Learning More about the illegal Chinese COVID lab in Reedley

In the City of Reedley, CA, City Manager Nicole Zieba has recently been in the hot seat regarding the illegal COVID-19 lab which has operated within city limits. An August 9, 2023 article published by ABC 30 included the following excerpts:

“REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) — As we continue to learn more about the illegal lab in Reedley that contained hazardous materials, chemicals, and medical waste, some community members are questioning why city officials didn’t tell them sooner and are demanding answers from Reedley’s city manager.

Reedley city manager, Nicole Zieba, says when you are working with state and federal partners, there are certain protocols you have to follow.

One of those was waiting to inform the public as the investigation into the lab continued. Still, their first order of business was ensuring there was never any threat to the community’s safety.

“I stand by my decision to not go to the public once we knew that the public was safe, and that was very early on in the investigation,” said Reedley city manager Nicole Zieba.

Zieba says it was December 21, 2022, when federal partners started telling city officials to wait to release information until they knew what they were dealing with.

“We were able to get inside that building with air monitors. We checked all of the water systems for the city,” said Zieba. “We even tested the sewer system frankly in case there was any constituents that would get into and float through groundwater.”

Zieba says they also wanted to keep communication open with Universal Meditech and Prestige Biotech to continue learning what they were doing in the lab. She says now that everything is public, they have yet to hear from the company’s consultant.

“Something like this, bad actors that come in the middle of the night, acting under the cover of darkness. They don’t want us to know they’re here, is so critical for essentially what our code enforcement officer did,” said Zieba.

Zieba says their goal was never to hide information from the public, just to wait until the timing was right.

“For me, at this time, I know there are people that are unhappy with me. I’m sorry they’re unhappy with me. I stand by the decisions I made because I made them with the best information I had at the time, and I know that our community is safe to me as a public servant. That’s what’s most critical,” said Zieba.”

It appears that Ms. Zieba is a Director of the Fresno Economic Development Corporation and represents ‘Five Cities JPA’ in her role. Both the City of Reedley and  Five Cities JPA are public investors to the corporation.

The Five Cities JPA is a long-standing EDC partnership serving 7 Eastside cities and the County of Fresno.

Per a presentation offered to the City of Fowler, the EDC offers the following services.

As referenced in my previous article in The California Globe, Reedley City Manager Zieba has made zero mention to the media that her EDC colleague, Mr. Ross Parnagian, Fowler Packing Company, Inc. and his family had leased the building to Universal Meditech (UMI) in North Pointe Business Park, Fresno, CA.

Eviction lawsuits were filed against UMI in both 2020 & 2022. The company relocated to the City of Reedley shortly after.

Ms. Zieba’s comments were as follows:

“Adina, my role with the EDC is as the 5 Cities representative. The 5 Cities is a Joint Powers Authority that brings together the cities of Reedley, Selma, Sanger, Kingsburg, Parlier, Orange Cove and Fowler (we had 5 cities when the JPA was created and two cities have joined since but there name was never changed) solely to help facilitate economic development in our east side cities of the county. The 5 Cities contracts with the EDC for some staff support which is why our 5 Cities JPA has a representative on the board. I was not aware of EDC’s role with UMI, and do not participate in any vote or decision as to who the EDC deals with for things like tax credits, employee support, or other things.  I do not have any involvement in matters that the EDC has in Fresno or Clovis.”