Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza dropping defamation lawsuit against Garry Bredefeld

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno City Council President Nelson Esparza announced that he is dropping a defamation lawsuit against Garry Bredefeld.

In a statement, Esparza noted he decided to withdraw the lawsuit out of respect for taxpayers when he learned the City of Fresno would be legally defending Bredefeld any defamation lawsuit against him as an individual.

Esparza went on to say, "I love our city and will not sue the City of Fresno over my colleague's defamatory remarks. His antics have already cost enough taxpayer dollars."

In May, Bredefeld held a press conference where he claimed Esparza told city attorney Doug Sloan he could only work with councilmembers Esparza, Miguel Arias,Tyler Maxwell and Esmeralda Soria and should not listen to Bredefeld, Luis Chavez and Mike Karbassi or he would be fired.

Sloan later confirmed to Action News that he had an April 22 conversation with Esparza resembling Bredefeld's claim.

In his lawsuit against Bredefeld, Esparza confirmed he met with Sloan on April 22, which was the day after Sloan's employee performance evaluation.