New Council to be sworn in Monday night
A new City Council will be sworn in after the election results are certified by the Merced City Council Monday.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber on the second floor of the Merced Civic Center, (City Hall), 678 W. 18th St. The Council meets the first and third Mondays of the month, except when there is a holiday, when it meets the following day.
Fernando Echevarria will take the seat for District 2 and Delray Shelton will assume the seat for District 6. Incumbent Kevin Blake will take the seat for District 4. This is the first time that all six district seats have been filled. Mayor Mike Murphy will be sworn in for his second term.
A Transition Reception will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the second floor foyer Monday to welcome the new Council and to say farewell to departing Council members Michael Belluomini and Josh Pedrozo.
On the agenda for the Council is selection of Town Hall meeting dates. Every year before the budget is formulated the Council holds Town Hall meetings in south, central and north Merced to hear from the public about ideas, concerns and issues from the public. The feedback is incorporated into the budget that is adopted by the Council in June.
The Council will hold a public hearing on the annual report on development impact fees as required by the state. The report details what fees are being collected and what projects they will be spent on.
The Council will meet in closed session after the regular meeting for anticipated litigation.
City Council meetings are streamed live on the Internet. A link to the live meeting is on the City's web site at https://cityofmerced.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Videos of previous meetings can be found at that link, and are tied to each agenda item. Those services are in addition to the live broadcast of the regular meeting on Comcast's Government Channel 96.
The Council agenda is posted online at www.cityofmerced.org and is available outside the chambers prior to the meeting. Request to Speak forms are available at the meeting or can be downloaded from the City's website. Cards must be turned in to the City Clerk in order for a person to be recognized by the Council. Hmong and Spanish translators are available at all regular Council meetings.