Sonny Dhalwial isn’t afraid to stand by his decision to approve the Pilot/Flying J Truck Stop. 

Even if “out-of-town interests” allegedly pressured him into voting their way, and when he declined, according to Dhaliwal, selected a candidate for mayor that would do their bidding instead. 

The two-term Lathrop Mayor, who has been embattled in political fights before, said that everything coming from this mayoral race – where he has raised almost $40,000 to defend his position and seek another two-years serving the people of Lathrop – centers around a few men who are unhappy with the fact that they can’t control the decisions that are coming out of the community. 

To top it off, Dhaliwal said, those men don’t even live in Lathrop. 

“That truck stop is going to generate $1 million in sales tax and $1 million in Measure C funds – Mr. Macias claims he’s for public safety, yet how can a person be for public safety when they’re doing everything they can to take funds away from police officers and firefighters,” said Dhaliwal – who was endorsed by the Lathrop Manteca Firefighters Association for the third time as a mayoral candidate. “It’s very important to me to get that endorsement because it shows people who the public safety candidate is. Mr. Macias opposes Flying J under the false pretenses that it’s going to bring prostitution, drugs and everything else that’s bad to our community but yet he doesn’t say a word about an existing truck stop in the middle of a residential area because its owner is bankrolling his campaign. 

“It’s not about people, it’s about profit and out-of-town special interests that I stood up to.”

Macias has a different take.

“Sonny is gambling our community’s safety and security against a small fraction of the county’s sales tax revenue,” said Macias who is running to replace Dhaliwal as mayor in the Nov. 8 election. “The truck stop is a crime magnet that will hurt — not help — public safety, as it drains precious resources away from our neighborhood patrols and first responders. New taxes for police and fire should go before a vote of the people, not scammed up with a truck stop full of prostitution, drugs, and violence. We need more police patrolling neighborhoods keeping our families safe, not policing Sonny’s disconnected pet project.”

Macias and his wife Sarah led a coalition of Lathrop residents called “Keep Lathrop Safe” that proposed alternate locations for the truck stop away from residential neighborhoods and elementary schools. The truck stop project was delayed by a continuance from the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) which discussed the County taking over 80% of any sale tax revenue in the annexation process.

According to Dhaliwal, several business owners from outside of the community met with him prior to the unanimous decision to allow the nation’s largest travel stop company to come to town. 

Part of the reason that decision was made, Dhaliwal said, was because the company said that they would be building at that specific location regardless of whether Lathrop was on board – meaning, as far as he was concerned, that it would be foolish not to annex that piece of property into the city and let the sales tax that a massive fueling station would generate walk across the border and into San Joaquin County’s coffers. 

That decision didn’t sit well. While Dhaliwal said that it can be frustrating at times to fight a battle against people who have no concern for the people of Lathrop – who as a resident are his neighbors – it’s just a minor inconvenience as he stays the path towards working communally to provide the best quality of life possible for the city that has perched itself as a major growth hub after the recession. 

“I will not do what they want me to do,” Dhaliwal said. “The first election we won by 67 percent. The second election they used everything they could – a totally negative campaign – and we won by 71 percent. Lathrop people understand who is fighting for them and who is not,” Dhaliwal said. “Why are these people so interested in the Lathrop mayoral campaign outcome? Their interest is to replace me with somebody they can control.

“But I’m going to keep doing what I need to in order to best serve the residents of Lathrop despite all of it because that’s what these hard-working people deserve – a council and a city that cares about them and isn’t just concerned with making sure a few people get their wish.”

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.