At its Dec. 18 meeting, the Los Banos City Council, which consisted of Mayor Michael Amabile, District 1 Councilmember Kenneth Lambert and District 4 Councilmember Deborah Lewis, heard from City Clerk Lucy Mallonee that eleven persons have completed applications to fill the vacancies for the council positions of Districts 2 and 3.
The application process to fill the vacancies opened on Dec. 4 and closed at noon on Dec. 18.
There were four applicants from District 2: Refugio Llamas, Evan Sanders, Abel Molina and Cody Camacho. From District 3, there were seven applicants: Erasmo Viveros, Marcus Chavez, Steven Nunes, Miguel Alejandre, Sybil Halloran, Philip Deleon and John Cates.
The applications submitted by each have been posted on the city website and can be found be going to the “Dec. 18 City Council Agenda” and then to the “Agenda Packets.”
The council positions for Districts 2 and 3 became vacant when votes approved on Nov. 5 the recall of Councilmembers Brett Jones and Douglas Begonia, Jr.
The council agreed that the interview process for the candidates will be held in a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Each applicant will have up to 10 minutes to talk with the council. There will be a total of six interview questions, two of which each candidate will have the opportunity to answer.
These questions are:
What do you feel would be the most important economic catalyst for Los Banos moving forward?
How does a strong local business community make Los Banos a better place to live?
What are your thoughts on creating a sense of community pride in Los Banos?
What do you hope to accomplish as a city council representative for your district?
What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing Los Banos, and how do you feel it should be addressed?
What do you feel is the best reason someone would want to move to Los Banos and why?
At the council’s regular meeting on Thursday, Jan. 2 (moved to a Thursday since Jan.1 is a holiday), the council will talk more about the interview process and how the successful applicant would be selected.
The council also discussed a consent agenda item, the construction of nine pickleball courts in the Ag Sports Complex at 700 Mercy Springs Road, where baseball fields and a dog park are currently located.
After lengthy discussion the council unanimously voted to approve a contract with Frontline General
Engineering, Inc. for the construction of the courts for $1,591,381.34. The pickleball project needed three yes votes to be approved. The council could not come to a consensus on adding shade structures and light poles, so they were not part of the motion.
City Attorney William Vaughn indicated that those two items could be brought back to the council at a later date if council wanted to consider them.
