Merced leaders crafting list of goals to guide city funding. What should take priority?
.JPG "The Merced Multicultural Arts Center, in the heart of downtown Merced, is shown.")
Following two town halls and a strategic planning meeting, Merced leaders’ vision for the city over the course of the next year is taking shape.
The goals and priorities approved by elected officials during Monday night’s City Council meeting will help guide policies and funding during this fiscal year’s budget.
City staff will now work to ensure those objectives receive appropriate funding to be supported in the next budget cycle.
The 2022-23 fiscal year’s recommended budget will be presented to the public and up for discussion during the May 16 City Council meeting. Merced residents will have several additional opportunities to weigh in on the plan before final mid-summer approval by the council.
This year’s town hall meetings kicked off in February with debates among residents and elected officials over which issues should get the most attention and financial reinforcement. While common topics like public safety, city beautification and infrastructure projects were noted, affordable housing largely dominated the conversation — as it did during many debates last year.
Discussions at the town halls were reviewed by the City Council during a strategic planning session. The biggest topics were translated into the list of goals and priorities approved Monday.
Here’s a few of the initiatives highlighted in the list:
- Downtown Merced: Continue the proposed property-based improvement business district (PBID) to further revitalize downtown, complete the Bob Hart expansion project and explore citywide vacant building ordinance options.
Housing and homelessness: Coordinated housing and supportive services, evaluate alternative housing options to increase available beds, financially support all affordable housing projects and explore housing trust fund options, either regional or local.
- Economic development: Maintain efforts to provide improved business support to become more “business friendly,” enhance partnerships to bolster the local workforce and continue efforts to establish a local tourism-based improvement district (TBID).
- Parks and recreation: Guide youth investment by local youth input and expand the Youth Council’s role, add recreation options, improve park accessibility for all residents, better maintain parks and continue repairs or upgrades.
Public Safety: Explore strategies to reduce speeding, evaluate the viability of a future Measure C renewal ballot measure and plan for future facility and equipment needs for police and fire departments.
A complete list of Merced’s goals and priorities — including additional public works, beautification and quality of life projects — can be found in the attachments of the March 7 City Council agenda.
Residents renew pleas for south Merced, affordable housing
Residents on Monday reiterated their longtime ask for a place to shop for groceries in south Merced. Residents noted that while robust planning has gone into revamping downtown, south Merced still doesn’t have a grocery store.
Councilmember Fernando Echevarria, whose district encompasses south Merced, assured residents that he and staff are making progress on a longtime vision to bring a grocery store to a vacant lot at Childs Avenue and Canal Street.
“We are in the process of having a major, major development on the corner of Canal and Childs,” Echevarria said Monday. “I have been demanding this for years,” he added, noting that south Merced has for too long been a “food desert.” Echevarria said it’s still uncertain which store will fill this vacant site, however.
The city announced late last year that details for the Childs Avenue and Canal Street project include the proposed development of a grocery store, as well as an auto parts retailer, office space and retail. The project developer is working with city staff to draw tenant interest to the site, the city said at the time.
As they have in the past, several community members on Monday renewed their pleas for Merced’s goals and priorities to go further in its commitment to affordable housing this fiscal year. Proponents have advocated for local money to go toward establishing an affordable housing trust fund, asking that $20 million in city dollars to be allocated.
Resident Pangcha Vang with the Party for Socialism and Liberation called on elected officials to consider affordable housing as part of overall public safety for the community, along with education, healthcare and food security. “Public safety needs to be about more than just police and fire,” she said.
City Council members Echevarria, Jesse Ornelas, and Bertha Perez have consistently voiced support for bolstering affordable housing with a trust fund, with Ornelas going as far as to say that he won’t vote in support of new development projects or zoning changes until the city commits.
The remaining four members of City Council have appeared more cautious. After a majority of council members voted against an affordable housing trust fund last summer, the city shifted to evaluating a housing consortium in partnership with the Merced County Association of Governments.
Councilmember Kevin Blake has voiced the staunchest opposition to the trust fund notion. He cast the lone “no” vote against the goals and priorities list due to its inclusion of exploring a regional or local housing trust fund.
Opponents of the idea have said using city funds for affordable housing isn’t appropriate, as it’s traditionally a job for the private market. Others noted that available city funds couldn’t cover the immense cost of building affordable housing.
