Mayoral Candidate Ben Cantu Attacks Councilwoman Debby Moorhead

It's no secret!  The political attacks are now a reality in the race for Mayor of Manteca.  Here's the clincher I found out about the Manteca Bulletin having mentioned that Samuel Anderson is the one that takes it to the floor like an ultimate fighter.  But first, here's a little something from Dennis Wyatt in his first sentence of this article: "Get ready for one of the most polite - and possibly closest - races for mayor Manteca has ever seen."

Dennis Wyatt continues to say, "Regardless of how the race is handicapped at this stage, one thing is for sure: This will be a race involving manners and not throat cutting although Anderson has a reputation for being more than strident."  You can read it all right here. 

"Weatherford, Cantu, and Moorhead are all sincere when they say they respect each other. In fact, they are all members of the same service club - the Manteca Noon Kiwanis. They have disagreed in the past without wielding an ax to bury in the other guy’s back. In other words, they are cordial and don’t throw a fit when they don’t get their way nor do they resort to personal attacks."

Is that so, Dennis?  Really?  Are you SURE???

Huh, well...let's see what we have here.  Could it be, oh, yes, yes, that's who he is...Ben Cantu!  What?  A political ad in the Big Bopper Shopper?  Yes, you can view it here.  Better yet, let me show you the ad.

Wow!  This is really amazing!  What was it that Dennis Wyatt said about 'Weatherford, Cantu, and Moorhead'?  Oh, yes...they "respect each other."  And let's not forget they are all members of the Kiwanis.  Oh, and they don't wield an ax in each others back.  Really?  "Nor do they result to personal attacks."

What does this ad say?  Well, it says "Ms. Moorhead" two times in the same paragraph.  She has "fallen in line", and is lacking...in safety, leadership, focus, response, being fiscal and has NO CULTURE.  Could it be he's pissed off about her running for mayor?  Who cares!  Debby is running because it's going to give Willie the advantage of splitting the votes.

So, Dennis Wyatt says that Samuel Anderson needs to tone it down, keep it straight and ethical and "Regardless of how the race is handicapped at this stage, one thing is for sure: This will be a race involving manners and not throat cutting."  Dennis goes on to say, "Cantu has been shaping up as a formidable candidate as he has been running a low-key campaign."  LMAO!!!

"There is one thing that can totally upset the apple cart of anyone’s version of conventional wisdom and that’s Samuel Anderson."  I agree!  Either way, his running in the race to be on the council is a good decision this year.  I think he'll get it.  He has my vote.  

KEEP RUNNING THOSE ADS BEN...AND DEBBY, YOU NEED TO FIGHT BACK...COME ON, SHOW YOUR LOVE, CUT HIS THROAT!

Ben Cantu Wants To Spend $98,000 For A New Staff Person In Manteca

That's only the beginning.  What about the benefits?  That will total more than 98,000 dollars per year.

Ben writes a letter to the editor by slamming the current city council of which I don't disagree about, but it's nothing but a smoke screen covering his idea about hiring another person for a staff position.  Really?  A person to find ways for permanent revenue streams?  This means, Ben, you can't figure out ways yourself!

Yes, Ben! That change is Mr. Samuel Anderson for Mayor!

You and Willie share the same Kiwanis and have done so for many years. You and Willie both are retired from the City of Manteca with a generous salary to boot. Both have had several years of the same items holding this city back and you've done nothing about it. But now you've repented and want to make amends? You still want to spend which means more taxes. NO THANKS! We've had enough of former city employees running this city.

You have not even given a SINGLE reason why we should spend $98,000 on a full-time 'staff person'. Again, another city job created out of thin air. The only permanent revenue stream would be that persons salary. There is no evidence to the contrary that even begins to solidify your theory of such a position.

Samuel Anderson predicted this fall-out years ago before you even ran. He was right on the money each and every time. He was the first to suggest a 'rainy day fund', not Steve DeBrum. He's also against spending more than we have and find better solutions which Mayor Weatherford started doing by taking the ideas from Samuel's website.

Your title is simply a smoke screen to slam the city council and I'll say it again, it does not address any proven reason to hire a staff person to research and find ways for permanent revenue streams.

HECK! There are plenty of folks in this city that can do that already, and with Mr. Anderson's open door policy and plan to create committees on this, he'll soon enough find ways to have it all done. Yes, it's time for a change and a new focus to get away from those who worked for the city that do nothing but tax and spend our money.

Clouded Journalism Caused By Greedy Activist Beliefs

This weekends article written in the Manteca Bulletin disappointed us all. It was a clear and evident attempt at clouding the information of housing activists attempting to turn Manteca into a Welfare Housing district by imposing low income housing in the middle of larger homes in higher end neighborhoods.

I'm going to break it down.

"It is a sad day when those in the middle class look down on the working class." This one and only line in the article standing alone as a sentence and paragraph was designed to obtain sympathy and blame others. This is a tactic of liberal activists who don't have evidence or support for their unpopular activism. How did the Manteca Bulletin obtain this information to write this line? You just can't say it's just a term and means nothing. How does a person look down on another? Why do they do it? Who are exactly 'those'? They were writing specifically on this topic regarding the City of Manteca. It's a slap in the face to all those who are middle class (majority) and many of them, if not all of them are indeed working class, too. Does it seem that all middle class citizens are retired and have money and don't want anything to do with anyone else?

"And if you really think city councils and such can control the economy and marketplace, next time around you’d better vote only for economists although that won’t do you any good." This is simply rubbish! How on earth does he know this? On top of it, who the hell do you think you are telling someone who and how they should vote for? Are you trying to endorse someone specifically? If so, come out and say it.

"The council under California law had no choice but to approve the Winters Colonial Estates as it met all requirements. They also have an obligation to encourage affordable housing." The last line has a KEY word, 'encourage'. It does not mean it's the law, and we have to. It does not. The Federal and State governments have decided that it's up to the individual city municipalities because there they know best and they can decide on how to spend and obtain tax revenues. Because no true research as been obtained by the Feds and State there are no real citations for it to be a legal mandate except to ENCOURAGE municipalities to try to allow low income housing known as 'Workforce Housing', a concept designed to make Manteca look as if it's on equal ground to Beverley Hills real estate.

"If they’d really like to lose even more value, let’s stop all residential construction and throw the people working on building the homes, supplying the materials, and trucking them all out of jobs as well. That, of course will only create more unemployment and lead to even more mortgage failures and in turn depress housing prices even more." This was a stunning violation of journalistic integrity. How on earth does a person know this? Where did this information come from? We can only contemplate it is completely fabricated because unless the entire country stopped building (which it never will) this can not happen. Again, it's a tactic used by activists trying to skew the facts and label others not willing to support their cause as 'greedy' and 'middle-class' looking down on all others who deserve our money we worked hard for (more taxes) thus taking from the have's and giving to the have nots. If the Manteca Bulletin were to actually listen to the people of this city, we don't want anymore new housing. Just build out what is left on the books with the developers and be done with it. We need to focus on our roads and finances, someone who is an economist and professional in the community.

This is a lesson to learn. Although being able to provide housing to those who have jobs working in various (and specific only sectors) are admirable, it's clearly NOT WANTED in the City of Manteca. Most of Manteca's citizens are against low income welfare housing (workforce housing). It's too much at this time. The housing activists that want to design and build these tiny homes want to make newer homes to those already plastered all over the city which is a testament to everyone that these types of homes outnumber the owners of 'McMansions' being attacked for their very existence. Why do we need more? As evidenced, many of these homes are filled with very low income to NO INCOME residence existing on welfare and many of them are infested with drugs, illegals and blight more than someone's front yard not being mowed at a 'McMansion'.

When journalistic integrity goes out the door to support a low income activist builder and planner and using old history of other cities over 50 years ago and purely distorting the facts and even creating them, we're being conned and induced to arm-twisting tactics of we better support them or else. It's simply a waste of space and in my personal opinion, we're being scammed and bamboozled.

Smaller houses are OK, but not where they should not be and because there are 'restrictions' on them to purchase and who you can sell them to, it also will be in violation of other laws on the books denying a home purchaser and/or investor from taking advantage of these homes. Until this can be corrected and by legislation, the majority rules. And that means NO WELFARE HOUSING (Workforce Housing) in Manteca California.

Manteca Bulletin Knows How to Read Your Mind

We're back to the same old story again, 'History by Dennis'. The great orator of the Manteca Bulletin has posted his opinion in complete disregard for home owners living in larger homes than he and his unfortunates who can't afford them when the city of Manteca voted to have these types of homes in the city to help bring in new and increased tax based revenues.

