Gary Singh is likely to be a little late for his own party tonight.
Singh — one of six candidates seeking two seats on the Manteca City Council in today’s election — is chairman of the Manteca Planning Commission that happens to meet tonight at 7 o’clock to review what is proposed as Manteca’s biggest distribution center ever — a 1.1 million square foot project on Airport Way in the CenterPoint Business Park that is twice the size of the Ford Small Parts Distribution Center in Spreckels Park that currently is the largest such building in the city.
Singh’s election night gathering for his supporters is from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at La Estrella Mexican Restaurant in the shopping center anchored by Grocery Outlet at the corner of Northwoods Avenue and East Yosemite Avenue.
Singh is providing a free spread that includes a buffet and drinks.
Candidates David Cushman and Ben Cantu are staging a joint election night party tonight at Mama Weber’s BBQ at 823 Mellon Ave. in the Manteca Industrial Park.
It starts at 7 p.m. Guests can eat dinner and watch the results with the candidates. The event is free to attend but guests wishing to order dinner will be responsible for their own payment. It is open to supporters of either of the two candidates. For more information visit Facebook.com/DavidCushman2016 or email davidcushman2016@gmaail.com
Jeff Zellner is conducting his election night party at Manteca Trailer on East Yosemite Avenue at 7:30 p.m. An hour prior Zellner is hosting a thank-you dinner for volunteers that helped with his campaign.
Zellner is missing the Planning Commission meeting of which he is an alternate and not a full-time member.
Another council candidate will be at the commission meeting — Eric Hayes. He is a full-time member.

What about transit
service to Mdoesto?
Mike Barkley, as usual, has a valid point that is being overlooked.
The Manteca apartment complex owner was at last week’s Manteca’s City Council meeting to speak of a fairly obvious unmet transit need at a public hearing conducted to collect such information.
Barkley notes a good share of Manteca residents either work or do business from time-to-time in Modesto. With the loss of Greyhound bus service almost 20 years ago, there is no scheduled bus service from Manteca to Modesto.
That leaves you with the expensive option of either a taxi or a ride sharing service.
Given that he drives a GM vehicle and the Great Recession claimed Sexton Chevrolet as well as Manteca GMC Buick, Barkley said is a pain to get his car service in Modesto.
“I guess my next car will be a Ford,” Barkley equipped.
The main reason for Barkley’s concern  is how the lack of regular city-to-city transportation that Greyhound afforded makes it tough for a number of Manteca residents to take advantage of employment opportunities in Modesto that is just as close to Manteca as Stockton.
Barkley, by the way, earned a place in Manteca lore and community activism for his one man fight against graffiti long before the task was taken over by the Manteca Police SHARP volunteers. He returned home to Manteca after working in the Bay Area and drive around the community is his VW pickup to paint over graffiti.
He also was an active advocate pushing for the correction of storm drainage issues in the 1980s when relatively mild downpours flooded large swaths of central Manteca.
You may recognize Barkley’s name as one of the candidates for Congress in June’s Democratic Party primary.
While there was a buzz whether Michael Eggman actually is an active beekeeper or  if Jeff Denham ever worked in an almond orchard in the district — both declared themselves local farmers with Denham actually having worked at one point  on his family farm — Barkley pointed out there was no question he was a farmer. He owns more than 1,000 aces in the Northern Sacramento Valley that is farmed.
Got to love those
rough rides on
Manteca streets
Manteca resident James Smith sent a quick email asking the same question a lot of other people are wondering about:  “(I) would hope the City of Manteca can fix the alligated south section of Main Street just before the overpass ….”  at the eastbound 120 Bypass onramp.
For the past three plus years when that question has been raised, the stock answer from the city is it will be addressed “soon” with an overlay of South Main Street from Yosemite Avenue to Atherton Drive.
The work is now schedule for mid-2017.
Whoever is elected today might want to push for a city policy that requires major rough spots on heavily traveled key streets such as Main Street to be addressed as soon as they develop.
The rationale for not doing so, of course, is the repair would likely last only a year or so as the only solid fix would be reconstruction.
The only problem is that it has been beyond bad for years. And the washboard effect certainly can’t be good for vehicle alignments.

We need serious
dialogue about
dangers of driving
A reader frustrated about traffic safety sent the following our way:
“On Saturday I was in the parking lot at the Lathrop Library when a blue Infiniti sped out of the skate park area, spun several donuts at a continuing high rate of speed and took off toward the freeway. This is so troubling, with kids and adults in the area, to say nothing of numerous parked cars. What if the driver had lost control?
“One of the teenagers hanging out said that she and her friends often did the same thing, but in warehouse parking lots. (As if that makes it any more “right”.) When are parents and teachers going to have a more serious dialogue with teens about the dangers of driving? The police and the sheriff have the information about this vehicle.”

HOPE Ministries
needs help with
office furniture
HOPE Ministries — the non-profit  that oversees Raymus House, HOPE Family Shelter, and transitional housing — is in the process of opening a new administrative office at 602 E. Yosemite Ave. kitty corner from the Manteca Bulletin.
They are looking to get the office outfitted with desks, computers and other various office items that will make it a functioning working space for the director and one part time volunteer. It’s a very small space, only about 350 square feet.
They are hoping to move in by the end of the year.
Executive Director Cecily Ballungay can be contacted at 824.0658.

Foster Farms turkeys
are for distribution
throughout 209 region
A reader wants to know why Turkeys R Us needs 1,850 turkeys to help provide traditional Thanksgiving meals for struggling families in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop and not have that amount given that Foster Farms donated 700 turkeys last week to the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Here’s the deal. The 700 turkeys donated by Foster Farms are for distribution to food banks serving the needy throughout the 209 region while Turkeys R Us is an exclusive effort to help those in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop.
Based on proportional need perhaps a dozen or so of those turkeys may make their way to tables in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop.
It is because of Turkeys R Us that the communities of Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop  can say for the past 17 years that they are the only three communities in the 209 that made sure everyone in their communities had a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com