Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Though funding for Merced County’s District 1 will no longer be available after a 3-2 vote to dissolve discretionary funding, funding for District 2 will continue for the 2017-18 budget year. The Steering Committee will…
Re “Debate gets heated as Merced County leaders vote to end controversial funds” (Front page, Sept. 13): Merced County was on the verge of making history. Now, thanks to Supervisor Daron McDaniel, Supervisor Lloyd Pareira and Supervisor Jerry O’Bannon, the” District Project Funds” of $200,000 has been eliminated. These funds were voted by these three supervisors to…
Re “Debate gets heated as Merced County leaders vote to end controversial funds” (Front page, Sept. 13): So, why now? Why did some members of the Merced County Board of Supervisors do away with the program that would have given real people real power in how money is spent? Maybe the politicians didn’t want to share power….
One morning while attending class at CSU Stanislaus, I started having excruciating stomach pain to the degree that I experienced hot flashes and blurred vision. As I tried to gather myself, my condition worsened and the pain became unbearable. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor and soon I blacked out. As I…
By JONATHAN WHITAKER July 27, 2017 Supporters of the local “Health Care For All” movement are speaking up after the release of a new report that points to the consequences of not providing coverage options to undocumented adults. They are also encouraged after a unanimous decision by the Merced County Board of Supervisors to explore…
BY MONICA VELEZ | mvelez@mercedsunstar.com JULY 30, 2017 11:27 AM Thousands of undocumented immigrants in Merced County don’t have health coverage, but advocates supporting the #Health4All campaign say there are ways Merced County could help that could possibly benefit everyone. This week, Building Healthy Communities Merced, or BHC, a nonprofit group funded by the California Endowment,…
BY BRIANNA CALIX | bcalix@mercedsunstar.com JULY 11, 2017 5:37 PM Non-English speaking residents of Merced County struggle to voice their opinions to the public officials they help elect, critics said Tuesday. Lupe Delgado, a healthcare outreach worker with the Parent Institute for Quality Education, said many local voices have been stifled by Merced County’s failure to…
By John Miller | johnmiller@midvalleypub.com Merced residents got their first glimpse of the ‘Participatory Budgeting’ (PB) process proposed by Merced County District 1 Supervisor Rodrigo Espinoza and District 2 Supervisor Lee Lor during a community meeting at the Merced County Office of Education. Local residents and representatives from a variety of community organizations met with…
BY MONICA VELEZ | mvelez@mercedsunstar.com Young people from Merced presented an art piece at the state Capitol on Tuesday afternoon they say advocates for accessible and affordable healthcare for everyone regardless of immigration in a campaign dubbed “Health4All.” “Our community is in a harsh political climate and the message we want to say is we are…
BY MONICA VELEZ | mvelez@mercedsunstar.com Community groups in Merced County have been working with health and elected officials to find ways to provide health insurance for the thousands of Merced County residents who lack coverage. Now, they’re reaching out to the community “to be part of the solution to expand health care access to the undocumented…
BY BRIANNA CALIX | bcalix@mercedsunstar.com Two freshman Merced County supervisors are experimenting with a new way to dole out the hotly-contested discretionary funds that each board member receives each fiscal year. Supervisors Rodrigo Espinoza and Supervisor Lee Lor will host a study session Wednesday to introduce “participatory budgeting,” a process crafted to allow residents to directly…
BY MONICA VELEZ AND BRIANNA CALIX | mvelez@mercedsunstar.com The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to explore ideas on how to provide health insurance to the thousands of local residents who lack coverage because of their immigration status. Dozens of people, many wearing black T-shirts with the phrase #Health4All, waited through hours of the…
