Questions arise on residency of a Fresno Unified trustee

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- New documents obtained by Action News cast doubt on Fresno Unified board member Tony Vang's eligibility to serve in his position. Tony Vang has served on the board since 2002.

Paperwork provided to us by the Fresno County Clerk's Office shows that over the past 10 years, Vang has registered under various addresses, including one outside his district.

The home in question is located on Goshen Avenue in Northeast Fresno, but is part of the Clovis Unified School District.

Tony Vang represents the McLane High School area of the Fresno Unified School District.

According to documents provided to Action News by the Fresno County Clerk's Office, Vang changed his voter registration to the Goshen address in Clovis Unified in 2007.

During the February 2008 presidential primary election, he was still registered there, but cast a provisional ballot at a polling place in the Fresno Unified District.

For the June 2008 primary, he sent in a vote by mail ballot using the Goshen address, and was still registered there during the November 2008 general election.

By phone, Vang defended himself, saying the information is wrong and misleading.

"I never sent a form on the Goshen address. I always consistently sent the form on the Garland address as well as the Fountain Way."

The documents from the clerk's office shows Vang reregistered at the Garland address in 2010, and re-registered again using a Fountain Way address in 2011.

Vang admits spending time with family members who live on Goshen Avenue. But, he claims to reside in this Central Fresno home within the Fresno Unified School District.

During an interview on Wednesday, he told Action News he was forced to move here, after he went into foreclosure.

Dr. Tony Vang said, "I had to make a decision, whether to keep my kid in school or pull my son out of school and keep my house."

"Do you think there's a cover-up here?

Michelle Asadoorian, a Fresno Unified board member said, It looks like there's a very likely potential of a cover-up and that's what I need to get the bottom of next."

Fellow board member Michelle Asadoorian has called for a special meeting on Vang's residency issue. She wants to launch a private investigation into where Vang really lives. As of right now, she's not convinced Vang is telling the truth.

"As elected officials, we are supposed to have the pulse on the ground to know what's going on in our parts of town. And now I understand why the McLane area is on fire because their elected official doesn't live there."

We reached out to the Fresno Unified spokesperson, who said they would not be releasing a statement on the matter.

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