LOS BANOS – With voting already underway in an election that could remake the Los Banos City Council, more drama has erupted surrounding the city’s embattled city manager and his disastrous relationship with city employees.
Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees –the city’s largest employee group – are urging residents to vote “Yes” on the recall of councilmembers Brett Jones in District 3 and Doug Begonia Jr. in District 2.
“It feels like the majority of this council is running the city like it’s their own personal business,” said a member of the union who insisted on anonymity out of fear of reprisals from city manager Josh Pinheiro. The employee said that Jones and Begonia treat “city funds and city personnel like both are there for their use and the community be damned.”
AFSCME represents public works employees who maintain the city’s streets, water treatment, parks and sewer systems and “miscellaneous workers” who perform many of the city’s administrative tasks. The union member said city hall staff has become so tense that coworkers are afraid to speak to one another.
“It’s very quiet (in the office),” said an employee who insisted on anonymity. “People are afraid to talk when Josh is there, he loses his temper, he yells; if he hears something he doesn’t like, he either goes in his office and sulks or yells. People don’t know what’s going to set him off. And he’s highly, highly retaliatory. He has no problem using the full weight of his office to come down on people. Our members don’t know what to expect coming to work every day.”
Pinheiro has ordered city employees not to talk to reporters or even one sitting councilwoman. Some employees are fearful of seeking promotions after the council voted to make some mid-level management positions “at-will.”
“You might have 20 years with the city but, if you take a promotion, you have 12 months of probation,” said an employee. “If he doesn’t like something, you can be terminated. So yeah, it’s very stressful.”
Last October, all five of the city’s employee unions signed a letter of no-confidence in Pinheiro’s leadership. In speaking to the Express last year, several top city employees criticized Pinheiro anonymously for fear of reprisals. More recently, the public works staff and police officers wrote open letters about their dissatisfaction over the status of contract negotiations.
AFSCME and the Los Banos Police Officers Association – both working under contracts that expired in June — are threatening to strike if negotiations do not move forward. Both blame Pinheiro and the council for the lack of progress.
“No matter how wrong he is, the majority of the council backs him,” said one employee.
Pinheiro’s performance, irregularities in the city’s operations and working conditions at city hall are at the center of an unprecedented election that finds all five members of the city council on the ballot.
In reporting previous stories, the Westside Express has repeatedly reached out to Pinheiro and members of the council majority for comment; they have not responded.
All five city councilmembers are on the ballot on Nov. 5. Normally, two councilmembers and the mayor (whose term is two years) are on the ballot. This year, councilmembers Kenneth Lambert (District 1) and Deborah Lewis (District 4) were scheduled to be on the ballot along with Mayor Paul Llanez.
In May, voters signed over 3,300 petitions combined to recall Jones and Begonia – who were not scheduled to be on the ballot until 2026. Residents in their districts are angry over the council’s 4-1 decision to give Pinheiro a $1.8 million payment ignoring the advice of two lawyers paid by the city. On a 3-1 vote, the council decided to require a 5-0 vote to fire Pinheiro – a level of job security unseen in any other general law city. In both cases, the only dissenting vote came from Lewis.
Under Pinheiro’s leadership, the city has ceased public budget workshops, moved major spending decisions to the consent agenda and spent significantly through “change orders” rather than putting jobs out to bid as required by state regulations. Meanwhile, five of the city’s department heads have quit under Pinheiro’s leadership along with roughly 50% of city staff. The Merced County Civil Grand Jury found irregularities in how the city approved federal COVID-19 small business grants.
This month, the city’s third finance director in less than three years quit. Pinheiro asked that she keep her resignation secret until after the election, but councilmember Lewis made it public during the Oct. 2 council meeting. That infuriated Pinheiro and prompted Llanez to threaten Lewis with unspecified legal action.
“They try to keep things hidden,” said Jeff Apkarian, the union representative for Local 1 of the AFSCME. “They’ve also kept councilwoman Lewis out of the loop in regard to contract negotiations and employee status.
“You know as well as I do that they’re hiding the ball.”
Meanwhile, an anonymous public works employee says residents should be skeptical of the city’s recent cosmetic improvements.
“It’s all to deceive the community into thinking they care,” said the employee. “It’s all just a smokescreen … so they can salvage their reputations and recover from the bad publicity they’ve received.”
Another city employee who also insisted on anonymity for fear of retribution said city employees are considering legal actions over harassment or perceived favoritism by Pinheiro.
“Normally, if employees are being wronged or disrespected, suffering verbal abuse, you can turn to HR,” said the employee. “But in this environment, even HR’s hands are tied. Josh steps in and overrides anything HR would do. Where can our employees go? They can’t go to the city council, the majority will back Josh. So, our employees have nowhere to turn” except the legal system.rn” except the legal system.
