Looking back on 2021: Some of the top stories that made headlines in Merced County

Many Merced County residents had hoped COVID-19 would be in the rear view mirror by the end of 2021, but unfortunately the pandemic is still with us.

As of Dec. 30, the pandemic has killed just under 700 local residents since the outbreak was first reported in March last year. The county had ended last year with 260 deaths from COVID-19.

Despite the bad news brought on by the pandemic, 2021 had many high points, and there were many developments that will positively impact the region for years to come.

For example, the revitalization of downtown Merced continued with the reopening of the newly-renovated El Capitan Hotel — an architectural gem that’s expected to help draw more visitors and investment to the region.

Plus, Gov. Gavin Newsom came to UC Merced to announce his support of a new medical program at the campus. Merced County for years has been in dire need of physicians, and the new program is expected to help train and retain new doctors for the region.

There were also sad moments for the community, such as the death of former Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II.

Here’s more on some of 2021’s top local stories:

El Capitan Hotel reopens

The historic El Capitan Hotel opened in March following a three-year renovation that resulted in 114 rooms spread over four floors, including refurbishing of the hotel’s original 33 rooms that make up the Arbor Lane Wing.

The new construction features three restaurants: the Native Son, a 30-seat cafe/community bar with an open-air courtyard; Rainbird, the hotel’s signature restaurant and Bobby’s Market, a community market.

The hotel was originally built in 1872 on 16th and N Streets before it was razed by a railroad company in 1900. The Merced Hotel Company took another 12 years to build a new hotel on M and Main streets.

Former District Attorney Larry Morse II dies

Longtime Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II died suddenly of a heart attack in September.

Highly respected in Merced County’s legal community on both sides of the courtroom, from 2006 until 2019 Morse prosecuted some of the most difficult local cases. This included the murder case of Cuitlahuac Tahua “Tao” Rivera, who Morse ensured was convicted of the 2004 murder of Merced Police Officer Stephan Gray.

Morse joined the Merced County Districts Attorney’s Office in 1993 as a deputy district attorney.

After five years, he moved up to chief deputy district attorney. He was the 30th district attorney in Merced County after he ran an uncontested election in 2006, following the previous district attorney Gordon Spencer.

Morse was succeeded by Kimberly Lewis, who was elected in 2018. After leaving the district attorney’s office, he moved to a position at the California District Attorneys Association as the organization’s legislative director, acting as chief lobbyist for elected prosecutors all over the state.

Morse is survived by his wife Cindy Morse, two sons and a granddaughter.

Newsom backs proposed UC Merced medical program

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of a new medical school program at UC Merced in October, a $210 million venture that will see a new medical education building constructed at UC Merced.

The announcement was the most significant show of support by a governor for a medical school at UC Merced, and was heralded as a promise fulfilled to people in a part of the San Joaquin Valley that has long lacked adequate health care.

The medical school will initially be a partnership between UC Merced and UC San Francisco’s Fresno campus. Medical school students will do their undergraduate studies at UC Merced before attending the medical school at UC San Francisco.

University officials said opening a hospital and independent medical school at UC Merced wasn’t possible because there wasn’t enough money to open one in Merced yet. However, the first class of 12 medical school students will be admitted into the UC Merced undergraduate program in 2023 and up to 2,200 students will be admitted by 2030.

The new Health, Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education building will be paid for by $210.4 million from the state’s general fund, and another $15 million from the state legislature will pay for professors, staff, operations and other costs to run the medical education programs each year.

Turbulent times in Livingston

The City of Livingston was rocked by numerous controversies in 2021, ranging from the termination of the city manager, a voting fraud investigation by the California Secretary of State and the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, a recall campaign to remove most of the City Council and the arrest of two members of the police department for allegedly filing a false report.

Plus, the city let go of its police chief after he had only been on the job six months. Livingston currently is without a permanent chief, and is being managed by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.

Most recently, former City Manager Jose Ramirez filed a tort claim against the city, alleging multiple incidents of corruption said to involve many city officials in the decade he worked as the city manager.

Merced nonprofit CEO’s salary scrutinized

The Sun-Star in May reported that the CEO of Merced-based Central Valley Coalition for Affordable Housing, Christina Alley, made more than $570,000 in salary and benefits in her position in 2019, higher than the salaries and benefits packages of CEOs at other, similar organizations statewide, according to public records.

