Garry Bredefeld speaks at a Tuesday news conference, joined by (from left) Andrew Janz, Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza. Photo by Frank Lopez

Members of the Fresno City Council are calling for more government transparency and accountability regarding infectious disease laboratories in the city.

Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Miguel Arias and council President Nelson Esparza held a news conference Tuesday to discuss their proposed Infectious Disease Lab Accountability and Transparency ordinance.

The proposal will be brought to the Aug. 24 regular Fresno City Council meeting.

The ordinance would require so-called infectious disease labs like the illegal biological medical lab recently discovered in Reedley to have all appropriate permits, local, federal and state licensing, and for the public to be fully informed about the lab in order to operate.

“We at every level of government must be more hypervigilant and enact better safeguards to ensure the safety of the public,” Bredefeld said.

Any person or entity intending to operate such labs will be required to get permits through the city planning director, which would then inform the city council within 30 days of receiving a notice of intention.

Residents and businesses within 1,000 feet of the proposed lab location must be informed by the city no later than 15 days prior to the planning director approving any conditional use permit or zone clearance for an infectious disease lab.

Any person or entity willfully violating the provisions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to a year in county jail and a $1,000 fine.

“The City of Fresno has a mandatory interest and responsibility for the placement of our city’s plans and the quality of life that residents enjoy, and that is now going to include the hazardous risk of locating an infectious diseases laboratory within our city limits,” Esparza said.

Infectious diseases listed in the ordinance include Tuberculosis, Polio, Chickenpox, Cholera, Rubella, HIV/AIDS, Anthrax and more.

Arias said that there needs to be transparency with local government to gain the public’s trust.

“The City of Fresno will not allow the county’s or the supervisors’ response to this lab be the standard for how we manage these types of labs within the city jurisdiction. We will not allow the standard of keeping it secret from the public, the misinformation that they engaged in, and the finger pointing…,” Arias said.

The lab previously operated in Fresno, with reports of code violations there, a fact not lost on Supervisor Steve Brandau in response to the councilmembers’ news conference.

“This lab spent over 3 years in the City of Fresno (with dire warnings from then-Fire Chief Kerri Donis) while only a couple months in Reedley. The City of Fresno should consider the words of Jesus, ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’”

Arias said that if residents have the right to know when a restaurant gets a liquor license, or if a cannabis dispensary is proposed for their neighborhood, then they have a right to know about an infectious disease lab — and if operations are permitted and safe.  

Arias said the city will be receiving a list of all the toxic materials permits that the county has awarded within the City of Fresno, which will then be given to code enforcement to engage in proactive inspections to ensure the permits are being utilized in method in which they were received.

The ordinance also assumes the responsibility of the property owner as well as the business operating in the facility.