The title of his article alone says it all, he's telling us subliminally that we are all wrong and need to follow in the steps of the liberal ideological machine, the 'tele-tail-prompter'. What is it telling us all? We're being clouded by our ambition to live comfortably and have money. Oh, my gosh! You mean we can't make money more than we should? Is it unfair? According to the Manteca Bulletin it is. Call the Payroll Czar!

I hate to say this, but I have to say it. Everyone is taking notice of Dennis Wyatt and his articles. Some days he's so far to the left he smells like Obama's ass! The next he's so far to the right, he's made a full circle. You can't please everyone and this is getting noticed by the readers.

The article sounds like a fourth grader getting his butt kicked by a third grader and trying to make up and excuse of the reason why this happened. I'm getting a kick out of all the excuses the Manteca Bulletin is giving for us to have Welfare Housing (Workforce Housing) in our city. It's really become a huge push for them to convince us all and chastise us at the same time.

Let's talk about this paragraph: "It’s amazing but the people doing the most complaining about “depressed housing prices” they contend are hurt even more by the fact there are 300 homes still being built a year in Manteca aren’t even thinking about selling. They don’t like the idea their home is losing value which is money they never had."

First, it's a fact that we have depressed housing prices. Second, as time goes by, we all who have purchased homes purchased for the number one reason all across the country. 99.9% of everyone purchased it as a retirement investment. It's not just a place to live and raise our families, it's a place to live and wait as time goes by so we can sell it and retire some place else. This is how it has been going on for decades Dennis. So yes, we DO NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF LOSING VALUE ON MONEY WE HAVE TO WAIT TO OBTAIN WHICH IS TIME. The idea is to have it later on and we don't need WELFARE HOUSING to bring the investment down that voters approved of so we can give away our money we don't have now for later to some poor segregated economically disadvantaged worker.

Let's take a look at this next paragraph: "If they’d really like to lose even more value, let’s stop all residential construction and throw the people working on building the homes, supplying the materials, and trucking them all out of jobs as well. That, of course will only create more unemployment and lead to even more mortgage failures and in turn depress housing prices even more."

I really have to say something about this: "σκατά αγελάδας εξακολουθεί να είναι σκατά"

I put it in bold because this is pure bullshit! How does he know if this would cause us to loose value on our homes? Where did he get this information from? What study? I really have no words to say about this because its all made up. This is a complete fabrication and meaningless and shows how un-journalistic and unreliable the Manteca Bulletin has become. This crosses the line of being a State run Pravda being written behind the Iron Curtain. We all know too many politicians use terms such as 'percentage' (over-used) and 'most' and now the Manteca Bulletin is using the same tactics of hyper-bally to get a point across that is pure fiction at best. Journalistic integrity is now gone.

There is a difference between passion about something and actually writing to inform us that our thinking is wrong and we're all greedy and because our future retirements are clouding our minds we need to feel shameful because we're responsible for putting the housing market down the drain further. I don't feel shamefull at all and neither does the many "McMansion" owners across this city.

The fact is, Dennis and Ben Cantu want to bring these houses to the market faster so that the prices remain cheap before our homes start to increase thus bringing these economically disadvantaged segregated workers in the price range before it's too late. That's the reason why and they are afraid to say it. I said it for them.

Workforce Housing is Welfare Housing plain and simple.

Manteca Mayoral Candidate Ben Cantu Believes Citizens Owe Workers Affordable Housing

Ben Cantu submits his opinion on Workforce (WELFARE) Housing and why the citizens of Manteca need to fix this "segregation housing" (A made up term from liberals) because it's our duty to do so.

Below is my response in the Manteca Bulletin regarding his opinion letter.

I agree with 'more_cops', you certainly have a bias against those who worked hard (something you fail to mention) to achieve their dream of owning a "McMansion" and who by the way pay MORE MONEY IN TAXES for and continue to do so.

