It’s 16 months until the 2022 Manteca mayoral election but already Mayor Ben Cantu and one of his expected challengers — councilman Dave Breitenbucher — are providing glimpses of how differently they view issues.
Breitenbucher on Tuesday wanted the council to reconsider a request made by staff to start council meetings an hour earlier at 6 p.m.
Breitenbucher pointed out a lot of staff that have to attend the 7 p.m. council meetings “don’t live in town” meaning they had a long drive afterwards.
“(We’re) failing to listen to staff,” Breitenbucher said.
Cantu responded by saying he had no problems if meetings had to go from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
The council, that has regularly scheduled meetings the first and third Tuesday of each month, has a policy that no agenda item can be started after 11 p.m. unless the majority of the council concurs.
That policy was put in place a number of years ago out of concern fatigue might not result in optimum decision making. Often times, the council may meet for an hour or so in a special meeting before the 7 p.m. council meeting to take care of business such as pending litigation, negotiations, and personnel matters behind closed doors as they are allowed under state law.
Cantu said the earlier start would “create a problem for the public” as a number of residents are long distance commuters to the Bay Area.
None of the other council members — Jose Nuño, Charlie Halford, or Gary Singh — expressed a desire for an early council start time. Singh and Halford, by the way, are also toying with the idea of running for mayor in 2022. Unlike Breitenbucher, they would be doing so from safe seats as at the time of the election they would only be halfway through their four-year terms as council members.
Halford later on in the meeting questioned the wisdom of cancelling one of the two regular meetings in August each year when it conflicts with National Night Out activities.
“We are here to do the business of the people,” Halford said.
In the past the council has opted to have an earlier meeting at 4 p.m. which meant others were unlikely to attend or watch from home.
Halford suggested a meeting be held either the Monday before or Wednesday after the first Tuesday in August.
Manteca scores California
firefighter softball games
The California Firefighter Games are taking place in San Diego this week.
However that city opted not to host the softball games.
Long story short, they ended up at Manteca’s Big League Dreams.
Retired Manteca Fire Captain Dave Breitenbucher who is now a council member noted the daily games have been a big plus for Manteca and underscores the drawing power of the Great Wolf indoor water park.
Breitenbucher noted the mid-week tournament has resulted in Great Wolf being maxed out at its operating capacity. Not only is that pumping money into the Manteca economy but it also will increase room taxes that will eventually pour into municipal coffers to support day-to-day services such as police and fire.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
