Manteca is not a free-range dump.

But that’s hard to tell at times from the trash scattered about the city.

It is a problem that goes way beyond the debris the homeless leave behind or the items they accumulate when they set up illegal encampments with salvage from waste bins or items they pilfer from yards.

There are a solid number of slobs, for want of a better word, who aren’t homeless.

And we’re not talking about discarding everything from soda cans, fast food packaging or even solid waste as they make their way around Manteca either on foot or by aid of a fossil fuel powered or — irony of ironies— an environmentally friendly vehicle.

Manteca is not alone.

It’s tough to find a place from coast to coast where you won’t find the calling cards left behind by unadulterated slobs that believe policing their own garbage is beneath them.

Littering is bad enough.

Outright dumping should be treated for what it is — a crime against not just property, but the community.

The unceremoniously dumping of a couch on Moffat Boulevard where everyone could see it underscores how bold illegal dumping has gotten.

It was not left there by the homeless.

It was not an impulsive move of perhaps chucking it out of a passing motor home.

It was a deliberate act.

The couch underscores what the City of Manteca is up against on a daily basis.

On any given day, Manteca is removing from city streets.

uthe equivalent of 80 to 150 large garbage bags of trash.

uan average of 10 pilfered shopping carts. The peak retrieved in one day was 37 carts.

uassorted appliances, mattresses, couches, and large items.

Little of that can be blamed on the homeless.

Even if the ranks of those still living on the streets instead of taking advantage of the city’s homeless shelter is in excess of 100 individuals, there is no way they are trashing Manteca’s neighborhoods, streets, and commercial areas with the equivalent of 2,400 “gallons” of trash every 24 hours.

What Manteca Property Services, the private sector firm the city contracts with to help keep the streets clean, retrieves on a typical day would be the equivalent of cleaning out perhaps half a dozen good-sized illegal homeless encampments.

It is the accumulation of deliberate acts of dozens upon dozens of people.

And it is just the tip of the iceberg. Just ask anyone who has a commercial dumpster bin.

You might still be squawking about solid waste rate increases imposed a year ago, but consider those businesses with commercial bins.

Many saw their monthly bills go up hundreds of dollars.

More than a few view the bins as “free” drop off places for their excessive garbage.

It is why most are kept under lock and key.

They do, however, have to be unlocked prior to collection days to allow the contents to be tipped into solid waste trucks.

Keep in mind there is no legal right for anyone to access city solid waste carts and bins that are being paid for by businesses and households.

It is why those who are savvy enough to know when the bins are unlocked so they can dump  trash are far from model citizens.

Then there are those that simply stack their excessive trash outside of the bins.

Either way, they are committing crimes against the community.

The efforts of Manteca Property Services that the city started contracting with in July 2023 does not supplant what city crews are doing as well on a daily basis.

Solid waste and park crews clear trash that is way behind mindless and senseless run-of-the-mill litter.

The good news is the augmented clean-up effort that Manteca Property Services represents is not going away.

The bad news is everyone who follows the rules will continue to pay the price of cleaning up the aftermath of the deliberate breaking of the law by a relative few.

Passage of the Measure Q sales tax last November has avoided the city from being turned into a financial situation where the contracted service had to go to keep more essential needs funded.

It means Manteca, for now, continues to look a lot cleaner than it did three years ago.

Most of us don’t see the impacts of free range trash dumping as the city usually clears it from main thoroughfares and high trafficked areas in the earlier parts of the day as well as removing it from other places before it starts acting like a magnet to trash just like dust bunnies do to attract more dust.

Making this all more inexcusable is the fact Manteca offers numerous options, including those at no charge, for residents to get rid of garbage.

The free stuff includes once-a-year neighborhood cleanup drop off events in each of the four council areas.

That is in addition to the once a year three cubic yard bins every household can arrange to use at no charge.

The city also has a fee based pick up service for large appliances and furniture.

And all of that is on top of Manteca having Lovelace Transfer Station just outside of its northern city limits with more than reasonable tipping fees for pickup loads or a rented U-Haul.

Wanton illegal dumping is just one aspect of Manteca being degraded by those that shirk basic responsibilities.

Lack of property maintenance in general — weeds, dead vegetation, trash piles, and such — needs to be tackled in a uniform and consistent manner.

A few years back, the then City Council declared cleaning up Manteca a top priority as the pandemic’s suspension of rules and limitations posed by social distancing yourself to combat everything from graffiti to cleaning up illegal dumping led to a rapid surge in trash around the city.

Augmenting the city’s effort with a contracted clean up service and the quarterly neighborhood clean-up events were the outgrowth of that effort.

Unfortunately, more needs to be done.

The question is how to get Manteca to the next level.

Perhaps it can start with a low-key effort to encourage property owners to up their game.

Something as simple as the newly created downtown business association partnering with a community group and their volunteers much like Ripon did in their downtown to place and maintain flower planters in the heart of the city might be a catalyst to change the narrative.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com