The nonprofit organization Alley runs is a small one, employing only 22 people and that builds and manages housing developments for the disabled, seniors and low-income people. The group’s longtime CEO made $441,221 in income and an additional $129,415 in additional compensation in the one-year accounting time period that ended in September 2019. The organization made $7.6 million that year and had $4.6 million in expenses.

Alley’s compensation from the organization made up 12% of the group’s 2019 expenditures, which charity compensation experts called “atypical” and “stunning,” considering her pay and benefits package is about 10 times higher than the average household income in the county.

Experts in the affordable housing and nonprofit fields say there are many reasons why a group like Alley’s runs and spends money the way it does. The board of directors of the Central Valley Coalition for Affordable Housing said Alley is excellent at her job.

Row erupts between Atwater officials, former rec supervisor

A tenancy dispute involving Atwater’s city manager, a retired recreation supervisor and the city’s police chief may eventually be resolved in a courtroom.

Atwater’s retired recreation supervisor, who rented a home from city manager Lori Waterman, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Waterman, Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador, Officer Evan Pitney, and the police department, alleging unreasonable force, assault and breach of covenant for quiet enjoyment.

The lawsuit followed a November 2020 altercation at the home where former recreation supervisor Sandra Rahn lived when Waterman summoned the police to the house to talk to Rahn. Waterman wanted to sell the property, and although she gave notice to Rahn so she could move out, Rahn said she requested more time to move out because she was dealing with a death in her family and the COVID-19 pandemic, and needed to get her affairs in order, according to the suit.

Rahn asked Waterman to not let anyone enter the house while she still lived there. The situation escalated and resulted in Salvador and Officer Pitney showing up to the residence to tell Rahn an inspection was necessary for the sale of the property to move forward.

Rahn later alleged the city manager and police chief abused their power by interfering in a private tenant dispute.

An independent investigation commissioned by the city into abuse of power allegations made found city officials did nothing wrong..

Merced business climate improving

Residents of Merced voiced their support for a Chick-Fil-A location in the city earlier this year when city officials held a town hall to hear what residents want to see in their city.

The March town hall saw many Merced residents ask for the popular fast food chain, which considered Merced for a new restaurant in the past.

However, certain numbers keep big businesses from opening locations in the community. The population of the city is still under 100,000, the number preferred by companies like Trader Joe’s when company executives consider opening a new location.

There are reasons to be hopeful, though. The city and the county are growing in population, and the increasing number of students coming to UC Merced is also a promising factor to companies. Another good indicator of Merced’s growth is that single-family home sales broke local records two years in a row.

Two large commercial center projects, Gateway Marketplace and Campus Parkway Plaza, and the still-developing commercial site at Yosemite and G Streets, could pull a wide variety of diverse retailers to Merced. Some large businesses already recognize this, like Ashley Furniture Store and Coconut Cafe, which opened locations in Merced this year. Best Buy came back to Merced this year after closing its doors in March 2020.

A growing number of Starbucks locations, the ACE commuter train and high-speed rail, the Campus Parkway Project to UC Merced, the announcement of a new medical school at UC Merced, and self-driving vehicle testing at the former Castle Air Force Base are all positive indicators to big businesses, as well.

Merced housing prices hit all-time high

Home prices in Merced hit record highs this summer, with the average price of a single-family home hitting $375,000 in September.

The August climb was just a few thousand dollars higher than the previous peak of $365,000 in July. Single-family home prices climbed steadily for six months prior, starting at $320,000 in March to $360,000 in June. The local trend mirrored the home price trend across the state, which saw a new median price for single-family homes in August – $827,940. The new price was the fifth record high in the last six months, according to the California Department of Finance.

Real estate experts said the available housing inventory in Merced County is at historic lows, although the numbers themselves are relatively high. The number of available homes in Merced County jumped from 167 in March of this year to 205 in August. That could be because the market is quickly becoming favorable to sellers, who bought their homes during the Great Recession and are not only no longer underwater, but can accumulate quite a bit of equity on the sale of their homes.

As of October, there were about 91 homes for sale in Merced, up from 54 homes for sale six months prior. However, that was way down from 295 homes on the market during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This story was originally published December 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM.