Al Mezzetti — a former Manteca City Councilman and retired Lincoln School teacher — plans to take on San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore in the 2018 election.
Mezzetti made his intentions known this week after he was denied re-issuance of a carried concealed weapon (CCW) permit for use in his business by Sheriff Moore.
Mezzetti has had a CCW permit for 30 years.
The Manteca resident said he stressed to Moore his military service as a Marine gunner in World War II, his service during the Korean War, and training soldiers for the Vietnam War.
Mezzetti, who acknowledged he will be turning 92, said in a letter to Moore that “it is important the citizens of San Joaquin County learn about you and your political machinations.” He added he looks forward to questioning the incumbent in open forums during the 2019 campaign.
The sheriff’s CCW policy was one of the big issues in the 2016 campaign.

New Sizzler is
just that — sizzling
The toughest seat to get in Manteca these days is at the new Manteca Sizzler restaurant at Airport Way and the 120 Bypass.
The restaurant has been packed since it opened on Thursday. Sally Myers — who owns 23 Sizzlers including the new one in Manteca along with her husband Gary — said she is pleased how the community is welcoming them with open arms.
“I’ve never been to an opening where so many residents and business folks have cheerfully said, ‘Thank You’ upon meeting them,” she noted. “What a great community Manteca is.”
The 8,600-square-foot restaurant resembles the couple’s flagship Sizzler in Temecula.
The opening of the 290-seat restaurant created more than 100 new jobs.

Rough roads ahead
all over Manteca
Pot holes and rough streets around Manteca are a poplar topic of conversation.
A Del Webb at Woodbridge reader who believes Lathrop Road between Union Road and Airport Way is a year or two away from completely disintegrating in spots due to increased traffic can’t believe there are no city plans on the horizon to fix at least the worst segments.
Reader James Smith notes there seems to be potholes where ever you drive in Manteca. Smith asked whether any public works official ever drivers around Manteca to see what streets have potholes so they can be repaired. Smith, who was in public works for many years in the Bay Area, said what they used to do was fill holes with “cutback asphalt.”
“That’s asphalt cut back with diesel,” he noted in an email. “It’s temporary, does not hardened up like cement, and sometimes the temporary cutback stays in potholes a very long time. It works.”
On that note a Wellington Avenue jogger who heads over to the Tidewater Bikeway said she is pleased the city finally patched a big pothole that was in the middle of the crosswalk on Industrial Park Drive where it intersects with Van Ryn Avenue. She had seen a teen stumble after stepping in the pothole a month ago.
Manteca has added a number of streets over the past 10 years while its street maintenance crew has been slashed in half during the same time period to eight workers. The end result has been the remaining eight workers are scrambling to do all of the work required of the streets division crew It also means Manteca has been unable to effectively tackle sidewalk repair work in-house
 City street crews have a long list of tasks to handle for more than 200 miles of municipal streets from sealing cracks and removing debris to the upkeep of street signs and lights.
They also prep streets for seal slurry work that is handled through the bid process as a way to keep costs down.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com