During its Nov 19 meeting, the Los Banos City Council meeting heard a report on 11 new senior and disabled homes, created the position of legal assistant, implemented a part of the housing element, selected delegates for the 2026 MCAG One Voice Program and heard reports from staff. This was new City Attorney Mary Lerner’s first meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Lewis and Councilmembers Marcus Chavez and Mitzy Perez made up the quorum led by Mayor Micheal Amabile. Council member Evan Sanders was absent. All decisions during the meeting were made unanimously.
The 11 new senior homes are split into two projects, according to the County of Merced Housing Authority. According to the authority’s representatives, the first is group of homes at 860 F St., known as El Mirador. The second is a group of five homes at 840 D St., known as Las Villas.
Both will use the same 500-square-foot design for all the homes, which includes a single bedroom, full kitchen and great room. The developer of the project, Vernell Hill, President of the Community Housing Development Group, LLC, said, “They are actually homes. They are not box cars. They are not prefabricated buildings that in my view will fall apart in 10, 15, 20 years. “They’ll last 100 years.”
“Five hundred square feet doesn’t sound like a lot until you get inside and are able to walk through it,” Hill said. “These are the kind of homes that should be built for the problem that California has with homelessness,” Hill said.
Lewis asked about the age requirement for seniors. The representatives answered that it is 62 years old, and for disabled folks there is no age limit. “We need more of that and it’s uplifting people and that’s what it’s all about,” Amabile said of the development. The developments “will be ready to go in about two months,” said Hill.
As part of the consent agenda, the position of legal assistant was created. According to City Manager Nirorn Than’s written report, the position is to become support staff for the new city attorney’s office. Mary Lerner is the city’s first ‘in-house’ attorney, creating the need for support staff.
The assistant will, “provide general administrative and legal support, including court filings, preparation of pleadings and memorandums, legal document filing and retention, assistance with public records requests, and tracking of legal time,” Than wrote. The salary for the position is $63,753.50.
After the consent agenda, the final reading and adoption was done for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Overlay District. The Overlay District implements a required part of the city’s Housing Element adopted at the Nov. 5 city council meeting.
According to Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms, the overlay district gives special permissions to 13 sites consisting of 126.7 acres within the city to develop without discretionary approval, provide they include low-income housing as 20% of the development without a subdivision. The 13 sites were identified in previous housing elements that haven’t been developed yet.
In another item, the council selected Mayor Amabile as the main delegate for the 2026 One Voice Program, with Councilmember Perez as his alternate. “On an annual basis, Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG) prepares a One Voice Program that would allow all seven cities and the county to go to Washington, D.C. and lobby for those policies to meet our needs,” Than explained.
As part of hammering out a message for Washington, the council selected water quality and public safety as their main priorities. Those priorities will be brought up to MCAG, who will vote on and adopt regional priorities to bring to D.C. Amabile said of the priorities, “I don’t think we’re going to get anything bigger than fixing the issue of chromium six and helping us on that.”
Chavez asked if the high speed rail could be taken off the county’s message for the federal government. “Last year we really pushed high speed rail; I think that just closed all our doors.” Amabile agreed, “If there is something in Washington, D.C. that they’re totally against, why are we bringing it up? What do we have to do with the train? They took away our station that was at Santa Nella.”
In her end-of-meeting report, Elms reported that the Saturday after Thanksgiving will be Small Business Saturday. At small businesses, customers will receive “Los Banos Bucks” that can be redeemed for a shirt. She also reported that Chick-fil-A is interested in developing a restaurant in Los Banos, after a November 15 Chick-fil-A food truck sold out in three hours at Pacheco Park. Meanwhile, Ono Hawaiian BBQ is “wrapping up final inspections,” Elms said.
Human Resources Director Lucy Mallonee reported that three new employees have been hired, and 12 positions are in the hiring process. Parks and Recreation Director Joe Heim reported that the Shaunessy Village Park’s playground may open soon.
Public Works Director William Via reported that De Anza Way is “going in the right direction,” following meetings with Caltrans to get it reopened. He also reported delays caused by rain on other projects.
Than focused on $27 million in statewide funding accessible through the Community Development Block Grant. He announced a public meeting on Nov. 25 to get comments on what that money could be used for. The cap is $3.6 million per jurisdiction for “a number of infrastructure improvements,” Than said.
Council members wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving in their reports. Amabile mentioned the need for a growth management system and for houses that are smaller than what’s being built.