You represent a 'belief', and in my opinion your belief should remain personal as the same with being either a Christian or Buddhist. Yes, we have many people living in Manteca that are DECIDING to live here and DECIDING to live on a wage they have chosen. It is NOT our (council) responsibility to help them and is unfair for you to use them as your excuse because they chose to do so. You are a retired city worker and you are treating them as the same, government workers where the citizens should support just like our cops. NO WAY! Your thinking on this is the same as Obama-nomics, costly in the long-run and will cheapen the neighborhoods where these "McMansions" sit thus bringing the values of these properties down and it will eventually suffer the city coffers on those tax revenues. The only way for you to have your dream come true to work would be to bull-doze all those homes down you don't like.

Manteca has chosen and VOTED to have "McMansions" in this city to bring about higher revenue in turn for those who have achieved their success to be able to live in peace, live in a nice neighborhood and live without the crime ridden welfare (Workforce) housing sitting right next to them. They want their children to have a good upbringing less tougher than they did when growing up so they can contribute to society when they become adults, not have to live with the low-life's that chose to live that way and bully them on the streets and tag the streets they live on. Quite frankly, Manteca has gone in the right direction because we know we don't want to become a suburb of Stockton.

Manteca already has enough mixing of housing and plenty of houses already. We also do NOT NEED ANYMORE NEW HOUSING in Manteca. Let's finish the building of what was left and leave it there. The new council should focus on business filling in the vacant lots and buildings just sitting all around town.

It's time for a new Mayor of Manteca and I will not be voting for anyone who has a retirement from this city because your thinking is the same and will remain so, bureaucracy. Your plan also has too much tax remedies in it that will continue to force everyone in Manteca to pay for your big WELFARE HOUSING mistake. That leaves only one other left and as I recall, he too is against this and has mentioned it several times in his 2008 election.

You've had 30 years to bitch about this to the city council and how come you haven't? You're on the Kiwanis club and as a president with Willie, how come you don't have coffee with him about this? If you're that passionate about this, how come you didn't quite your job in protest? There is another city council candidate who has a noise problem with his neighbors and the current city council has done absolutely NOTHING about it and there is a document signed by you that proves you did NOT do your due diligence on it and thus gave a legal document to these people who are conducting an illegal business on their residential property costing the city of Manteca tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenues since your signature on that document June 29, 1993 letter from the City of Manteca signed by Ben Cantu based on unverified information from the lawbreaking owner. http://way2noisy.blogspot.com/2009_02...

Manteca has lost so much money on these people because of this mistake and lazy approach to doing the job right. I'm sure this isn't the last oversight.

A Good Example of Workforce Housing In Manteca

Do you want to see how segregation housing (a liberal made up term) looks like? Go here:

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/8438/

Yes, at it's finest. The quality of citizens it brings about, the ambiance of culture and character of how one lives and brings about equal living including the scum and blithe who can't even get booked into our jails because of 'over-crowding' even if its TWO FELONY WARRANTS. Yes, this is what Dennis is writing about. This is what Ben Cantu wants to bring about, "Workforce Housing", (another made up term from liberals). It means: WELFARE HOUSING.

Yes, it will bring about JOBS alright! More cops as we see and more probation officers hanging around the neighbor'HOOD's. Yep, more illegal guns in the hands of those who can afford to live in those little affordable "ECONOMIC SEGREGATION" houses because they are economically disadvantaged and shame on all of use who have achieved our success and moved forward with technology and education and labored in the 'WORKFORCE' by embracing it, not blaming it and want to keep our neighborhoods and schools safe.

We have Pinkerton, and I wonder if its going the way of Stockton? We don't want another Stockton in Manteca. A Manteca reader mentioned the areas of Stockton that once were high-end and what the council called, "rich-kid neighborhoods" and they mixed the school districts around to bring about those disadvantaged in order to keep low achievement the standard bar to achieve. This isn't the Special Olympics where everyone is a winner! At least the Special Olympics has a goal in mind, DO YOUR VERY BEST! Not Workforce Housing, it tells everyone, "we want you to feel welcome and understand that your lower standards of achievement are embraced in our community and even if you are a felon, we WANT you to be around us."

It's amazing me how liberals steal and cheat from everyone else in order to get their way. They live in this imagined made up world and fiercely fight everyone in order to bring about this change and actually believe they are right and have first-hand knowledge and experience in do so. It's not only a mental disorder, it's a disease and deceit to the people.

Keep Workforce (WELFARE) Housing out of Manteca. We don't need it! It will bring the criminal elements an opportunity to live in our community.

