California’s Craziest Political Drama…in a Town You’ve Never Heard Of
If you thought California politics couldn't get any more ridiculous than it already it, I have a story for you. Because today, we're taking a break from ballot propositions and are heading about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, to a tiny little city in the San Joaquin Valley called Avenal. I promise you, this is not a story I could have made up if I tried.
Today we're going to get into the entire saga: the fight over a fire department, transparency allegations, a recall election, and how Avenal ended up with two competing city governments. But as ridiculous as this story is, there are a few really important lessons underneath all of it that you need to be informed about.
City vs. County – Fire Edition
We have to start all the way at the beginning, because what sparked this entire controversy was a fight over funding for Avenal’s local fire service.
Avenal is a small city in Kings County, in the Kettleman Plain of the San Joaquin Valley, about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It’s one of four incorporated cities in the county, alongside Hanford, Lemoore, and Corcoran – and at just under 14,000 residents, it’s by far the smallest.[1]
Avenal is known as the “Pistachio Capital of the World” and an “Oasis in the Sun.” It’s also home to Avenal State Prison, which is a pretty significant part of the local economy, and accounts for more than a quarter of the city’s population.[2]
So, just to set the scene: this is a very small, rural, agricultural town, with a relatively limited tax base and a major local employer that is, somewhat ironically, a state prison. That context matters, because Avenal has historically relied on Kings County for its fire protection. Going all the way back to 2012, the city had a contract with the county for the Kings County Fire Department to provide fire services to Avenal. The arrangement was subsidized: Avenal paid a set amount toward the cost of its fire protection, while the county absorbed the remaining operating costs.
By 2024-25, Avenal was paying about $450,000 a year directly to the county for that service. But then, in 2025, the city got some pretty shocking news. The county proposed increasing Avenal’s annual payment to nearly $1.1 million.[3] That's an increase of roughly $650,000 in a single year, or about 144 percent!
That is where this entire saga begins. Avenal’s city government looked at that increase and was obviously hesitant about paying it. I feel like that’s understandable! As a small government, trying to absorb an unforeseen increase of over 100 percent is no small thing.
From Avenal’s perspective, they were saying “We're a small, financially constrained city. We've had this arrangement for years, and you're suddenly asking us to more than double our payment without giving us more service.” From the County perspective, they were saying, “You've been paying a subsidized rate for years. Fire protection costs money, and we're asking you to pay more of the actual cost.”
So, what solution did Avenal propose to this? Naturally, they decided to start their own fire department. The city formally introduced Ordinance 2025-03 on September 11, 2025, as the first formal step toward establishing the Avenal Fire Department.[4]
Resident Backlash
The thing to understand is that “starting a fire department” does not mean buying a fire truck and hiring a couple firefighters.
If you're going to take over responsibility for protecting an entire city, because fire services anywhere in California are extremely important, you have to build an actual public-safety organization from the ground up. This means the city needed trained personnel, leadership, equipment, a station and facilities, communications and dispatch, policies and procedures, training, emergency medical capabilities, fire prevention, administrative support, and agreements with neighboring agencies for mutual aid. And, most importantly, you also need people there to respond when somebody calls 911.
The problem is, the city’s original proposal was for a City-Operated Volunteer Fire Department.[5] Yes, VOLUNTEER. The city's May 2025 proposal called for an Interim Fire Chief and Battalion Chief, along with recruiting and onboarding volunteer firefighters. The city would need to acquire a Type 3 fire engine, a water tender, communications equipment, protective gear, and other firefighting equipment. They also planned to renovate part of the old Avenal hospital to serve as the fire department's facility.
The city estimated costs to be up to $350,000 per year in personnel costs, another $400,000 to $500,000 to renovate the facility, and $300,000 to $400,000 in equipment costs. So, even the volunteer version of this department was potentially looking at roughly $700,000 to $900,000 in upfront facility and equipment costs, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to operate.
This caused residents to wholeheartedly, and loudly, reject this plan.
Remember what had just happened! The county had told Avenal they had to pay more for fire services, Avenal said this was too expensive, and decided to cut the contract with the county. But now the city was proposing a plan that would require hundreds of thousands of dollars – potentially approaching a million dollars just to get started – to create an entirely new fire department.
There are also obvious concerns about a volunteer fire department. Will volunteers be reliable? Who will respond, if anyone, in cases of emergencies? What happens if a fire becomes extremely challenging to battle – will a volunteer force really be effective? Are they just spending more money for worse fire services?
On top of that, residents were outraged that the city was not transparent with them about the plan, and did not involve the public in the decision, before moving away from using the county’s firefighting resources. One resident, Ginger Wallis, said, “They won't listen to what the community says. They're just too comfortable in what they're doing, thinking that this city is like their gym to play and have fun, and it's not. You got people's lives at stake here.”[6]
In summary, if Avenal paid the higher price to the county, it would be asking residents to accept that cost increase, likely in the form of higher taxes. But with this new fire department project, they were being asked to trust their city government to spend even more money to build something completely new, without their input or consent, with their lives and homes at stake. While the over-100-percent-price-increase sounds bad, in perspective, it doesn’t seem quite as outrageous as that second option. At the end of the day, people in Avenal were not convinced that this was the right move.
