The Riverbank City Council and newly elected Mayor Rachel Hernandez met for its first time in 2025 on Tuesday, Jan. 14, reorganizing standing committees, naming a new vice mayor, and hearing several reports.
Mayor Rachel Hernandez – a past council member who defeated longtime incumbent Mayor Richard D. O’Brien in November – nominated new District 2 Council Member Cindy Fosi to the post of vice mayor, confirmed by a unanimous vote by the rest of the council.
Fosi ran unopposed in the November election, having served previously, up until 2020. She replaces last year’s Vice Mayor, Luis Uribe, who represents District 1.
District 3 is represented by John Pimentel, who was appointed by the past council last month, replacing Leanne Jones Cruz, who resigned effective Sept. 30, indicating she was moving out of town.
District 4 is now represented by Stacy Call, who was elected in November, replacing Darlene Barber-Martinez.
For the past four years, Mayor Hernandez has represented District 2 on the council, and was elected to the mayoral post in November.
In addition to appointing the vice mayor, the council also reorganized to determine who would be representing the city on a number of both local and regional committees for the next year.
In addition, before the regular business, they heard reports from department heads.
Cheese & Wine Presentation
City Parks and Recreation Director Michael Patton reported on the results of last fall’s downtown Riverbank signature festival, the Cheese & Wine.
He offered the council an analysis of the event, including what was new in 2024, the pros and cons of the event, a financial report, and included staff feedback, before taking time for questions and answers.
As part of the analysis, Patton noted that there were a total of 176 vendors signed up, with 309 wine tasting tickets sold.
The newly added car show had 53 vehicles on display, and there were 10 performing groups on the two stages used in downtown.
He said there were 13 sponsors that helped put on the event, with total revenues at $46,434 against expenditures of $56,618, for an overall deficit of $8,184.
Patton said it took 164 days of staff time to organize and manage the event.
New in the 2024 Cheese & Wine, he reported, were a number of aspects.
The biggest, probably, was shortening the festival from two days to one. He said they lowered fees to help support local businesses, and placed more emphasis on the wine tasting, ensuring a wider variety of wine providers.
Patton said they also worked hard to increase community input and participation in planning the event, and improving the layout on Santa Fe Street.
He said that, after the event, his department has received “little to no negative feedback, from the public and other stakeholders,” with positive responses overall.
Patton indicated a number of suggestions as the festival continues.
He said he thought the festival should remain a one-day event, with the Parks and Recreation Department continuing to plan and manage the festival.
He hopes to build off of the energy and momentum of the 2024 event, while acquiring additional assistance from volunteers to ease the “day of” burden placed on staff. And he’s expecting minor adjustments will improve the event logistics and execution.
Public Works Review
Riverbank Director of Public Works, Cody Bridgewater, explained the elements of his organization to the council.
He said his department operates and maintains the water distribution system, water wells, storm drain system, sewer collection system, wastewater treatment plant, and performs street and street light maintenance.
He noted that delivering high quality water and disposing of wastewater is a critical piece to providing service to city residents and ratepayers. The Public Works Department often receives questions from the public regarding who is responsible for the maintenance of the utility system.
