Submit Date: Jul 11, 2025
First Name
Middle
Initial
Last Name
Employer
Job Title
Email Address
Primary Phone
Alternate Phone
Street Address
Suite or Apt
City
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City of Merced - Boards & Commissions
Profile
Are you 18 years of age or older? (Required)
Yes
No
Which Council district do you live in?
*
District 2
Are you currently serving on a Board or Commission? If so, please list:
n/a
Which Boards would you like to apply for?
Citizens Advisory Focus Group: Submitted
Communication
The City of Merced uses email as a preferred method of communication regarding your application.
Is this acceptable to you?
Yes
No
If you selected no, please identify how you would like to be contacted:
Felipe
Rojas-flores
California Rural Legal
Assistance, Inc.
Staff Attorney
Felipe Rojas-flores
Upload a Resume
Interests & Experiences
Tell us about yourself, and why you are applying for this particular Board or Commission:
I was born and raised in Merced. Except for certain times during my studies, I have always lived in south Merced and know the community well. I bring a unique perspective because I have seen and felt the changes Merced has experienced in recent decades. I also want to be involved in the City's efforts to gather diverse insights and sets of opinions from my fellow residents in District 2.
Please list your current employer and relevant volunteer experience.
I currently work for California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA), a nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income residents of California's rural counties. Most of my current volunteer experience is with Sacred Heart Church and as a member of its Scholarship Committee.
What is your understanding of the roles and responsibilities of this Board or Commission?
The Citizen’s Advisory Focus Group will serve as an advisory body to City Council regarding the preparation of the Comprehensive General Plan Update (GP) and the Downtown Station Area Plan (DSAP). Both these plans will guide current and future leaders as they make decissions about Merced's future.
Do you have experience or special knowledge pertaining to this Board or Commission?
Yes, I have experience and knowledge that would be valuable to the Citizens Advisory Focus Group. The experience I bring is outreach skills I developed in my current position. These skills mean getting creative to reach the intended audience. Additionally, I can comprehend complex issues and break them down into simple and understandable terms. This ability benefits the Citizen’s Advisory Focus Group because being able to explain the GP and DSAP in understandable terms will lead to more relevant and genuine opinions from more residents.
Any other comments you would like to add that may assist the City Council in their decision?
I want to disclose that I live in District 5 at the time of submitting this application. I will be moving to the above address the weekend of July 19-20, 2025.
Requirements
If you selected other, please indicate how you learned about the vacancy:
email from the city
FRF_Resume07.25.pdf
Felipe Rojas-flores
Date of Birth
Demographics
Ethnicity
Hispanic
Gender
Male
Submission
I declare under penalty of disqualification or termination that all statements in this application are true and complete to the best of my knowledege.
F.R.F.
Felipe Rojas-flores
Felipe Rojas-Flores
Education
Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Baton Rouge, LA May 2020 J.D. /D.C.L.
Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia Spring 2019 Semester Abroad
University of California, Merced, Merced, CA May 2016 B.A. in Political Science; minors in Spanish and Environmental Science and Sustainability
Experience
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Fresno, CA October 2020 – Present Staff Attorney (Previously Law Graduate)
▪ Provide legal service to low-income farmworker clients and client groups including advice, negotiation, litigation, and administrative advocacy in accordance with program priorities ▪ Supervise advocates’ work product while managing case load of direct services and litigation cases ▪ Co-leading internal task force and providing training as requested by task force ▪ Represented clients in mediations, Unlawful Detainers (eviction cases), Labor Commissioner hearings, California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board administrative hearings and appeals, and Civil Rights Department investigations
Rozas and Associates Law Firm, Baton Rouge, LA September 2019 – March 2020 Law Clerk
▪ Prepared parole requests and parole redeterminations for immigrant detainees
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., Modesto, CA May 2019 – July 2019 Legal Intern
▪ Conducted legal research, prepared memoranda, and worked on discovery ▪ Represented client before an Administrative Law Judge in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) case
LSU Law Immigration Clinic, Baton Rouge, LA August 2018 – December 2018 Clinician
▪ Represented clients in Immigration Court, prepared applications for Naturalization and for Asylum
Office of the Public Defender, Baton Rouge, LA June 2018 – July 2018 Summer Extern
▪ Drafted motion to suppress evidence from an inventory search of a vehicle
Citibank, Merced, CA February 2016 – August 2017
Financial Associate/Teller
Success Mentor Program, UC Merced August 2014 – August 2015 Success Mentor
The Maddy Institute, Merced, CA February 2015 – May 2015 Intern at Assembly Member Adam Gray’s District Office
Fiat Lux Scholars Program, UC Merced October 2013 – August 2014 Study Session Monitor
Notable Skills and Certifications
Native proficiency in Spanish; Elementary proficiency in Italian; LexisNexis Proficiency Certification
Personal Interests
Percussionist (performed for 11 years); Avid traveler with 14 countries and 20 states visited
Submit Date: Aug 01, 2025
First Name
Middle
Initial
Last Name
Employer
Job Title
Email Address
Primary Phone
Alternate Phone
Street Address
Suite or Apt
City
State
Postal Code
City of Merced - Boards & Commissions
Profile
Are you 18 years of age or older? (Required)
Yes
No
Which Council district do you live in?