Time for a Recall!
This is where the story gets even crazier – because the residents actually recalled their leaders.
The transparency issue had become a core concern for residents. The fire department was the spark that eventually led many residents to completely lose trust in their representatives to run the city. And what happens when you no longer trust your elected officials? You recall them.
But there was more happening behind the scenes that fueled those concerns. In January of this year, the Kings County District Attorney actually sued the City of Avenal, alleging that the city council had violated the Brown Act. The Brown Act is a California law designed to protect the public's right to attend government meetings, participate in local government decision-making, and prevent public officials from conducting government business behind closed doors.[7]
The allegations against Avenal were pretty significant. The county argued that the city council had made major decisions about its fire services without adequately involving the public – including withdrawing from county fire services, planning an entirely new city fire department, and moving forward with hiring consultants and purchasing equipment.[8]
Now, to be clear, the public does not get to vote on every decision made by a city council. That's not how representative government works. The issue here was transparency. The allegation was essentially that the council was making enormous decisions that would have significant financial consequences for the city without giving residents the opportunity to know what was happening and participate in the process.
Whether the residents think the council's fire department plan was a good idea or a terrible idea, they had a right to know about it. Since the city did not let them in on those decisions, people started wondering what else could be happening that they didn’t know about.
Back in July of 2025, months before the county filed its lawsuit, Avenal resident Dalilah Barajas filed recall notices targeting four of Avenal's five city councilmembers, including the mayor. Barajas was very clear about what motivated the recall. She said: “The fact that this administration believes that they don't have to give us proper information or the right information, it just makes it a lot harder for us to trust them.”[9]
She described the problem as a “lack of transparency” and a “lack of accountability,” and said residents were trying to save their city from the misuse of funds.[10]
Apparently, a LOT of Avenal residents agreed with her! Because on April 28, 2026, they went to the polls and just completely annihilated the city council. All four of the city's five councilmembers on the ballot were recalled. And it wasn’t even close! More than 75% of voters voted to remove each of the four officials.[11] Seventy-five percent! Three out of four voters told their leaders they would not stand for the way they were being represented. Only one councilmember legally remains as a reprentative of Avenal.
At this point, you might reasonably assume the story is over. After all, the voters spoke, the officials were recalled, and the results were certified: they were out.
And that would be the case, except...they didn't leave.
Two City Councils
This is where the story moves into sitcom territory. This could seriously be a political drama.
The very same day the recall results were certified, the recalled councilmembers showed up for a city council meeting and continued conducting city business as though they had never been recalled. Is that not insane?? Voters literally told them, in a very unified way, that they were out. But they just kept going.
The city council is claiming that the recall election itself was invalid, because they believe Kings County did not have the legal authority to conduct the election in the first place. The Avenal City Manager put it this way, “The county keeps trying to find ways to usurp the city’s authority but that’s not going to fly. The city never sanctioned or requested for this recall to happen.”[12]
This dispute had been brewing throughout the recall process itself. The city had argued that the county needed authorization from Avenal to conduct a municipal recall election, and that authorization had never properly been given. But a Fifth Appellate District Court had denied the city's appeal to stop the recall election of its mayor ahead of the election, authorizing it to move forward as it did.[13]
Regardless of that, the city is still arguing that the election wasn't legally authorized, which means the election results cannot remove the councilmembers from office. So, the recalled city councilmembers are still meeting in City Hall as normal.
Meanwhile, remember that one councilmember was not recalled – Richard Verdugo. He is still sitting on the Avenal City Council. And so, while all this madness is happening, HE has started holding his OWN city council meetings! He can’t hold them in City Hall since the recalled members are still meeting there, so he is holding meetings in an elementary school cafeteria, with residents sitting on little elementary-school benches.
The best part – the BEST PART – of all of this, is that at one of these meetings, Verdugo appointed himself as the new mayor of Avenal. He made the motion, he seconded the motion, and because he as the only councilmember present – he passed the motion. I am dying of laughter as I write this. You have recalled officials holding illegitimate meetings in City Hall, and at the same time you have the only legitimate councilmember electing HIMSELF as mayor in a school cafeteria. Is the Central Valley…okay?? What is going on in the farmland between LA and SF? It’s the wild west out there!
As mayor, Verdugo is now looking to fill the four vacant seats – that aren’t really vacant but should be – on city council. One person running for a seat is Dalilah Barajas, the very woman who kicked off the recall in the first place.[14]
So, now Avenal essentially has two governments running the city, in opposition to one another. Meaning this battle still isn't over – far from it actually! Avenal voters are scheduled to vote on those four seats again in November, while the courts are simultaneously trying to determine whether the people currently occupying those seats were actually removed by the April recall.[15] So, Avenal could literally be headed toward another election for seats that two different factions are currently claiming to control.
So, Why Does Any of This Matter?
