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Mike Harris Newsletter — August 24, 2026
📞 On Call with Mike Harris | District 3 | August 24, 2026
Good morning, Merced,
I owe you a follow-up. Last week I squeezed in a late note about paramedics with a promise of the full story, and I keep my promises. This week you get it, and it is worth the wait: every fire station in Merced now has a paramedic on duty around the clock. After a career spent in ambulances and EMS command posts, I can tell you plainly that this is the kind of milestone most cities our size deserve.
It was also a full week at City Hall. Monday night's council meeting drew a packed chamber for a debate over tenant protections, and our High-Speed Rail conversation officially moved up a level in Sacramento. Let's get into it.
🚑 EMS & Public Safety
🔹 Every Merced fire station now provides 24/7 paramedic coverage. At 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, Fire Station 52 began Advanced Life Support service, which means all five City fire stations now have a firefighter-paramedic on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For South Merced, that upgrade brings paramedic-level care directly from the neighborhood station, including cardiac monitoring, medication administration, and advanced airway management before a patient ever reaches the hospital.
→ 📊 By the numbers: Roughly 70 percent of Merced Fire Department calls are medical emergencies, not fires. The department ran more than 12,700 calls in 2025 and is on pace to top 14,000 this year. When the call volume looks like that, paramedic coverage is not a luxury. It is the job.
→ 💬 My take: This is what the grants-first playbook looks like when it works. The federal SAFER grant added 24 firefighter positions, a separate FEMA grant funded the paramedic training, and the council backed the ALS equipment through the annual budget. My thanks to Chief Casey Wilson, Division Chief Mickey Brunelli, and every firefighter-paramedic who put in the training hours. One caution from me: that SAFER grant expires in March 2027, which is exactly why the Vital Services Protection Measure is on your November ballot. I will keep laying out what is at stake so you can make an informed choice.
👉 Read the full City announcement
💼 Economic Development
🔹 High-Speed Rail talks reached Sacramento. On Friday, Aug. 14, City representatives met with State Sen. Anna Caballero and the High-Speed Rail Authority to keep pressing on the questions that matter: infrastructure, transportation and connectivity, public safety, land use, and the costs and funding tied to a Merced station. Sen. Caballero and Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria have signaled willingness to back our efforts at the state level, and the City plans to request a meeting with the Governor's Office next. Staff are also finalizing a public list of the priorities and commitments Merced needs from the State and the Authority before anything is settled.
→ 💬 Where I stand: The Authority has floated moving the planned downtown station to a site near Mission Avenue and Highway 99, and downtown sits in the heart of District 3, so you can bet I am watching this closely. I want Merced in that first operating segment, but a once-in-a-generation opportunity does not mean signing a once-in-a-generation blank check. Station location, a transportation plan, infrastructure costs, and a real funding strategy come first. When the City publishes its priorities list, I will walk you through it line by line in this newsletter. That is the longer discussion I promised, and it is coming.
🏠 Housing & Code Enforcement
🔹 Tenant protections dominated Monday night's council meeting. On Aug. 17, Councilmember Fue Xiong asked us to agendize four new renter programs: a rental registry, proactive inspections, rent stabilization, and a right to legal representation. After more than a dozen landlords, property managers, renters, and advocates spoke, the motion did not get a second, including from me. The same night, the council finalized inspection procedures for substandard multi-unit buildings on a 6-1 vote, closing out an issue the state Attorney General's office flagged back in March.
→ 💬 Why I said no for now: State law already does a lot of this work. We are not Berkeley, and we are not San Jose. Just two months ago we passed the anti-slumlord ordinance, which hits repeat violators with $1,000 daily fines, and I want to see the data on how it performs before stacking new programs on top of it. Here is what I do support: more code enforcement officers. We have four covering the entire city, and it is clear they are overworked. My thanks and admiration go to the landlords and property managers who do it right. I tried being a landlord twice myself, ended up in court both times, and swore never again, so I understand this is harder than it looks from either side of the lease.
👉 Read The Merced FOCUS coverage
📅 Meetings & Community Events
🔹 Celebration of Life for Roger Wood: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 10 a.m., Atwater Community Center. Last week I shared the loss of this Merced County giant. If his voice on the radio, his civic work, or his kindness ever touched your life, this is the moment to show up for his family.
👉 Read the Times tribute to Roger Wood
🔹 A quiet stretch at City Hall. The Aug. 19 Planning Commission meeting and Tuesday's Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Commission meeting (Aug. 25) were both cancelled. The Planning Commission returns Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
🔹 Next City Council meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 6 p.m. Because the first Monday of September is Labor Day, we shift to Tuesday evening. Council Chamber, Merced Civic Center, 678 W. 18th St., second floor. Bring us what is on your mind.
👉 View agendas, minutes, and video
🔹 Merced Certified Farmers' Market: Saturday, Aug. 29, morning, downtown Merced. Year-round since 1980, rain or shine. Your grocery money staying with local growers is economic development in its simplest form.
📣 Stay Connected with Merced
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👉 Sign up for Subscribe Merced
☎️ The Direct Line
I am already hearing from readers, which tells me you want this window into City Hall as much as I wanted to build it. Keep it coming. In the weeks ahead, the City will publish its High-Speed Rail priorities list and the November ballot conversation will pick up steam, and I want your questions on both before those decisions harden.
You know the drill: call me at (209) 385-6203 and I will respond. Or reply to this email, or write me at HarrisM@cityofmerced.gov. If a neighbor would find this useful, forward it along.
Talk soon, Merced.