Sun Post Prints Massive Article Of Council Candidate

I could not help myself when I read the entire article authored by Ben Cantu of Ben Cantu in the Sun Post on Friday. It took up an entire page. I personally think this was a waste of money because most citizens have voted already. Those that have not typically do not read papers, they are too busy and most have made up their minds already. This is not me, it's a known fact from political consultants. Short and simple cards would have worked best, not a CV (Resume). The article did not mention it was a 'paid ad from candidate'. We have to assume this came directly from the Sun Post. Did the Sun Post pay for this out of their own pockets? It appears so, space on any newspaper costs a lot of money. I consider this a donation to Ben Cantu's campaign.

After reading the article I have to clear up some of the inaccuracies of it. I'm going to compare Ben Cantu with Samuel Anderson using Ben's statements.

Let's compare:

Qualifications to be your next councilman: Ben Cantu says in his ad that he is the ONLY candidate that brings actual working experience in municipal government operations and planning, budgeting, financing, management, infrastructure systems and design, working relationships with other agencies, knowledge of the communities adopted goals and policies and so on.

I have news for the readers! This is a lie! Ben, you've been caught! I'm calling you on this.

Response: Samuel Anderson is a Police Commander and consistently deals with municipal government operations on a daily basis. Not only this, but his company, Tekbrokers VENTURES, LLC has several clients, over 100 of them, that are all municipal clients. On top of it, some are county and state including international. Samuel Anderson has the experience as both employee and executive and both levels as THE executive itself.

Public Safety: Ben Cantu believes that Manteca has only 'occasional crime'. He has determined that Manteca is safe and free from serious crime and has supported Measure M and for that fact, Manteca being the highest taxed city in San Joaquin County. He has NO experience in law enforcement. Maybe he forgot to read the police blotter recently of all the shootings and personal attacks and robberies of personal holdups on persons. The list is long including stolen cars.

Response: Samuel Anderson has served and worked in the law enforcement community for over 20 years. From the military to all levels of service his current position has him working from local/municipal to leaders in 43 different nations and he happens to be a Commander. His current group has over 900 individuals from all over the world including the United States working with him. Samuel Anderson is not only educated and experienced in public safety, he is PUBLIC SAFETY. When shit hits the fan, who would you want in front of you? Samuel Anderson will bring executive level experience to the city council of Manteca. He will also bring down taxes. Ben Cantu has NOT mentioned anything about bringing down taxes.

Community Growth: Ben Cantu will press for the returning to the original purpose of the growth management program-managed growth and take back control of Manteca's future growth policies. Ben Cantu was responsible for this to begin with. How can you just say this when for the past 30 years you were part of this? If you didn't like it, then you should have quit and ran for city council, but hey, I guess a good paying job and now retirement is better for you. I mean, we are paying your retirement salary Ben.

Response: Samuel Anderson has stated all along the importance of balancing the budget and the need for a plan with set goals. His executive experience in achieving such items is known throughout municipal, state and FORTUNE companies. He is also mentioning as he stated in 2006 that we need to have a rainy day fund and put a lock on it.

New Jobs/Retail: I'm sorry, I could not understand what he was saying in this one. All I know is he was trying to mention something about jobs and the community. What is "maintaining a fiscally balanced community"? It just appears as if he took that right out of some book and turned it around. I'm sorry, folks, but his jobs and retail does not make sense. I just can't interpret it.

Response: Samuel Anderson has the experience of his own business, FORTUNE 500 companies, Successful Start-ups, Government accounts and positions. Samuel Anderson has been responsible for budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He has personally managed several companies at the same time under one roof. He has personally hired and fired employees, what is called in the business as being a hatchet man and a headhunter. This is a trained position and calls for a very experienced person to carry out such endeavors. This is why he was one of the top recruiters in the nation at one time. And, one of the highest paid I might ad. Ben Cantu does not have a feathers experience in this area which calls for executive management and constant contact on a daily basis with such persons and investors.

Housing: Ben Cantu wants workforce housing. He wants to keep Manteca the center of low-paying wages. Manteca has already completed several studies and the people have accepted the fact that we want to attract people from the outside who are looking for larger homes to raise their children. Even though they work outside the city, this is a fact and while noble a position on workforce housing, studies have shown that keeping a city within these ranks causes more crime and blight and gangs. Hey, prove me wrong, this is a fact from the DOJ and studies of cities and their growing populations. It's a fact.

