Maritiana Luani was Mayor of Manteca for the day.

The East Union High senior was honored at her selection at the City of Manteca’s Youth in Government Day on Wednesday.

“It was a great experience,” she said, agreeing with most of those involved that the mock meeting was the highlight of the day.

Luani had the actual mayor, Gary Singh, shadowing her during the educational yet light-hearted afternoon session.

Youth in Government Day was open to Manteca High, Sierra High, Calla High, and East Union students, who learned first-hand about local government and how a city operates.

They did a tour consisting of the city’s emergency homeless shelter at 555 Industrial Dr. – Benjamin Rosas referred to it as “the Triple Nickle” – and recently approved dorms.

“We’re addressing the homeless,” said City Manager Toni Lungren on this year’s focus.

The mock meeting featured an agenda with discussion items that included homelessness and providing staff direction on types of events and amenities that like to see around town.

They favored adding more food choices such as a Crumbl Cookies, food trucks (similar to the City of Lathrop area near Interstate 5), and the already approved Splash Pads at the city parks.

“I hope each of you learned something new that will be inspiring,” Lungren said following the mock meeting.

Rounding out the young elected leaders were Alejandra Lopez as Vice Mayor, and Ziana Palacios, Nathaniel Cardenas, and Felipe Chavez as city council members.

Collins Schuer filled in the role of City Manager while Kirk Simoni was Director of Finance, Kaylee Olivera was the Director of Human Resources, and Nihar Jain was Director of Legislative Services / City Clerk.

Public comments, in addition, featured some of the actual elected leaders on the other side of dais, for a change, poking fun in the moment.