From: Angelina Mendoza <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 11:00 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment for City Council Meeting
Dear Mayor and Members of the Los Banos City Council, I am a Los Banos resident asking the City to provide more information about its plan to help people experiencing homelessness. I support helping p
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Dear Mayor and Members of the Los Banos City Council,
I am a Los Banos resident asking the City to provide more information about its plan to help people experiencing homelessness.
I support helping people find safe, permanent housing. Permanent supportive housing is especially important for people who have experienced long-term homelessness or need ongoing services.
However, permanent housing is only one part of the solution. The City also needs a plan for people currently living in encampments who cannot immediately move into permanent housing.
According to the City’s March 2025 announcement, the One Tree project is receiving approximately $14.3 million in public and grant funding.
The project is expected to provide up to 58 housing units, supportive services, and temporary operating assistance.
The City’s May 2024 Council report showed that Los Banos had only 20 emergency shelter beds, while the 2024 Point-in-Time Count identified 121 people living outside without shelter.
The report also stated that Bridge Homes had been full since May 2023 and acknowledged that permanent supportive housing would not resolve the shortage of emergency shelter beds.
Los Banos therefore needs a complete system:
Encampment → Emergency Shelter or Navigation Center → Services and Stabilization → Permanent Housing
One Tree may address the permanent-housing stage, but the City also needs emergency shelter, services, and short-term support for people who are not yet ready or able to move into permanent housing.
I respectfully ask the City Council to direct the following actions.
N
o
.
Requested
Action What the City Should Provide Timeline
1 Provide a
complete
review of the
One Tree
project.
Explain the number of units, eligibility
requirements, how many units are expected to
serve people currently living in Los Banos
encampments, total project cost, cost per
unit, operating funding, funding expiration
dates, expected opening date, and projected
reduction in unsheltered homelessness and
encampments.
Within 60 days
2 Assess Los
Banos’s
emergency
shelter needs.
Identify the current unsheltered population,
available shelter beds, additional beds
needed, necessary services, staffing needs,
and realistic operating models.
Within 90 days
3 Evaluate a
centralized
Navigation
Center.
Compare permanent construction, Sprung
Structures, modular shelters, tiny shelters,
and other rapidly deployable options. Include
capacity, startup cost, annual operating cost,
staffing, services, possible locations, funding
sources, and estimated implementation
timelines.
Within 120
days
4 Evaluate the
former police
station at 945
Assess the building and property condition,
renovation costs, accessibility, fire and lifesafety requirements, zoning, security, Before the
property is
demolished,
N
o
.
Requested
Action What the City Should Provide Timeline
Fifth Street as a
shelter or
Navigation
Center.
neighborhood impacts, capacity, space for
supportive services, operating costs, and
whether modular or Sprung-style structures
could supplement the property.
redeveloped,
or committed
to another use;
results within
90 days
5 Provide a
complete
financial and
outcomes
accounting for
the
encampment
near the new
police station.
Report how much has been spent since the
encampment began, current monthly and
annual costs, funding sources, General Fund
contribution, contractor costs, employee time,
emergency-service costs, security, sanitation,
utilities, cleanup, outreach, case
management, and other direct or indirect
expenses. Also report how many individuals
have been connected to services, placed in
shelter, treatment, transitional housing,
permanent housing, or another stable living
situation.
Within 90 days
6 Compare the
City’s major
homelessness
options in one
comprehensive
analysis.
Compare One Tree, Bridge Homes, the current
encampment, a Navigation Center, use of the
former police station, Sprung or modular
shelters, and a combined approach. Include
capital cost, annual operating cost, funding
source, General Fund exposure, capacity, cost
per person served, expected housing
placements, implementation timeline, and
anticipated reduction in encampments.
Within 120
days
7 Identify funding
for emergency
shelter and
Identify available or reasonably foreseeable
state, federal, county, healthcare, nonprofit,
philanthropic, and homelessness-related
funding, including major restrictions, matching
Within 120
days
N
o
.
Requested
Action What the City Should Provide Timeline
navigation
services.
requirements, deadlines, and required local
contributions.
8 Set measurable
goals and make
results publicly
available.
Establish measurable goals for shelter
capacity, service connections, housing
placements, encampment reduction,
spending, and cost per person served. Make
the City’s homelessness spending, funding
sources, major contracts, capacity, and
outcomes readily available to the public in one
location.
Goals within
150 days;
thereafter
update the
information on
a regular basis
In addition to the requested actions above, I believe the City’s review should answer several fundamental questions.
