The Los Banos City Council said goodbye to one member, welcomed 23 new city employees, appointed six new city commissioners and honored a retired department head in its meeting on Jan. 21.
Evan Sanders resigned in early December to pursue a job opportunity on the East Coast, as previously reported by The Express. The council honored him with a resolution commending his service.
Mayor Michael Amabile called Sanders “an excellent council member. He brought a different perspective than I’ve seen in all the years I was mayor. Because his background was in IT, he looked at things differently.”
Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Lewis said the council already misses him.
The council had the bare minimum to reach a quorum, as Marcus Chavez had an excused absence. That left Amabile, Lewis and Mitzy Perez to conduct city business. One of the first orders of business was discussing how to replace Sanders.
“Council hasn’t decided what we’re going to do,” Amabile said. Sanders was appointed in January 2025 to fill the unexpired term of the recalled council member, Doug Begonia Jr., in District 2.
The city can appoint another member, but the term would end in November. Or, the council could schedule an election.
“There are a lot of things we have to figure out,” said Amabile. “We’ll be bringing it to the council in public and making decisions about how we’re going to handle all that.”
The council removed a decision to replace Sanders at the Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG) One Voice Program.
The board takes part in the program each year, traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet with California’s representatives, including Rep. Adam Gray and Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
Amabile said it’s a tough time to be a Californian in Congress. MCAG has decided to pause and retool the program for the year, he said.
“If you’re from California, there is not a lot of willingness to give the state any money right now,” Amabile stated. He said going back to Washington might not be worth the cost.
The council also honored Lucy Mallonee, the elected city clerk and now-retired human resources director. She will remain city clerk, attending council meetings until her term ends in November.
Amabile said Mallonee provided a “steady hand in turmoil” for the city during the tenure of twice-dismissed city manager Josh Pinheiro.
She started working for the city in 1994 as a typist and worked her way up to department head. Under Pinheiro, the city experienced significant staff turnover, including the loss of several department heads.
One of those was Former Public Works Director Nirorn Than, who has returned as Los Banos city manager. Than told the council that the city’s 23 new hires make up over 20 percent of the city’s workforce, filling several vacant positions and those newly created in the 2025–26 budget.
The council appointed six new members to two-year terms on three city commissions. Jeanette Guzman-Lopez, Javier Ramirez Delgadillo and Larry Byers were appointed to the Tree Commission.
Dennis Reed was appointed to the Airport Advisory Commission, and Jeri Blevins and Wes Wise were appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Finance Director Minnie Moreno reported on three audits—including the much-anticipated audit of all of the city’s capital projects from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024, the period when Pinheiro was city manager.
Moreno said preliminary audit results should be available for the council by Feb. 18.
She also reported that the city had passed its annual Independent Audit for the 2024–25 fiscal year. “The city remains in a strong financial position, with positive growth in both government and enterprise operations,” Moreno said.
The city is also conducting an audit of expenditures by the Downtown Property Business Improvement District.
Moreno reported that shutoffs will begin soon for residents who have not paid water bills. She urged anyone who cannot pay to contact the finance department and work out a payment schedule.
Than also told the council that Los Banos could receive an additional $1.5 million in road funding. That would make a total of $12 million from the Measure V sales tax revenue for the city.
Of that, $8.6 million is slated for widening Pioneer Road and $3.5 million for the roundabout at Dove Street, Vineyard Drive and Mercey Springs Road.
Stacy Elms, community and economic development director, reported that the annual point-in-time count of homeless individuals would be reported on Thursday. She also said the Wonderland Kids Indoor Playground on Mercey Springs Road will open Jan. 27 at noon.
Additionally, Officer Aaron Goins was recognized as the Employee of the Month for December.
