New Merced city attorney, fire chief sworn in

Though they have been on the job for weeks now, City Attorney Randolph Hom and Merced City Fire Chief Shawn Henry took their respective oaths of office during a Merced City Council ceremony Monday.

The council also took time during its meeting to recognize Tamara Cobb, who has taken over as the head of the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee.

According to his contract, the city will pay Hom, 51, an annual salary of $180,000 for the five-year deal. The council approved his appointment last month.

Hom served as the senior deputy city attorney in San Jose and worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in Oakland, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the State Bar of California, among other places.

Also during the meeting, the council approved an amendment to Hom’s contract for holiday and sick leave benefits. Those benefits had inadvertently been left out of the contract, according to city records.

Henry, 52, will make $118,603, according to the salary range on the city’s website. A firefighter for 31 years, he has worked for Merced since 1991.

The new chief has worked his way up through the ranks in Merced, starting as a firefighter in 1991. Henry was promoted to battalion chief in 2009. He has also worked for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Madera Fire Department.

He has served as the top firefighter since January.

Cobb’s position as the chairwoman of the MLK Committee is a voluntary position. She is a resident of Merced and has been a visible advocate for south Merced in recent years.

As chairwoman, she will head up the city’s annual celebration of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. each January.

This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "New Merced city attorney, fire chief sworn in."