Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fast Forward Manteca City Council Race

We are only 23 days away from election day and many Manteca voters are voting with absentee ballots. I have been following the candidates very closely and they are now starting to get it into high gear. For the most part.

Steve DeBrum has his website up and running finally. Steve DeBrum is more of the same and claims he is fiscally responsible. I'm not so sure about that. He helped place our city in debt over 8 million dollars. He did boast the highest fund raising to this date and he has been spending his money on signs and more likely marketing material in the mail to all voters disguised as voter guides. However, Steve has shown up at key meetings. He is also endorsed by his party. No door to door or direct grassroots campaigning.

Debby Moorhead has a simple website and a grandmother'ish platform. It's for the grand-kids! This is sweet but not enough substance for a councilwoman. Debby has not shown up for key meetings and if so, only for a few minutes in hopes that someone would say they have seen her there. We know this game, it's not going to work. She is also sponsored by her party. She has several signs around town. No door to door or direct grassroots campaigning.

I want to discuss something about political parties endorsing candidates. First, city council candidates are supposed to be non-partisan. Why then do we need the endorsement of party bosses? Why do we need the endorsements of others? This is something I like about Samuel Anderson, he knows what they are and does not always agree with them, he can think for himself. I questioned Samuel about this and he told me this. "I went to these groups and I told them, what things do you stand for that would allow me to give you the opportunity to endorse me"? "After they could not answer me with proper answers to my questions and many of them did not fall within my guidelines of what I know our citizens would require, I opted to NOT allow them to endorse me." "Let's just say they were stumped about how I concluded our meeting."

I love how he did this. He put the people first and not the party bosses. If you contact Samuel and follow his campaign, he is more conservative and fiscal than anyone. Besides, the California ProLife group endorsed John Diaz who is pro-choice in line with his democratic party. When they were called on this they responded that they could not find the time to research everyone. I see Samuel's point.

John Diaz has been running on a platform of more taxes and uses the race card to promote his agenda. He claims there are not enough minority venues for those who are not white and wishes to use it as his Trump card. At the same time he wants to promote ideas and items that should be in Congress, not city hall. Even so, this means more programs that would force us to use tax dollars on, specifically minorities, a specific group of people over another paid for by others. I would call this making a bad loan. Many Mantecans are upset at the mortgage industry at this time and John Diaz is one of them. His campaign has not been a true door to door. He uses others to place papers on doors without ringing the door bells. John has also made huge mistakes of trying to get all the other candidates together regarding missing signs. In typical democrat fashion he wanted to start a committee with the others as if he can do something about it and possibly get some spotlight out of it. In his own words:

"Dear all Candidates,

I have noticed that some of my Political signs has been stolen or been remove. Those signs are very expensive and been paid by my supporters. Maybe this is not only happening to me but also to you guys. I would like to set up a meeting among us to discuss this matter. If you are encountering the same problem maybe we could solve this by discussing what is the best thing to do.

My committee is now forming a watch dog group to drive around the city during night time, arm with camera and hope to catch who is behind this movement.

Please reply to this email

Thanks,

John Diaz"

He sent this to all the candidates and CC'd the press in the same email. This was not a good idea and this has made him look stupid. No one will take him seriously. Do you honestly think the other candidates care enough about his signs? Well, apparently Debby Moorhead responded and so did Tony Smith who advised them to show up at that nights city council meeting. He did and he basically stepped up when they were speaking on sewer and water and spoke out of line. He left in frustration and pretty much flushed his campaign down the toilet. Immature candidates for Manteca.

Jack Snyder has raised a lot of money, too. He has signs placed all over town, most of them in violation of city ordinance. He has so many large signs that this probably has cost him most of his money. He's now attempting to raise more money to purchase marketing voter guides in his favor just like Steve DeBrum. However, his age is playing a huge factor in getting votes. The Manteca Bulletin finally realized that at least 50% of the people do not want him anymore. They feel he should retire. I agree, he should. No door to door or grassroots campaigning. Jack is past his prime and many years ago he did not want retail, he only wanted homes and more homes in Manteca. He is not well liked by most of the Manteca employees. Jack, retire!

Tony Smith, the new city hall clown. Good luck!

Mike Hall, he has a website and his platform is weak and what he proposes we already have in our city. There is no substance and you can't force an adult to any curfew as a minor. Not a very well thought out campaign.

Ben Cantu, he keeps hounding on workforce housing. This is not a popular item of discussion and he keeps pressuring items that are not that well in touch with the citizens of Manteca. He does have some good ideas, but as a former city worker who is retired and is against all new residents coming from the "outside", he does not like them. This appears that Ben Cantu is inside his cocoon and does not want to come out. He needs to get used to the fact that Bay Area folks will continue to flock to Manteca in droves and thus change the landscape. Ben Cantu does not wish for the change of Manteca, he wants to keep it "All in the Family", not "The Family City." He does have large signs around town. No door to door or direct grassroots campaigning.

Samuel Anderson has achieved a great amount of responses. All this with spending very little again. He is the only challenger that ran a campaign previously in 2006 and came in third place spending only $103.87 of his own money. He got 23.04% of the vote, or 4253 votes. He has been campaigning door to door since last March. He had to build himself up to it because 'you just can't go out there your first day and do 100 homes' he says. It takes a lot out of you. He actually rings all the bells intending to get a response out of each home. He has made this personal and intends to win this election. I say he stands a damn good chance of winning this time around. He is well positioned and this is for sure. Jack is scared of him and Dennis Wyatt of the Manteca Bulletin is also. He sure writes a lot about him and Jacks age. Although, Samuel has never said Jacks age is a problem, he only spoke of what others have been saying and Samuel does question his ability at Jacks age to run the council and the Manteca Police SHARPS. This is a huge responsibility and task for anyone and at Jack's age, this would be impossible. I'm sorry, Jack, but who are you trying to kid? What political consultant advised you and the Police Chief to do this? I'd watch out if I were you, Chief Bricker, you are still on probation.

Samuel has personally visited thousands of homes in Manteca and he has attended all the meetings. He has signs all over town, but not enough due to his budget and he only relies on his color post cards with his message on them. They are great! He has done it right and has his message on there. He attends coffees at homes that have put together gatherings on weekends and nights so he can meet people in their neighborhoods. He is very good. I went to one of them today, Sunday, and I was impressed. He showed up with all women attending the coffee and cookies sponsored by a neighborhood resident who invited her whole neighborhood. By the way, she is a democrat and Samuel is a republican. In the end, all of them said they would vote for him and most even said they have already voted for him on their absentee ballot. It was a very positive exchange of vision and mission of Samuel Anderson.

With the end in site we now have to decide on our future in Manteca. Who is it going to be Manteca?

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