A local nonprofit has lost its lawsuit against the City of Fresno regarding litigation fees from a Measure P lawsuit in 2019.

On May 23, Fresno Superior Court Judge Robert M. Whalen ruled against Fresno Building Healthy Communities (FBHC), awarding the group $290,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, according to a news release from Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.

The nonprofit sought more than $600,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.

Measure P is a sales tax initiative approved by voters in 2018 to ensure Fresno neighborhoods receive funding to improve and maintain city parks and facilities, and create new parks and trails and fund recreation, community and arts programs.

It passed receiving 52% of the vote and was thought to have failed because it did not meet the 2/3 threshold.

The FBHC then sued in 2019, arguing that the 2/3 requirement only applied to measures placed on the ballot by a government body and that Measure P only needed a simple majority vote.

Measure P went into effect in 2021.

According to Whalen’s order, the attorneys representing the nonprofit authored and drafted Measure P with a 2/3 vote approval requirement.

The City of Fresno argued that the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association drove up most of the litigation costs and were primarily responsible for FBHC’s legal expenses.

In his order, Whalen criticized FBHC’s attorneys for taking two “contrary and incompatible” positions during the Measure P campaign.

Those same attorneys sued the city for following the requirement they wrote after the city initially declared the measure failed.

Whalen called the FBCH attorney request as “topsy turvy” and noted that a lesser award was ordered for that reason.

City Attorney Janz said in a statement he found the outcome fair and applauded Whalen for his order.

“It is a true mystery to me why FBHC and their attorneys would enter into an agreement with Howard Jarvis to not seek attorneys fees from them, when they were the primary drivers of FBHC’s litigation expenses,” Janz said. “It is my hope that this litigation is at an end and that the City of Fresno will be allowed to continue to implement Measure P as it was intended.”