One Tree
How many individuals currently living in Los Banos encampments are realistically expected to move into One Tree?
What happens to people who remain unsheltered after One Tree reaches full occupancy? What measurable reduction in encampments does the City expect One Tree to produce? What happens when temporary grant-funded operating or supportive-service funding ends? Emergency Shelter and Navigation Services
Where can someone experiencing homelessness go today if Bridge Homes is full? How many emergency shelter beds does Los Banos actually need? Has the City previously evaluated a centralized Navigation Center, Sprung Structures, modular shelters, or comparable alternatives? If those options were rejected, why? Could a Navigation Center provide the missing link between encampments and permanent housing by combining shelter with case management, healthcare referrals, behavioral-health and substance-use services, employment assistance, benefits enrollment, showers, restrooms, laundry, meals, security, and housing navigation? Former Police Station
Has the City formally evaluated the former police station at 945 Fifth Street for use as an emergency shelter or Navigation Center?
If it has not, why should this publicly owned property be demolished, redeveloped, or assigned another civic use before that alternative is evaluated? How much would conversion cost, how many people could the property serve, and could modular or Sprung-style structures expand its capacity? Current Encampment Near the New Police Station
How much has the encampment cost since it was established? What is the current monthly and annual cost?
Where is that money coming from?
How much is being paid from the City’s General Fund, and how much comes from grants, Merced County, state or federal programs, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, or other sources?
What happens when those funding sources expire?
Are there additional costs being absorbed within Police, Fire, Public Works, administration, or other departmental budgets that are not currently identified as homelessness expenditures? How much City employee time is being devoted to the encampment? Most importantly, what outcomes have resulted from that spending? How many people have moved from the encampment into shelter, services, treatment, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, or another stable housing situation? The City should be able to compare the cost of managing an outdoor encampment with the cost and potential outcomes of providing structured emergency shelter and navigation services.
Maintaining an encampment should not become an indefinite substitute for creating adequate shelter capacity.
This request is not an argument against One Tree or permanent supportive housing. It is a request to understand how One Tree fits into a complete homelessness strategy and whether other public resources could be used more effectively.
Residents should be able to understand, in one place:
• How much public money has already been spent;
• How much is currently being spent;
• Where the funding comes from;
• What future financial obligations remain;
• How many people are being served;
• What outcomes are being achieved; and
• What alternatives have been considered.
If One Tree is one part of the City’s strategy, residents should be told what provides the other parts of the continuum:
Encampment → Shelter → Services → Stabilization → Permanent Housing If the encampment near the new police station is temporary, the City should explain its cost, its funding, the results it has produced, its exit strategy, and its anticipated end date.
Before the former police station is committed to another purpose, the City should determine whether it could help address the City’s acknowledged shortage of emergency shelter and centralized services.
If the City Chooses Not to Address These Requests
I recognize that the City may ultimately disagree with some of these proposals.
However, these concerns should not simply remain unanswered.
If the City Council or staff decides not to pursue a requested study, alternative, or action, I respectfully ask that the City explain:
• Whether the proposal was evaluated;
• Why it was rejected or determined not to be feasible; • What factual, financial, legal, or operational information supported that determination; and
• What alternative the City intends to pursue instead.
If a Navigation Center is not considered appropriate for Los Banos, please explain why.
If the former police station is unsuitable for shelter or navigation services, please explain the factual, financial, and operational reasons.
If maintaining the current encampment is considered preferable to another emergencyshelter model, please explain why and identify the measurable outcomes the City expects from continuing that approach.
If requested financial information is unavailable, please identify what is unavailable and why.
If information cannot legally be released, please identify the applicable restriction and provide whatever non-confidential information can be disclosed.
If another county, state, federal, or nonprofit agency has responsibility for an issue the City cannot address directly, please identify that agency and explain how the City is coordinating with it.
A decision not to act is still a policy decision when substantial public funds, public property, and an ongoing community problem are involved.
I am not asking the City to accept every proposal presented here. I am asking for substantive evaluation, clear financial information, measurable outcomes, and an explanation of the City’s decisions.
I respectfully ask the City Council to place these concerns on a public agenda and identify:
• Which actions or studies are already underway;
• Which additional actions the City will pursue;
• Which alternatives the City will not pursue and why;
• Expected completion dates for approved reviews or studies; and • Where residents will be able to review the resulting information.
The goal should be one clear, comprehensive picture of Los Banos’s homelessness strategy rather than a series of disconnected programs, expenditures, and reports.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Angelina Mendoza
Los Banos Resident