During its March 5 meeting the Los Banos City Council rescinded the previous council’s actions to make certain employees “at will.” In addition, the council approved the annexation of 170 acres of land and took the first steps to light the Los Banos Canal Trail.
Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Lewis chaired the meeting. The council had a quorum with Councilmembers Marcus Chavez and Evan Sanders. The council seat for District 1 remained vacant and Mayor Michael Amabile was absent. At the previous council meeting he said he would be on vacation March 5.
On Sept. 6, 2023, former City Manager Josh Pinheiro asked the council at that time to make 13 positions of middle managers “at will,” making them subject to firing at any time with no ability to return to their previous position. The majority of the council agreed and passed the at-will resolution. Several councilmembers said it was a way to hold those employees “accountable” and a way to “weed out” unproductive employees. The current city council voted unanimously to rescind those changes.
As previously reported in the Westside Express, the 13 positions affected assistant fire chief, assistant public works director, battalion chief, finance manager, housing program manager, facilities manager, parks and recreation operations manager, police commander, police services manager, public works operations manager, public works supervisor, recreation supervisor and senior planner.
These positions will return to having a probationary period. The council’s current action “will help greatly with recruitment and retention of this vital group of employees, and foster a healthy and positive work environment,” Human Relations Director and City Clerk Lucy Mallonee said in her report.
The annexation of 170 acres is for a stormwater basin project in partnership with Grasslands Water District. Following the 2023 rainy season, which threatened to overflow the canals around the city and broke a critical sewage pipe, it became clear to both the water district and to the city that more capacity is needed.
The annexation of the land between the city’s wastewater treatment plant and the future NorthPointe development allows the city to be under its own ‘local jurisdiction.’ The city could “regulate its own permits,” according to Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms. The council approved the second reading and adoption unanimously.
In another action the city council voted unanimously to add an addendum to the Los Banos Canal Trail’s lease agreement to include solar lights. The city leases the trail from the Central California Irrigation District (CCID) according to Parks and Rec Director Joe Heim’s report. The project would respond to “one of the most requested items,” Heim said.
The plan is to have 95 solar lights 100 feet apart along the roughly 9,500 feet of trail. The anticipated cost is $300,000 with $125,000 covered by a community infrastructure grant from the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority.
Mayor Pro Tem Lewis had concerns about the lease term, being only 10 years and expiring in 2029. Heim assured the council that CCID has a good relationship with the city and that he doesn’t see any issues with a future renewal. “It’s mutually beneficial,” Heim said. Lewis also had concerns about the lights affecting the houses that border the trail.
“The lights that are chosen, need to be in such a way that it’s not harsh in color, or too bright in that there is no light pollution into their residence,” Lewis said.
The lease addendum will go to the CCID’s board of directors for approval.
Later during the meeting, the council approved changes to city employees’ contracts. Police sergeants will receive small raises to maintain a seven percent pay differential between top step police officer salary and start step police sergeants salary range. In practice this means step one sergeants will receive $9,721 in monthly salary by July 2025 and $10,012 per month a year later. Previously they received $9,415.
The council appointed several commission members: Refugio Llamas and Kathy Ballard to two-year terms on the Measure H Citizen’s Oversight committee and Larry Leonardo to a two-year term on the Airport Advisory Commission.
During his report, Interim City Manager Gary Brizzee reported that effective Feb 16, HR Director Lucy Mallonee’s pay was raised to $15,145 a month or $181,740 a year. Brizzee thanked staff and mentioned that he’ll be at the Arbor Day celebrations.
At the beginning of the meeting, Deborah Lewis recognized Arbor Day. She also recognized the Employee of the Month for February 2025, Trisha Sova, Admin Clerk I in the Community and Economic Development Dept.
During the public forum, Los Banos resident Mary Henness spoke to her concerns about the battery energy storage system to be built east of the Interstate 5 just beyond the intersection with Mercey Springs Road, nine miles south of Los Banos. She said that roads to access the project are not paved, that the power will go to San Jose and that the Los Banos Fire Department is not trained to respond to battery fire of that size. “Imagine if you will, a fire similar to the recent Moss Landing Fire happening nine miles south of Los Banos,” Hennes said.
Later in the meeting, Councilmember Sanders, in his report, asked if Los Banos Fire Chief Paul Tualla could do a report on the fire department’s view of the project. “I think it might benefit the community,” Sanders said. “I haven’t heard anything from the fire department, so I assume that it’s okay that he’s not worried about it, but it would be nice to hear it from him.”
Sanders also referred to a single-family housing development in the consent agenda, saying he didn’t want to stop it, but that he would like the city to consider “shifting to more medium-density housing” for the future. “Layouts like this take away from a lot of the benefits of single-family homes and they don’t provide the advantages of thoughtfully designed multi-family housing,” Sanders said referring to the small lot size of the development.
Councilmember Chavez’s in his report, talked about the new Camarena Health facility on Pacheco Boulevard and Ward Road. He called it “a nice facility that is great for the community.” He also congratulated Heim on the groundbreaking for new pickleball courts.
Councilmember Lewis in her report said that the San Joaquin Valley Air Board is increasing its grants to $250,000 for nut farmers to invest in low-dust harvesting. She also thanked city staff members for all their work and noted current commission vacancies. “Please put in your application,” she said to community residents, “and you will be considered.”