Response: Samuel Anderson has told us back in 2006 when he ran for city council that we need to slow it down and stop the massive growth because it's going to hurt our community later on down the road. He was right on target. Guess what? Forget about your socialistic dream of workforce housing and work on the budget as Samuel Anderson has stated since 2006. I call this fantastic vision.

$8 Million Budget Deficit: Although Ben Cantu has his ideas on the budget and some of them make sense, he's not saying anything that all the others are and have been saying all along. He also does not have experience in budget deficits.

Response: Samuel Anderson has experience in budgets and in this case, he was hired as the hatchet man and headhunter to take HEAD-ON budgets that were going into deficit mode. He knows what to look for and where to cut back without sacrificing quality and service. This isn't inherited experience, it's trained leadership.

Council Leadership: Ben Cantu says nothing about why he should be the one on the city council in his ad. Nothing. He does say that he intends to keep office hours during the week so he can be accessible to citizens and businesses throughout the week. Uh, really? That is a task to behold. And, it would cost money to have you there daily. And, the municipal code also mentions that the city council members can NOT have interaction with the city employees as to such conduct business with them. You must do it with the City Manager and he will then instruct his department heads to carry out any orders. If I recall, Ben Cantu also has a business of his own consulting on planning projects that he happens to be a client of the City of Manteca. Is he planning on shutting down his business? It would be impossible to sit at city hall every single day of the week and run a business. Even if he uses his own mobile phone to take calls and make calls, he is still using city amenities such as the office, the grounds, etc...to carry out personal business. Pick one, Ben.

Response: Samuel Anderson is all about leadership. Over 20 years experience as a U.S. Marine involved in intelligence and communications. Law enforcement experience and is a Commander. Fortune 500 experience on all levels of executive management. Visionary and partner in several successful start-ups and venture capital firms. Owns his own personal businesses, more than one. Has been an executive leader in all these areas and is currently serving as the President of the Safe Surrender Baby Safe Haven that was integral in establishing laws in all 50 States for newborns. This is experience in dealing with all 50 States legislatures.

There you have it. I personally spent time with Samuel Anderson on his path to the Manteca City Council. He went door to door and NO OTHER candidate has done this. The Sun Post should be ashamed of themselves because they purposefully over-looked this person because they know he means business and he is a threat to the establishment including others. He's all about business and he's the people's man for the job. I think he will get the position on the council because he took it where it matters most, to the people. His map of the city is impressive and if he does not get it, well, Manteca, you will have lost a golden opportunity to have someone of this high-caliber to serve you and bring back justice to our city.

Samuel Anderson is the candidate and people's choice for Manteca City Council.

Sun Post Gets It Half Right...Sort of

I could not help it when I read the pathetic and I mean P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C endorsement from Carlon Perry and Cecelia Drake. Even though I endorse Debby Moorhead for city council, they have used race and gender as their excuse. Pardon me Carlon and Cecelia, haven't you heard? The City has already hired a gay interior decorator to touch up the city chambers (boys room) and a janitorial company that hires illegals (unknown) to vacuum and dust and remove the garbage. (Tongue and Cheek)

I was utterly shocked to read the review from the Sun Post regarding Debby. I could tell it was completely the TOUCH of Cecelia. If I were Debby I would be pissed because this could have a backlash potential of voter revolt. In fact, it made me want to change my mind about endorsing Debby. However, I'm going to stand on it.

Now, the other candidate. A typical retired city bureaucrat with no executive experience. Granted, Willie has the executive experience but Ben has NONE! I could not see the point of his massive ad in the Sun Post trying to sway last minute voters. In my opinion, it was bad timing and a poor waste of money. Maybe if we put two and two together, they endorsed him because of the money spent on the ad. Who knows, but Carlon has been mentioned as someone who denied spending money on marketing advertising voter guides that are designed to trick voters into a fake and completely MADE UP endorsement. I got three of them myself from him. I also got about 7 of them now from the two city incumbents. This goes to show that the candidates can't get in touch with the citizens except for one, Samuel Anderson.

The Sun Post calls him (Ben) an 'Insider'. Just enough to keep it in THE CLUB. The citizens of Manteca have voiced their concern over the good'ole boys club and the constant voting in of those with 'city' experience. They want someone with their interests and concerns at heart who have gone to them and listened to them, not someone who borders on socialism.

