During the Los Banos City Council’s 2025/2026 Goals and Objectives budget workshop on May 6, homelessness, fire department staffing and Public Works grant writing were major topics of discussion.
The workshop was held in the new police station on 1111 G Street and lasted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each department head presented their goals for the next fiscal year and ways to achieve them. Mayor Michael Amabile and council members Deborah Lewis, Marcus Chavez, and Evan Sanders were present throughout the day.
Housing Program Manager Christy McCammond brought an Emergency Shelter Proposal to the workshop. Her proposal is for 20-30 of Pallet emergency shelters in a “village.” Each shelter is easy to build, with two size options, 120 or 70 square feet.
McCammond clarified that the state and federal government are no longer providing grants to support emergency shelters. It would be up to the city to cover the cost. Her base proposal costs $655,218.75 with $237,077.50 to add a bathroom, laundry and a community building.
McCammond plans to staff the shelter without much cost to the city using CalAIM/MediCal Enhanced Case Managers, assigned to each unhoused individual. Medical will pay the case manager agency $620 per person, at no cost to the city.
There will be rules for those in the shelter, which, if not followed, will have consequences. “We are going above and beyond in the city of Los Banos. We are doing great things, so now it’s time that we can have some expectations,” McCammond said.
Fire Chief Paul Tualla and Assistant Fire Chief Brandon Dorenbush displayed the true staffing problems of the Fire Department. Despite having more calls than ever, roughly 3,500 in 2025, firefighters per 1000 residents are down to .42 in 2025. In 2005, it was .60, Dorenbush reported. In 2025 Los Banos Fire Department (LBFD) only has two active volunteers and 21 career firefighters.
According to the national standard, Tualla said, the recommended response to a structure fire is 15 firefighters with one chief. The current LBFD response is only six firefighters at maximum staffing and a potential two others from the county fire department. Tualla mentioned that in the last nine months, 508 overlapping calls have come through.
Tualla wishes to get new battalion chief positions, get new fire stations built and hire more firefighters.
“We’ve left money on the table,” City Engineer and Public Works Director Chuck Bergeson said. He’s requesting that Public Works receive a grant writer position. In his words, there are millions in grant funds that could be utilized each year by the city for street and other maintenance if a grant writer were on staff to push for them.
Police Chief Ray Reyna requested 4 new positions. Two new patrol officers to create a traffic team, one records supervisor and one maintenance custodian.
Director Stacy Elms of the community and economic development department highlighted the current commercial, industrial and promotional development of the city. Elms reported that the city currently has roughly 10 years of housing stock to be built. She also highlighted that the city is focusing on attracting large businesses.
There was a discussion started by Mayor Amabile about how other cities in the valley were able to attract businesses like Amazon. It was revealed that those cities had given them every incentive, including losing the ability to get taxes from them to pay for the infrastructure. They “sold their soul,” Amabile summarized.
Parks and Rec Director Joe Heim requested a new recreation-coordinator-two position and highlighted the current issues facing Parks and Rec. The city has over 13,000 trees, with parks and rec “ill-equipped” to handle all of them. Heim also mentioned a potential Pacheco Park rehabilitation and received some support for the idea.
The new finance director, Minnie Moreno, had a brief report on the city’s position. “We’re stable,” She said. She highlighted that the general fund is on track to have a $3,759,930 surplus.
The City Council was open to each presentation’s needs, asking how each goal could become a reality. During breaks between presentations, council members would often go into one-on-one conversations with each department head.
