Merced Citizens' Stipend Setting Commission Meeting - April 2, 2026
Merced Citizens' Stipend Setting Commission Meeting - April 2, 2026
The Citizens' Stipend Setting Commission held its organizational meeting on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chamber. The commission reviewed its roles and responsibilities under Section 402 of the Merced City Charter, heard from one public speaker, and elected a new Chair and Vice Chair.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cindy Kelly, a prospective commission member whose appointment is scheduled for City Council approval on Monday, April 6, 2026, addressed the commission. She expressed her hope to join the commission soon.
Discussion Items
- Review of Roles and Responsibilities (Item E.1): Staff provided an overview of the commission's purpose, which is to hold two public hearings every two years (in even-numbered years) and make a written recommendation to the City Council regarding council member stipends. Current stipends are $500 per month for council members and $600 per month for the mayor. The commission tentatively scheduled its required public hearings for April 16, 2026, and April 30, 2026, both at 5:30 PM. Council cannot approve a stipend higher than the commission's recommendation but can approve a lower amount. The charter change establishing the commission was approved by voters around 2020.
- Selection of Chair and Vice Chair (Item F.1): The commission elected a new Chair and Vice Chair for the upcoming term.
Key Outcomes
- Chair Election: Commissioner Pefsner nominated Steve Kirkendall for Chair. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Burnett and passed unanimously.
- Vice Chair Election: Chair Kirkendall nominated Belinda Estrada for Vice Chair. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Pefsner and passed unanimously.
- Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made by Chair Kirkendall, seconded by Commissioner Burnett, and passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
All right, so we'll go ahead and get into uh the Pledge of Allegiance. So sorry, I've got to stand up one more time. The Pledge of Allegiance. Okay. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God and a visible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Agenda item C, roll call. Um Commissioner Estrada. Oh, and let me do some um house cleaning. So if you want to talk into the mic, make sure the mic's in front of you. There's a button that'll say mic on. That means the mic will be live. And then when you want to turn the mic off, just click the button that says mic off. Okay. Okay. Uh Commissioner Burnett. Present. Jenkins. Kaikendale. Here. Pefsner. Here. Okay. Oh. Um I would like to remind the audience if they wish to address the commission, they must submit a green request to speak form located at the podium in the back of the council chamber. Citizens can submit public comment to the commission electronically no later than one PM on the day of the meeting. Comments received before the deadline will be sent to the commission and will be part of the record and will be mentioned as part of the public comment portion of the agenda. Material may be emailed to City Clerk at City of Merced.gov, and any correspondence received after one p.m. will be distributed to the commission and retained for the official record. Agenda item D, public comment. Uh the clerk's office did not receive any emails for tonight's meeting. We do have one member that is sitting in the audience. Hi everybody, I'm Cindy Kelly. I hope to be joining you soon. Um my appointment goes before City Council on Monday night. Um E one review of the roles and responsibilities of the Citizen Stipe and Setting Commission in accordance with section 402 of the Merced City Charter. So I'm going to play double duty. So they do have two meetings per month, the first and third Monday of every month. Um the commission is uh consisting of seven members. They're all appointed by district, which is what you guys were appointed by, and uh Mr. Pesner was appointed by at large. Um and then the commission, so the role of this commission is per the charter. You um we are required to hold two public hearings, which we'll be holding those later this month, um, specifically on April 16th and April 30th is when we're tentatively going to be holding the public hearings, and if anything changes, we'll communicate those to you. Um so this commission's goal is to discuss and decide what the council's stipend will be. This these meetings happen every two years, so every even number year, which is falls on election year, like we are in this year. Um, and then you guys would make a recommendation to council once you have decided what you guys want to do, and then that goes to council for a final approval. Council cannot approve a stipend higher than what you guys have recommended, but they can approve something less than what you recommended. So this all started with a charter review committee. Um they decided they wanted to put uh ballot on the measure or a measure on the ballot for the change the charter to include um a stipend setting commission. So this happened in like around 2020 is when that vote happened, and so that had just the requirements of holding the two public hearings and making that recommendation, a written recommendation to the city council.
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