Okay. So why did I just spend an entire episode telling you about a tiny city in the middle of California where two different groups are apparently claiming to be the city council? Besides the fact that this is absolutely hilarious?
I actually think there are some really important lessons here. The first is that local government matters. A LOT.
We tend to think about politics in terms of our state. I talk about state laws and policies, state leaders like the Governor – and those things obviously matter! But most of the government that directly affects your everyday life is happening much closer to home.
It's your city council deciding how your tax dollars are spent. It's your county deciding how services are provided. It's your local government deciding who responds when your house is on fire. It's the people sitting in a city council meeting deciding whether to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a new program, whether to contract with another government agency, and how transparent they're going to be with the people paying for it.
And that brings me to what I think is the biggest lesson here: local government requires trust. There has to be a baseline assumption that the people in charge are going to tell you what they're doing, follow the rules, and ultimately respect the will of the people who elected them. Avenal is a perfect example of how when trust is eroded, things unravel unto chaos.
This is a really good reminder of something as we head toward the November election. We're going to be spending a lot of time talking about the statewide propositions that are going to be on your ballot. And those are important! We're going to break them down, talk about what they actually do, who's behind them, what they could cost, and why you should care.
But don't make the mistake of thinking that those are the only things you're voting on. Your ballot is going to look different depending on where you live. There may be city council races, county races, school board races, local bonds, or special taxes.
So, as November gets closer, I really want to encourage you to remember the local issues, as well as the statewide ones. To be resolved in who you are voting for Governor, yes, but to also remember that the local elections matter even more for your day-to-day life and community.
And if Avenal teaches us anything, it’s that you might want to know who's sitting on your city council before they start holding competing meetings in your local elementary school cafeteria.
References:
[1] United States Census Bureau. “Quick Facts: Avenal City, California,” July 1, 2025. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/avenalcitycalifornia/PST045225.
[2] City of Avenal. “History of Avenal,” n.d. https://www.cityofavenal.gov/386/History-of-Avenal.
[3] Kennedy, Samantha. “There’s a Political Power Struggle in the City of Avenal.” KQED, July 27, 2026. https://www.kqed.org/news/12092676/theres-a-political-power-struggle-in-the-city-of-avenal.
[4] City of Avenal, “Ordinance 25-03,” September 17, 2025, https://www.cityofavenal.gov/515/Ordinance-25-03.
[5] City of Avenal, “REGULAR CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY/PFA MEETING AGENDA,” May 22, 2025, https://www.cityofavenal.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05222025-471.
[6] Linden, Jonathan. “‘Lives at Stake’: A Fire Department Divides a California Town.” KVPR | Valley Public Radio, March 30, 2026. https://www.kvpr.org/government-politics/2026-03-29/lives-at-stake-a-fire-department-divides-a-california-town.
[7] State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General. “Open Meetings,” January 8, 2026. https://oag.ca.gov/open-meetings.
[8] Romero, Dania. “Kings County DA Sues Avenal for Alleged Brown Act Violations in Fire Department Decisions.” KMPH, January 13, 2026. https://kmph.com/news/local/kings-county-da-sues-avenal-for-alleged-brown-act-violations-in-fire-department-decisions.
[9] Torrea, Ana. “Recall Election Underway in Avenal Amid Dispute With Kings County.” ABC30 Fresno, April 28, 2026. https://abc30.com/post/recall-election-underway-avenal-amid-dispute-kings-county/18981107/.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Linden, Jonathan, and Kerry Klein. “In Avenal, Four of Five City Councilmembers Ousted in Citizen-led Recall Effort.” KVPR | Valley Public Radio, May 29, 2026. https://www.kvpr.org/2026-05-29/in-avenal-four-of-five-city-councilmembers-ousted-in-citizen-led-recall-effort.
[12] Madison Wilber, FOX26 News Staff. “Recalled City of Avenal Leaders Deny Recall Election Votes, Neighbors File Injunction.” KMPH, June 12, 2026. https://kmph.com/news/local/city-of-avenal-community-members-file-injunction-against-recalled-avenal-leaders.
[13] Colón, Brisa. “Court Clears Way for Avenal Recall Vote as Legal Fight Continues.” ABC30 Fresno, May 15, 2026. https://abc30.com/post/court-clears-avenal-recall-vote-legal-fight-continues/19102050/.
[14] Byus, Briana. “Avenal Community Members Begin Running for Recalled City Council Seats.” KSEE/KGPE, July 23, 2026. https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/avenal-councilman-declares-mayor/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KSEE24_News&fbclid=IwY2xjawToShdwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVNjQ3hRd0tpWElqZk5WUVhzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe-_DA-zMlVX22cXtcf--1tlr09tDgTiGE_uClT0XcVCLSngaQtcFIF2aTKxk_aem_23H6DPfXNWrYYsNnRE8j5g.
[15] Carlton, Jim. “This California Town Voted Its Council Out of Office. They’re Refusing to Leave.” The Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2026. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/this-california-town-voted-its-council-out-of-office-theyre-refusing-to-leave-4a9bb2f9.
