Gary Singh takes the oath to become Manteca’s 10th directly elected mayor on Tuesday.

When he does so, it will mark a number of firsts.

Singh, at age 40, will be the youngest mayor ever.

He will be the first immigrant elected mayor.

Singh is the first Punjabi-American to he elected mayor.

He also will be the first Sierra High grad to be elected mayor.

Singh’s highest personal priority as mayor for the next four years isn’t addressing the homeless issues, pumping up public safety, finding ways to improve streets, pushing for good paying public safety jobs, taking downtown to the next level, and positioning Manteca to be a vibrant city when it hits 100,000 people.

All of that is on is must do list as well as those of his fellow council members.

But his top priority as he told a previous council in 2014 when they appointed him to the Manteca Planning Commission at age 32 is “to build bridges.”

“When (the council) interviewed me for the commission I told them as a millennial I wanted to build a bridge between the generations,’ Singh said.

Today, that is still a primary motivation.

But given the backdrop of the just completed rancorous election as well as the dynamics of a community that is within four or so years will be on the cusp of 100,000 residents as one of the perennially fastest growing cities in California,.

To understand why taking steps whether it is through efforts to take transparency and communication to what he hopes will be unprecedented for Manteca as well as push for city initiatives that bring the community together, consider the year 2000.

That was when Singh graduated near the top of his class academically from Sierra High. Manteca had almost 40,000 less residents.

The home his family lives in today is in a neighborhood near Woodward Park. Not only was the 52-acre community park nothing but a field of weeds but there were less than 100 tract homes south of the 120 Bypass.

Though Singh, was not born here, he was raised here.

The population of the city has more than doubled since he first stepped foot in a Manteca Unified school classroom.

Singh wants to do what he can to bring people together, to make sure they are heard, and provide opportunities for people to become immersed in the community.

And with two young sons — a seventh grader at Woodward School and a sophomore at Sierra High — he wants what he cherished about Manteca growing up— as well as others who are long-time residents and those that have moved here — not to slip away.

To do that Singh concedes two points.

 Manteca has changed.

And in some ways Manteca hasn’t changed enough.

As a member of the Manteca City Council, he believes elected officials have an opportunity to lay the foundation for the growing city to build on long-term “Family City” values as well as make changes needed to make the city more vibrant.

Singh noted many in his graduating class opted to leave Manteca.

It wasn’t because they disliked Manteca, but as Singh noted “if you were in your 20s, Manteca wasn’t hip or cool.”

Singh said many of his classmates have since returned to Manteca — or nearby towns like Escalon and Ripon — to raise their families.

The mayor-elect believes employment opportunities coupled with more entertainment options — the soon-to-open Deaf Puppy Comedy Club and Brethren Brothers Brewing Co. In downtown are two examples of what is needed.

And while having two young children makes that a bigger personal priority for Singh, it dovetails into the council majority.

The current council was the first time in at least 50 years that the majority of the city’s elected leadership were basically raised in Manteca.

Outgoing Mayor Ben Cantu came here as a 5-yar-old. Councilman Dave Breitenbucher was the fourth baby born at Manteca  Hospital, the forerunner of Doctors Hospital of Manteca.

Charlie Halford was raised in Lathrop and graduated from East Union High.

Even with the departure of Cantu after Singh tales the oath office at 6 p.m. Tuesday during a special me4eting at the Civic center, 1001 W. Center St., a majority of the council will have essentially lifelong roots in Manteca.

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From a mud hut to

mayor of Manteca

Singh, whose first name given at birth is Gurminder hence his American nickname Gary, was a toddler in a village of 500 people in northern India when his journey that has led to his election as a mayor of a city of 89,000 people started.

His grandfather wanted his son and his young family to have a better life. They were living in a mud hut with no running water. If they needed to go to the bathroom they went out into an adjoining field on their farm where they grew sugar cane and wheat.

The family mortgaged the farm to pay for their son — Singh’s father — to travel to the United States.

At age 28 Singh’s father “Sam” started working as a farm laborer in the lettuce fields of Salinas in the early 1980s. Because he was an agricultural worker and because President Ronald Reagan has implemented the green card program he was able to stay in the United States.

