CITY OF FRESNO
Office of Mayor Jerry Dyer & The Fresno City Council
WHEREAS, Alexan Balekian knew from the early age of 6 , what he wanted to do. After graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1994, he enrolled at Fresno State with an emphasis on broadcast journalism and started interning at KSEE24 with his mentors Orin Winnick and Raj Mathai; and
WHEREAS, After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism, his big break came in 2001 in a small market in Victoria, Texas as the weekend sports anchor. A year later Alexan accepted a job with Time Warner Cable as a sports anchor for their 24- hour news channel in San Antonio. In 2004 , he came home to Fresno launching Sports Central and Bulldog Insider forming the A-Team with Anthony Flores; and
WHEREAS, In 2009, Mr. Balekian joined KMJ as morning sports anchor and later became the sports director. There he launched the first FM sports talk show in Central California, No Static Sports and hosted Dog Talk. In 2013 his career took him to Phoenix to do radio and TV and in 2017 he reinvented his career turning to the world of news and politics. He headed east to Roanoke, Virginia to host a FOX news morning show and roam the halls of Capitol Hill. In 2018, KSEE24 lured Alexan back home to eventually become the primary news anchor and host of Sunday Morning Matters; and
WHEREAS, Alexan’s biggest honor was to return to KSEE24, marking a historic broadcasting milestone, of which two Armenians anchored the nightly news, a first in America; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Balekian’s career achievements were his first Emmy award for best evening newscast for coverage of the Creek Fire in 2021, honored multiple times by the Fresno County Farm Bureau for best Interview and TV coverage, received congressional recognition for Sunday Morning Matters from Representative John Duarte in 2023, and was nominated and honored as favorite sportscaster for Fresno Bee’s People Choice Awards; and
WHEREAS, Alexan is married to his wife Griselda who is a 4th grade teacher and they have an 11 year old son Brandon who is an All-Star baseball player; and
WHEREAS, Alexan Balekian has always had a love for this community. He co-founded a non-profit called “ECHO In The Valley” during COVID to help local hospitals overcome PPE shortages and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the community for a number of different non -profits. His love for this community continues and that is where his focus is now, at Community Health System in helping them grow their mission and values of serving and caring for all.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, Mayor Jerry Dyer and the Fresno City Council, do hereby honor and recognize you for your hard work and dedication and proclaims Thursday, June 6th 2024 to be:
“ALEXAN BALEKIAN DAY”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have
hereunto set our hands and affixed the
Seal of The City of Fresno, California, this
6th day of June 2024.
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MAYOR JERRY DYER
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COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNALISA PEREA VICE PRESIDENT MIKE KARBASSI
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COUNCILMEMBER TYLER MAXWELL COUNCILMEMBER LUIS CHAVEZ
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COUNCILMEMBER GARRY BREDEFELD COUNCILMEMBER NELSON ESPARZA