Merced City Council Town Hall - January 8, 2026: Community Concerns on Housing, Parks, Infrastructure
Merced City Council Town Hall - January 8, 2026
The Merced City Council held the first of three 2026 town halls on January 8, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Stephen Leonard Community Center. The meeting focused on community input for the upcoming budget, with residents raising concerns about housing affordability and tenant protections, park maintenance and the Merced Connect app, and infrastructure gaps such as sidewalks and street lighting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Latina Richard expressed that the city budget prioritizes policing over housing, calling for an anti-slumlord ordinance, a housing quality database, and mandatory fees for bad actors. She shared a personal experience of being forced into unsafe housing despite approval for a safe house.
- Robin Ponisevic, a legally blind resident of 41 years, described personal struggles with housing subsidies and urged strict guidelines for landlords, a no-fear eviction reporting database, and dedicated code enforcement staff.
- Andrea Uribe (Leadership Council) highlighted the lack of sidewalks and street lighting in South Merced, citing data that 93% of injury collisions and 90% of KSIs occur in disadvantaged areas. She requested a street light capital improvement project agendized this quarter and priority sidewalk rehabilitation on Canal, Child, and South M Streets.
- Ashley Marie (Leadership Council) advocated for a housing equality database, an eviction protection program with free legal assistance, and better infrastructure to attract grocery stores to South Merced, noting over 800 unlawful detainer filings in Merced County in 2025.
- Crystal Ramos, Agent Tehether, and Quentin (Youth United) presented findings on the Merced Connect app: only ~100 downloads on Google Play for a population of ~100,000, app glitches, and work orders (e.g., at Joe Herb Park and Gilbert Mercado Park) being closed without actual repairs. They asked for routine park inspections and photo updates in notifications.
- Lavon Phillips reported a police incident at her home at 4 AM with no explanation, requested sidewalk and lighting for Greater New Hope Church, noted lack of trash cans at parks, and cited dangerous speeding on Northwood Drive.
- Mr. Gray raised concerns about the proposed roundabout at Highway 59 and Girard (June 2026 target) redirecting traffic onto Mission Avenue, which lacks sidewalks and lighting, with safety risks for residents and Farmdale Elementary.
- Gloria Sandoval requested enforcement against tinted windows and loud mufflers, tenant protections (e.g., right to repair), and urged council members to observe eviction court. She noted a memorial for 51 unhoused people who died in Merced County.
- Navora asked that the draft slumlord ordinance be made public and include input from tenants and owners via a web-based comment portal.
- Latanya criticized the city for not attending the memorial for unhoused individuals (51 deaths), described being called by code enforcement after reporting unsafe conditions, and called for removal of income-to-rent requirements.
- Additional speakers followed up on street light study sessions and affordable housing policies.
Discussion Items
- Housing & Tenant Rights: Councilmember Smith confirmed he received a draft anti-slumlord ordinance from the City Attorney over the holidays and will return comments by January 12. He committed to a focus group with tenant advocates and landlords before council consideration. City Attorney Cornwell stated the draft includes severe penalties for repeat offenders, tenant rights knowledge, relocation protections, and protection against retaliation. Chief Stanfield reported code enforcement has increased from four to five staff (still overwhelmed), and is working with the California Attorney General’s office for best practices. Councilmember Zhang advocated for increasing the housing division and noted the RHNA policy was reduced from 12% to 5% and to 0% in some areas.
- Parks & Merced Connect App: IT Director Benny Hoff acknowledged app glitches since the March 2025 launch and agreed to investigate specific work order cases. Councilmember DuPont supported adding photos of completed work to the app. Councilmember Harris praised Youth United’s specific reports and committed to prompt follow-up. Councilmember Boyle noted the parks budget has been repeatedly cut and called for real investment. Mayor Serratto listed recent park investments (Joe Herb Park $700k renovation, CP 42 soccer fields over $10M, new playgrounds, restrooms at McNamara and Applegate, zoo/Kitty Land upgrades). Parks Director Jensen emphasized ongoing challenges from routine maintenance, deferred maintenance, and vandalism, and thanked the council for support.
