On January 8th, the city of Merced held its first annual town hall event of 2026 at the Stephen Leonard Community Center in southwest Merced. The town halls are an opportunity for Merced residents to voice their concerns and priorities they have for the city. 

Looking around the room, there were very few community members present, the vast majority were Merced city officials. About a dozen residents spoke on a variety of issues, including neighborhood concerns, affordable housing, and the use of Merced’s budget.

Members of YLI’s Youth United (YU) group attended this year’s first town hall to voice their concerns and the goals they want the Merced City Council to address. Youth United program manager, Crystal Ramos, introduced the youth and gave each council member a printed copy of the Merced Connect App presentation created by the group. The presentation included six submitted park maintenance requests in the Merced Connect app, all of which resulted in “closed” notifications with no updates on the status of the work or requests being ignored altogether. 

(YU Member Adrian speaking to council members at Town Hall 1/8/26)

Two Youth United members, Quentin and Adrian, spoke more in depth during the public comment portion of the town hall about the Merced Connect app’s faults and the problematic park maintenance system. As YU youth member Quentin put it, “It’s time to move past the way things have always been done, because it’s clearly not working.” After public comment, the council and city officials responded to and addressed the issues raised by residents. In response to Youth United’s public comment, city councilmember Darin Dupont (District 1) agreed with the youth’s frustrations, stating he had also utilized the app for maintenance requests and met the same limitations and lack of efficiency.  In agreement, council member Mike Harris (District 3) stated that any resident who submits a report should receive a timely response and updates about their requests. Councilmember Fue Xiong (District 6) also stated during the response period that our parks are among the most beautiful aspects of our city and that “we need to pull funds from somewhere else…” rather than from the parks’ maintenance funds.

(City Council members reading over the presentation 1/8/26)

In reflection on the town hall’s events, Joe, a youth member of the Youth United group in the audience, was empowered by the event. “Going to the town hall last Thursday in Merced was a good experience. I was there to support our other youth leaders while they spoke about how important parks are and shared ideas about the Merced Connect app. The city officials gave positive feedback, and it felt good seeing our voices being heard. Being there reminded me that showing up and supporting our community really matters.” In a later response, Councilmember Thao (District 2) reaffirmed the youth’s presence and concerns about the park’s maintenance by stating, “I commend…Youth Leadership for their civic engagement and for bringing forward concerns regarding the Merced Connect app and maintenance needs in our neighborhood parks. Public participation, especially from our youth, is essential to a strong and responsive local government.” After their public comment and presentation, Public Works Deputy Director Juan F. Olmos took it upon himself to look further into the youth’s requests and to create improvements to the process. As stated by Mr. Olmos, “I have been looking into each of the requests and seeing where the process can be improved.  Again, thank you for helping us identify areas to improve and if there is anything else that you or your team think can help us, please let us know.” Although we have since gotten a response from the Public Works department about what exact improvements have been made, it was important to our youth to show up and voice their concerns and thoughts about the city’s 

park maintenance and management process. In a room with no other youth, Youth United’s presence was felt and acknowledged by officials and community members alike. 

( YU Member Quentin entering Town Hall Event 1/8/26)

If you would like to read over the Merced Connect app Presentation, please view our public view link attached to this article. Youth United will remain a thoughtful and dedicated advocate for Merced parks.

Merced Connect App Presentation
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