The race for Merced’s next mayor begins. Who will be next to lead the Gateway to Yosemite?
City of Merced leadership could look quite different after the upcoming Nov. 3 primary election.
The mayoral seat, as well as City Council Districts 1, 3 and 5, are all up for grabs on the ballot. With two current City Council members throwing their hats in the ring for mayor rather than running for re-election, all three open districts may see fresh representation.
Merced City Council is made up of six district representatives, plus the mayor. The candidate filing period ended 5 p.m. Friday, but districts with eligible incumbents who do not file get an extension through 5 p.m. Wednesday. During that period, anyone interested in running for City Council other than the incumbent may file.
As Mayor Mike Murphy, known for championing Merced as a “city on the rise,” ends his four years in office, official mayoral candidates vying for the role in 2020 are:
Anthony Martinez, City Council’s District 1 representative and a 10th grade English teacher at El Capitan High.
Matthew Serratto, who currently serves as Mayor Pro Tempore and City Council District 5 representative. He is also Merced County chief deputy district attorney.
Michael Belluomini, a retired former Merced City Council member and city planner.
Monica Kay Villa, a local homeless advocate who has ran for Merced City Council and mayor several times.
Current candidates for Merced City Council districts include:
District 1: Teacher Louis Smith, retired teacher Joel Knox and youth program manager Jesse Ornelas.
District 3: Allen Brooks, local NAACP chapter president and business owner, and labor organizer Bertha Perez.
District 5: Businesswoman Sarah Boyle, military member Anthony Anderson and UC Merced Police Chief Chou Her have not completed the filing process as of 5 p.m. Friday, but the extension period is open.
Mayor candidates talk plans, platforms
Experience is in abundance among the Merced mayor candidates, with Martinez and Serratto having served on City Council since 2016 and Belluomini’s five-year term ending in just 2018.
Villa is a familiar face at council meetings, where she often uses her public comment time to advocate for Merced’s homeless community.
Anthony Martinez
Working as a teacher prepared Martinez to fully understand the mayoral role as being a public servant tasked with helping the whole city, he said.
“I’m really good at helping to see what people are struggling at and helping them improve — I learned a lot of that as a teacher,” he said.
“I want to be the type of mayor who is serving each council member before trying to get the things done that I want.”
A Golden Valley High School graduate himself, Martinez was born and raised in Merced and said he has roots in the city that go generations back. His identity is strongly tied to the city, he said, and considers himself a “son of Merced.”
As mayor, Martinez said he could more effectively expand the “good work” he’s done in his district to all of the city. He would ensure that the council is informed, educated and active on current issues, in addition to making sure council members deliver promises to their districts, he said.
“I feel like I’ve learned enough on council that I think I can be very helpful to the council members as a mayor,” Martinez said.
Mayor Murphy during his tenure was successful in working to build up the city’s reserves and guiding the city to be fiscally responsible, Martinez said. If elected, he said he would continue this approach — a notion reflected in the goal to run his campaign without raising a single dollar.
Rather than donating to his campaign, Martinez said he is asking constituents to just spread word of him running and instead donate to a local charity of their choice. Especially amid the economic strains caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Merced charities could use the dollars more than him, Martinez said.
Matthew Serratto
Serratto said his decision to run for mayor was made on account of his passion for serving the city. “I’ve been on City Council for close to four years,” he said. “I love the people, I love the city.”
Serratto outlined a 20-point plan to tackle his top priority issues, which include improving job growth and economic prosperity, fostering a vibrant downtown and making Merced safer. He said serving on City Council, as well as his role with the DA’s office, has positioned him to take on these issues — especially now.
“Having to manage a city in a time of emergency is an invaluable experience,” Serratto said of the coronavirus pandemic.
While the pandemic has not necessarily changed fundamental mayoral priorities, it has underscored the urgency to address certain issues like supporting public health efforts and managing the local economy under a constrained budget, Serratto said.
“Economic recovery is going to be paramount on the city level,” he said.
The isolation felt by many due to the pandemic has also underscored the importance of building community relationships — something Serratto said he believes the city could make progress on. He pointed to his efforts like the Loughborough neighborhood revitalization program to strengthen the city’s bonds.
Serratto said Mayor Murphy made noteworthy progress on this front by encouraging residents to take pride in their city, as well as pushing for a more inclusive Merced. Serratto said he will seek to continue setting a positive tone for Merced.
Michael Belluomini
Although Belluomini has been away from the council dais for two years, his presence at council meetings — and preparedness to comment on agenda items — has continued to be commonplace.
“I was a very active City Council member, very concerned about land use and planning for future development,” Belluomini said. He has frequently wrote op-ed columns about city issues, made public statements about where he stands on many issues and was fairly demanding of staff and the council to advance change.
Belluomini described his time away from the City Council duties as only a break. “I want to be mayor because there are several issues that I think need to be addressed and dealt with to advance the City of Merced,” he said.
Some of those issues include: executing plans for a new a police station, addressing homelessness, maintaining local beautification efforts, building more industrial development and bettering local employment opportunities.
“The greatest need that Merced has, even before the pandemic, is we need jobs,” Belluomini said, adding, “The diversity of employment needs to be expanded so there are jobs at all skill levels”.
Strengthening recreation and youth activities is also at the forefront of Belluomini’s priorities. He said keeping Merced’s youth positively engaged with structured activity rather than beefing up the city’s police force is one of the most effective ways to address issues like crime.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he said.
Belluomini also said that as mayor, he would continue Murphy’s legacy of being a cheerleader for the City of Merced — especially amid the pandemic and the coming hard times ahead.
“I think what’s important in this time is for people to believe in the community, and reach out in whatever ways they can to share the good fortune they have,” he said.
Monica Kay Villa
Monica Kay Villa is the only candidate who could not be reached by the Sun-Star prior to the 5 p.m. Friday filing deadline. Still, the outspoken Villa is certainly no stranger to those in the halls of the Merced Civic Center.
Villa frequently speaks her mind during public comment at City Council meetings, and is known for her advocacy of those who are without adequate shelter.
“I ended up moving out in a tent, meeting people, and started going to City Council (meetings) and started advocating,” Villa told the Sun-Star during a prior run for City Council in 2013.
Villa over the years has also organized her peers to attend council meetings, and has been a frequent critic of how members of the homeless community are often treated.
She previously told the Sun-Star that she didn’t appreciate what she viewed as a cold response from the City Council. “The demeanor of council was definitely just, ‘You need to be gone, we don’t want you here,’ “ Villa said. “Dude, I was born and raised in this county.”
She also mentioned during a prior council run that her No. 1 priority is the young people of Merced. Villa said it’s important for the city to offer youth entertainment, and that includes better access to the arts.
Villa pointed to the Merced Multicultural Arts Center, the Merced County Library and the Merced County Courthouse Museum as places where the city could offer such programs.
Villa previously told the Sun-Star that as a she could help to educate Merced residents about people who are different from them.
She has also previously said that Merced could attract development if parts of its population were friendlier. The city has its share of discrimination against minorities — whether they be people of color, the homeless or have a sexual orientation other than straight, she said.
This story was originally published August 8, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