- Infrastructure & Street Lights: Councilmember Smith proposed a citywide community facilities district (CFD) to pool resources for street lights, but City Manager McBride clarified the CFD conversation is about rate adjustments for maintenance, not capital installation. Councilmember Smith noted a study session on the CFD is planned within the next quarter. Mayor Serratto highlighted the LED street light retrofit (multi-million dollar project) and sidewalk projects (Childs Avenue multi-use path connecting Golden Valley to Weaver). Councilmember DuPont set aside funding for Mission Avenue from Tyler to 59. Officer Stanfield reported traffic citations up 106% in 2025, collisions down 25%, but the speed survey has expired and no speeding tickets can be issued until the next council meeting.
- Public Comments on Unhoused: Several speakers expressed disappointment that no council member attended the memorial for 51 unhoused individuals. Councilmember Smith noted he was out of town but committed to accountability. Chief Stanfield addressed fear of reporting code violations, stating residents can communicate via phone or video to avoid uniform presence.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a public input session.
- Councilmember Smith committed to returning a draft anti-slumlord ordinance to the City Attorney by January 12.
- City Attorney Cornwell will incorporate public comments into the ordinance draft and bring it to council for multiple hearings.
- City Manager McBride will schedule a study session on the community facilities district (CFD) for street light maintenance within the next quarter.
- IT staff will follow up with Youth United on specific Merced Connect app work orders and consider adding photo documentation.
- Police Chief Stanfield will discuss traffic enforcement on Northwood Drive with Ms. Phillips.
- Council will continue to pursue grant funding for affordable housing (e.g., $28 million Home Key project on Park Avenue) and infrastructure projects.
- Upcoming meetings: Special high-speed rail meeting on January 12; town halls at Burbank (January 13) and LCAP (January 14); General Plan advisory focus group on January 28.
- Councilmembers affirmed that resident input will inform goal-setting and budget decisions in June 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Want to welcome everybody to the first of our three 2026 town halls. Want to thank everybody for being here. Today we're going to begin. I will call the meeting to order and we'll begin with a Pledge of Allegiance. Uh we'll have actually if we have Councilmember Tao, this is uh your first town hall, sir, and and your district. So if you would be so kind to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Everybody please stand right there. We should stand for the nation under God. Indivisible. Thank you, everybody. Roll call. Okay, agenda item C, roll call. Councilmember DuPont. Present. Tao. Present. Harris. Present. Smith. Present. Zhang? Here. Mayor Pro Tim Boyle. Here. And Mayor Serato. Present. Okay, agenda item D, opening comments. Mayor Serrado. Thank you, Jennifer. Um, as we said, this is the first of our uh three town hall series. Traditionally, we do a town hall in South Merced, North Merced, and Central Merced each year. This is a very important part of our process. So we want to thank you all for being here, being a part of it. Uh, we use this along with a number of other things uh to engage and do outreach to the community and also as part of our our budget process as well. To uh one of the many factors we look at to engage and get out and do outreach and to see what's important to you, uh the people we represent when it comes into formulating our our budget for the upcoming year, which we finalized in June. So we'll begin, uh we'll have uh opening comments from each of our council members, um, and then we'll take your comments after that. So we'll start um uh Mayor Pro Tim Boyle represents District 5. Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank you everyone for showing up tonight, and I look forward to the issues that you uh have for us, and hopefully we can find some solutions. And like uh Mayor said, this is the first of three. So I just want to thank you all for being out here tonight. Council DuPont. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you everyone for uh tennis and I look forward to uh good discussion on the path forward for Merced. Uh there's a lot that we were able to accomplish last year. Uh look forward to hopefully accomplishing more this year and what that looks like. So I look forward to each and everyone's uh comments. Good evening, everyone. Um, I'm Council Mayor Foujan representing District Six. Um, as always, just excited to hear from community members.
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