project, founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

California FPPC records identify donations directed through CVCF specifically to support that project, including $100,000 from Vanguard Charitable and $80,000 from the Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Fund in 2026.

That does not mean those funds were used for Measure S. There is no evidence I have found connecting those donations to the Measure S campaign.

But it demonstrates something important about how a community foundation can operate: money can enter the organization from outside donors for specifically designated purposes.

That makes identifying the actual source of the $810,000 used for Measure S even more important.

Was it CVCF's own unrestricted money? Was it generated from investments? Did one donor provide it? Did several donors provide it? Was it transferred from another CVCF fund?

The public should not have to guess.

The Mystery Poll

There is another unanswered campaign-finance question.

In August, Fresno County residents received a detailed political survey conducted by Luce Research.

The poll asked respondents about Measure S and another sales-tax proposal, political ideology, the 2024 presidential election and arguments for and against the measures.

It also tested how much respondents trusted various people and organizations, including former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, Clovis Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck, labor unions, public-safety professionals and Dr. Carmela Sosa, a CVCF board member.

Luce Research reportedly declined to identify its client, and the Measure S campaign would not say whether it commissioned the poll.

Who paid for it? Was it the Measure S committee? Was it CVCF? Was it another organization? And if the poll was connected to Measure S, why wasn't the sponsor voluntarily identified when questions were raised?

Campaign-finance reports may eventually provide the answer.

Transparency Should Go Beyond What Is Legally Required

The September 24 campaign-finance filing should provide another opportunity to follow the money.

We should know how much additional money has entered the campaign, who supplied it, what CVCF contributed after June 30, who was paid for polling, consulting, advertising and voter outreach, and whether additional organizations are financing the effort.

But regardless of what campaign-finance law technically requires, Fresno County taxpayers can ask for a higher standard.

Measure S asks the public to entrust billions of dollars to a transportation program lasting until 2057.

The organizations promoting that commitment should be willing to provide taxpayers with clear answers about their own financial involvement.

Legal compliance is one standard. Public transparency is another.

Fresno County taxpayers deserve both.