A political appointee who was heading California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate leased her southeast Fresno home in 2023 to a local agency, the same year her office awarded that agency a technical assistance grant totaling nearly $400,000, GV Wire has learned.

The 2023-24 technical assistance grant awarded to the Fresno Community Development Financial Institution, also known as Access Plus Capital, was significantly larger that year than in prior or subsequent years.

The leased home is on East Platt Avenue in the Fancher Creek neighborhood, and the owner of record is Tara Lynn Gray, according to Fresno County property records.

Gray was appointed director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March 2021, and her annual compensation then

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