Progress?

We talk a lot about progress on this website. Our parent company, Sunny Day Online, has a motto that is Always Mooving Forward. MeetMerced.com is always trying to find ways to be on the leading edge of the grassroots movement to make Merced a better place to live, work, and play. This is all good, but Merced seems to be stuck in rut.

Don't believe me? Well explain the recent happenings when someone with vision steps up to the plate and wants to make Merced a better place. What happened to the Mongolian Grill's V Lounge, the Riverside Motorsports Park, Housing market? I'll tell you what happened. This big city Merced wants to continue to act like a small city while people are leaving in droves, putting so many houses on the market. I won't even touch on crime. Merced is the same size population wise as Livermore and Buena Park. These citys are moving forward. Their night lives are thriving, there is lots to do whether you are a family, a teenager, or an adult. The problem with Merced is that people are afraid of change. They are afraid of big business. They don't want their big 'little' city to adapt to its new environment. It is frustrating. Our leadership is trying to find out why Merced's money (the population of Merced's money) is also leaving in droves. Well, maybe its because this town stinks. AND everytime someone thinks of something new and different it is shot down before it is even given a chance. This is unacceptable.

More proof? One of the biggest reasons for our current housing market problems is the fact that our city council and the planning commission kept greenlighting more and more housing developments. Could it be that our city council and planning commision members are involved in real estate? Let's take a look at that issue... Mayor Ellie Wooten, check out http://www.merced4homes.com , the mayor's personal website. What about Carol McCoy of the planning commission? She's a realtor. Is this city run by real estate agents trying to enrich their pockets.? That's yet to be decided.

What can we do? Continue to fight the good fight and promote change in this city and county. Vote in the elections and participate in the government. Read this blog and support others such as Merced Politics and TV and Badlands Journal. Continue to come up with new ideas and promote them and help the city move forward. We wanted a UC, it has changed us. Now we must find ways to change our city.

Thanks,
Shady.