*
District 2
Are you currently serving on a Board or Commission? If so, please list:
No
Which Boards would you like to apply for?
Citizens Advisory Focus Group: Submitted
Communication
The City of Merced uses email as a preferred method of communication regarding your application.
Is this acceptable to you?
Yes
No
If you selected no, please identify how you would like to be contacted:
Keith
A
Ensminger
Kramer Translation
Co-owner
Keith A Ensminger
Interests & Experiences
Tell us about yourself, and why you are applying for this particular Board or Commission:
My wife and I moved to Merced in 1988 when the Merced City Elementary School District offered me a teaching position. Our youngest children were raised here and only remember Merced. Our oldest daughter was a sophomore at Merced High. We rented a home on Seminole Drive and bought our current home on the corner of Massasso Street and Lopes Avenue in 1991. I obtained a contractor's license in 1993 and worked on small construction projects during the summer months. My wife and I started a translation business in 1995. I retired from teaching in 2002, and Mrs. Ensminger and I built a successful business serving individual, corporate, and government clients with a focus on medical and public health research and development.
Public service through various agencies and departments helps create a more vibrant community and gives residents a voice in community development. I will be honored to serve with the Citizens Advisory Focus Group to develop recommendations through consultations with community residents for the Comprehensive General Plan Update (GP), the Downtown Station Area Plan (DSAP), and other items that may come before the group.
Please list your current employer and relevant volunteer experience.
Marisa Ensminger and I own and operate Kramer Translation, a home-based business. Mrs.
Ensminger translates documents into Thai, her native language. I manage translations in over 100 languages. Both of us are retired, although we continue to serve a couple of clients whenever they request our services. My relevant volunteer experience includes: 1. Various educational committees when I taught with the Merced Elementary School District from 1988-2002. 2. Board member of Merced Girls Softball, 1995-2000 3. Coach for Merced Boys Little League and Girls Softball, 1995-2003 4. Parent member of School Site Council at Merced High School, 2000-2005. The Site Council provides ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the School Site Plan (SSP) and budgets/expenditures and is responsible for revising the SSP including expenditures, timelines and evaluation criteria.
5. Board
member of Measure C, Citizens Oversight Committee, City of Merced, 2006-2012, The Board’s purpose and responsibility is to ensure voter approved Measure C revenue is equally allocated for police, fire and road departments. 6. Participated in Merced community meetings to design council districts and presented district map proposals, 2015-2016. 7.
Board member of Small Business California, 2016-2019. SB-Cal is a statewide chamber of commerce to improve the business climate for California small business owners.
8. Board
member of Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, City of Merced Elementary School District, 2014-2019. Board members receive and review annual performance and financial audit reports to ensure that all Bond Measure monies are spent on voter-approved projects.
What is your understanding of the roles and responsibilities of this Board or Commission?
I view my roles and responsibilities on the Citizens Advisory Focus Group as both a representative and delegate. My responsibility as a representative of District 2 is to learn as much as possible from my constituents and other residents about their hope for the economic and cultural development of Merced through public engagement activities, Town Hall meetings and other venues. My role as a delegate, if the City Council accepts my application, is to assist the group to the best of my ability in the development of general plan recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council including recommendations for the Vision 2030 General Plan that supports the civic and commercial development in the City of Merced.
Keith A Ensminger
Upload a Resume
Date of Birth
Do you have experience or special knowledge pertaining to this Board or Commission?
I gained experience with many of the issues related to the Group as a public-school teacher serving families in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Merced, a small business owner and licensed contractor, and membership on past boards and commissions I described in Relevant Volunteer Experience.
Any other comments you would like to add that may assist the City Council in their decision?
I can attend the scheduled meetings every other month in addition to scheduled ad hoc meetings whenever necessary with a two-week to 72-hour notice Requirements
If you selected other, please indicate how you learned about the vacancy:
Ronnie de Anda told me about the vacancies for District 2 and encouraged me to apply.
Demographics
Ethnicity
Caucasian/Non-Hispanic
Gender
Male
Submission
I declare under penalty of disqualification or termination that all statements in this application are true and complete to the best of my knowledege.
KE
Keith_Ensminger_Resume.pdf
Keith A Ensminger