Ben Cantu is the wrong candidate for Manteca. He would only bring more gridlock to the system with his experience. It is not the experience we need on the council. Just because he retired from our city does not mean he is qualified. If over the last 20 years there was something wrong, why didn't he stand up then? He was a part of everything that he attacks. Remember this.

Samuel Anderson is far better a leader and experienced executive we need on the Manteca City Council.

The Record Endorses An Old Candidate Calling Him New

The Stockton Record has endorsed Ben Cantu, a newcomer to the political scene for Manteca's city council. However, they call Ben as being the 'new blood'. We beg to differ.

Ben Cantu has retired from the city of Manteca as a planner and states very openly that over the twenty years he has been on the employment of the city he did not like how it was run. Why then did he quit? He waited for his retirement, simple. I view this as a timid man who not only does not speak out when the time needed someone to do it, but he also condemns the very actions of previous councils that he was a very strong instrument in the planning of what he says 'went wrong'.

Ben Cantu is also against anyone from the "outside" moving into Manteca. He wants to keep it strictly for those who are from here. He is also a part of what Dennis Wyatt calls, THE CLUB. Here is an excerpt from the article:

THE CLUB: Apparently the service club to belong to in Manteca if you want to serve on the Manteca City Council is the Kiwanis, or more specifically, the Manteca Noon Kiwanis that meets Tuesdays at David & Sylvia's.

It counts among its membership rolls Mayor Willie Weatherford, Councilman Jack Snyder, Councilman John Harris and council candidate and current club president Ben Cantu.

Steve DeBrum - who is also up for re-election Nov. 4 along with Snyder - is a member of the Sunrise Kiwanis. As a footnote, council candidate Samuel Anderson is a former member of the Sunrise Kiwanis.

Clearly the Record and those in THE CLUB are in this together. They have realized that because of Samuel Anderson's door to door grassroots campaign, Jack Snyder is now too old to sit on the council and has no fresh ideas. I agree. However, we need new city council people who are not affiliated with THE CLUB and can actually get things done. The Stockton Record has endorsed two candidates for obvious reasons and this is exactly what they did in the 2006 election against Samuel Anderson, more of the same that has brought us more debt, and more crime.

Manteca Bulletin Endorses Current City Council Incumbents, Sort Of

It's not official. But it should be. Dennis Wyatt again writes another influential media hyped opinion letter to his newspaper slamming all of the current candidates running against the council. Specifically towards Samuel Anderson and secondly towards Ben Cantu.

Why? I guess because Samuel's Letter to the Editor had received so much praise and positive feedback that Dennis feels it's time to put him in his place. No other candidate has gone this far. Not even Ben Cantu. However, Ben has been doing some pretty good writing with his letters, he still has not convinced much of the public yet because he does not get out there to campaign. Samuel has been knocking on doors since Spring making it impossible for anyone to catch up.

What Dennis Wyatt does not say is what Samuel Anderson has been saying all along and has experience in this area. Energy, Pensions and Services. It takes energy to run a city and after that comes the salaries and pensions of city workers. Then comes the services to keep the city safe in all facets of need. Strikingly, Dennis tries to compare Manteca with Vallejo by suggesting our current leaders are doing the right thing. Are they?

I beg to differ from their method because they can not be that fiscal enough with what has happened. Yes, economies go up and down all the time during periods, but we are so much invested in new technologies now that we just don't predict the future, we can actually see the future enough ahead of us that when the warning signs are there to stop the spending or else face deficits, then this tells me the current line-up of men are not doing their job. Blanket it all you want with Bass Pro and JC Penny's and Costco, it doesn't make any difference. Taking chances with city funds and methods of payments is not something to be taken lightly and if Dennis Wyatt ran his own personal checking account this way he would probably get several notices from the bank with warnings to stop it or else loose his privilege including being fined.

Anderson has made his stand very clear; don't spend when you can't, don't give loans out to Guido even if it will drag us into a family war and keep the pay-as-you-go budgeting a central tenet of the council leadership. Trying to compare cities with each other out of context is pure madness and stupidity because they can give us insight into the future of what could possibly happen especially since Vallejo is not that far from us in the Bay Area and sits close to home. Anderson wants to make the non-restrictive accounts restrictive so that the State can't steal from it.