Sam moved from the fields to a restaurant in San Jose. It was there that baking skills he learned while working for a period in Germany allowed him to get promoted to being a cook, allowing him to pay to bring his wife and then 3-year-old Gary to California.

Sam started working in various doughnut shops. He saved enough money that he was able to buy a shop with partners in Tracy aptly called the Tracy Doughnut Shop. The family rented a two bedroom apartment where altogether 12 people lived.

Sam labored from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. baking doughnuts and then worked until 2 p.m. selling them. After clean-up he had 5 hours to spend with his young family.

They bought a house in Lathrop for $90,000 that was a struggle for them to make payments. Gary went to Lathrop Elementary School while his dad worked and his mom worked at a Stockton cannery. It is a home they still own today.

Sam sold his share in the Tracy Doughnut Shop and bought the liquor store on East Yosemite Avenue in Manteca just west of Austin Road in 1989. Several years later he sold that store and bought Manteca Mart from Bob Miner who also owned the store on West Yosemite Avenue in the Lincoln Center that is anchored by Hafer’s. Miner eventually sold that store to Mike Morowit who was elected in 2016 to the City Council with Singh and who is being sworn in Tuesday as the new District 1 member after two years off the council.

Sam worked in Manteca Mart seven days a week while also working the weekend shift at the Pak-n-Sav bakery that was the forerunner of today’s Manteca Safeway store adjacent to Walmart. Sam would end up working nearly 24 hours non-stop on Saturdays and Sundays.

That allowed Sam to not only keep his business but to eventually acquire two smaller Manteca shopping centers.

Gary learned work ethic

from his parents firsthand

Gary started working in the store as a third grader. He would drop by after school when his mom would bring food to his father.

“It was really the only way I could see my dad because of how hard he had to work,” Singh said.

Singh started out dusting and then stocking shelves. He remembers being so short that when he and his sister would stock the walk-in cooler they had to stand on overturned milk crates to reach the top shelves.

After Gary graduated from Sierra High in 2000 he was able to earn merit-based scholarships that covered half of the annual $15,000 tuition at the University of Pacific. Because of his family’s assets Gary did not qualify for state financial aid. He — along with his father — paid for the balance.

Gary would complete his classes and labs required for his double major and then do a shift at the store where for four years he could be seen reading textbooks at the counter between customers.

Sixth grade was turning

point for Gary Singh

The sixth grade was a turning point for Singh.

When his family moved from their shared Tracy apartment to the home they bought in Lathrop, Singh transferred from McKinley School in Tracy to Lathrop Elementary School.

There his troubles accelerated. Not only was he struggling with English but the move to Lathrop came as the Gulf War broke out.

Because some other students assumed he was Middle Eastern and not Indian, he was the spit on, challenged to fights, called Saddam Hussein, and taunted as a “sand n------ (the N-word).”

He was often sent to the office where he was unable to explain his side of incidents to then principal — Mr. Souza — due to his limited English.

He was suspended several times, his attendance was spotty, and he was piling up failing grades in many of his classes.

Sixth grade was when things finally clicked for Singh who had managed to zero in on math — a subject he was able to understand and excel in.

It started a turnaround. From the sixth grade forward through graduating from Sierra High he never missed a day of school. Singh started pulling down “A”s and maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and Lobo Gold status all the way through Sierra High.

His scholastic achievements were good enough to secure merit-based scholarships that covered half of his college education.

“I don’t mind sharing my story (about grade school) because I believe it may be able to help kids who are struggling today,” Singh said in as 2020 interview.

 When he was elected in 2016 he became the youngest member on the council at age 36. 

 Singh credits his parents for instilling in him the importance of a strong work ethic and also investing time in helping others.

Singh noted whenever his dad was struggling with the loss of a job he refused to file for unemployment or seek welfare assistance. Instead, he hit the proverbial bricks and found whatever job he could get to support his family.

When Gary’s wife was laid off by Ross Stores in March of 2020 due to the pandemic, she declined to file for unemployment benefits.

When he was asked by others why she hadn’t applied for unemployment, Singh told people simply “we don’t need it.”

 Singh serves as the city’s representative to the San Joaquin Council of Governments as well as the San Joaquin Flood Control Agency.

He is also a Manteca Rotary board member and serves on the San Joaquin Community Foundation boards.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulleltin.com