Manteca Mayor Gary Singh — who led an unprecedented in-person community outreach to voters  — may have played a pivotal role in the apparent success of the Measure Q sales tax.

Measure Q on Wednesday appeared headed for passage as the latest count update shows the three-quarter of a cent temporary sales tax leading by 380 votes.

That’s up from a 242 vote margin on Monday

“I’d like to thank all of those who we met with us whether they ended up voting for (Measure Q) or not,” Singh said on Wednesday.

Singh is referring to the “80 neighborhood” meetings that he attended as well as other city leaders to provide an overview of the city’s current revenues as well as the cost of various pressing needs.

Singh stressed he wasn’t ready to call it a win until the last votes are counted.

The 20-year tax, though, has what  for all practical purpose an insurmountable lead after Wednesday’s update count. 

That’s due to only a small number of Manteca votes cast among the remaining provisional ballots countywide that have yet to have signatures verified so they can be counted.

Singh stressed it was a “team effort” by city staff and the rest of the council to actively engage people about Measure Q.

Historically, when there is a tax measure proposed, previous councils have placed it on the ballot and then took a hands off approach saying it was up to the voters to decide.

Singh said this time around, council members made  the commitment from the start to advocate for the tax measure as individuals.

Council members in the past distanced  themselves from tax measures to avoid negative political fallout.

The Yes on Measure Q effort was also helped by an equally unprecedent $100,000 plus campaign pushing for the sales tax’s passage.

Almost every of the 80 gatherings included those that came to the meetings not convinced the 20-year tax hike was needed. But after give and take questioning of Singh and others, several usually ended up saying they would vote for the tax measure.

If that is indeed the case and the tax passes by the 242 vote margin it is currently at, that means the margin of victory may have been from successfully convincing at least 122 voters initially leaning against Measure Q to ultimately cast votes supporting it.

Detractors on social media have been making it clear that failure of Measure Q would be proverbially hung around Singh’s neck because of the extraordinary effort by local political standards that the mayor invested to work toward securing its passage.

As such, the opposite outcome of its passage would underscore Singh’s effectiveness at being able to lead efforts to rally needed support given tax measures by their very essence are unpopular.

The mini town hall style gatherings wasn’t Singh’s only outreach effort.

He made an effort to reach out to those posting comments on his Facebook page in opposition to the tax saying it wasn’t needed.

He offered to meet them in person or have a conversation over the phone or via social media so they could share their concerns and he could explain his position.

When one person who was an adamant no vote said they didn’t have time to meet with them, Singh went to their home.

And while he did not convert many of those  that were vocal in their opposition through strokes of the keyboard, he came away with a feeling they didn’t disagree there was a real need but they didn’t agree in addressing it via a sales tax.

The exchanges, he said, were invaluable even if it didn’t result in a yes vote as it provided an opportunity for people to understand  how city finances operate under state regulations.

Once the election results are final and certified in the next week, the increased sales tax would go into effect on Jan. 1.

Measure Q has the potential to raise at least $260 million in constant dollars during the next 20 years.

Two high priority projects along with additional street work and such expected to go forward initially is a new police station and a fire station in southwest Manteca.

The fire station would require the purchase of a new fire engine as well as nine firefighters to staff.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com