Let me make this crystal clear: Dennis Wyatt has not mentioned what Samuel Anderson has been saying all along; the city management and employee morale is a huge problem that needs to be fixed. There are luxury positions within the city that we simply can't afford at this time and they need to be eliminated. Also, Anderson and Cantu agree on making drastic changes to the cities codes in order to improve services and our quality of life. What happened Dennis? You're not listening just like the council is not listening. Last, what about the infamous 'Rainy Day Fund'? It only appears during re-election time when it suits the candidates the most.

Dennis Wyatt mentions "structured deficit". What he means or what he should have said is structural deficit. There is no such thing as a structured deficit. It is out of step with reality. And, how can you say a Future Deficit is not the same as a State or Federal? What? Where are you getting your math from? You did not even explain what a future deficit is. You simply wrote it off.

Manteca has changed its baseline to allow for the tax cuts for Costco and BassPro and others. In doing so, it implies that the decision has already been made. You simply can't just give a tax cut without changing your baseline. It's a bit more complicated than that, Dennis.

Under this baseline we simply increased its future deficit projections. Using this standard makes it tempting by taking it a step further by increasing deficit projections to account for restrictions on other taxes and quite possibly Measure M as an offset. Most budget advisors would say the result would be deficits far bigger than anything contemplated under current law. I agree. The Manteca city baseline may be more realistic politically, but it takes the city a step away from solving its budget problems.

It can get us into an unsustainable budget situation over the long term, if it hasn't already begun which it appears it has happened. "In the short term, we're in a 8 million dollar fiscal hole. So it's really important to hold the line," Anderson said. "The important point is: How much are the policies going to cost? All policies have a cost."

One other major item Dennis Wyatt did not mention is Measure M. Why then do we need it? Why are we the highest taxed city in the county? With all this development and conservative fiscal calculations and great decisions from the current council, past, current and future predictions, why then Measure M? Why did they push it? Why not dissolve it RIGHT NOW? I can continue with all the blunders the current council has made with developers and our city services including the bulbs in downtown Manteca. Roads and alley's that need to be paved and fixed that only come up during election year politics. You want the bombs to stop Dennis? Then stop throwing them yourself, especially on behalf of the current Manteca city council incumbents. Let them fight their own battles.

It appears that all Dennis can do is write about what he feels is best for the city and I'll say it again, why don't you run for city council? Hell, I'll even vote for you as Manteca's first Emperor.

Suggesting that past 'friends of the tax payers' and pandering drove services into the ground are simply half-truths. You seem to forget what current candidates expect is a balance, not bonds and measures to keep us out of trouble all the time. Your bias attempt as posting an opinion yourself is rude and crude as it attacks the candidates when you yourself stated in the beginning of your article, "people lob political bombs left and right as the campaign frenzy picks up." Look who is throwing the bombs, too. It goes to show us all that journalism is non-existent today and so blatantly offensive to the point they just don't care how stupid or crazy their madness is. It's the same as Obama getting a free pass with all the unanswered questions. Dennis Wyatt is giving the current council a free pass, too.

Dennis mentions that there is "only one way" that Manteca can become a Vallejo. Get real! My God, are you that obtuse to think that we can't come up with any other way? There seems to be this new avantgarde mentality that tends to lean only one way by driving their "myopic vision that frames the world with their perceived notions of how things are and not how laws and the concept of financial responsibility require things to operate."

The news from the Manteca City Managers Office confirming yet another budget deficit is sobering, but the news should not be surprising to anyone who has been listening to the Manteca Bulletin's leading economist and the current councils leading PR spokesman, Dennis Wyatt.

The die has been cast for some time. The state's many cookie jars have been raided and are empty; one-time measures and accounting gimmicks have been used; spending on programs and services has been cut repeatedly since 2001; and taxes have been raised.

Why are we again in the same old spot, facing sizeable revenue shortfalls and I'll say it again, Measure M?

The answer is simple. Manteca's policymakers have done nothing to address the structural imbalance between the growth in spending and revenue collections. This is not a cyclical issue. We cannot just grow our way out of this problem when the state's economy finally improves. Nor can we continue to cut spending without serious risk to public safety and the health and welfare of our most vulnerable residents.

Until we make structural changes in our tax system, ongoing deficits should come as no surprise to anyone in Manteca.