Dave Breitenbucher — who just six months ago was mulling over running for mayor as he didn’t believe either re-electing Ben Cantu or elevating fellow councilman Gary Singh to the post was the best for Manteca — has now endorsed Singh for mayor.

It now means that every council member  — except Cantu who is seeking a second term as mayor — has formerly endorsed Singh for mayor. The other members are Jose Nuno, Charlie Halford and, of course, Singh.

Breitenbucher on Thursday said the conduct of the past few months of Larson and her supporters prompted him to go from staying neutral when it came to publicly backing anyone in the mayor’s race to formally endorsing Singh.

He added that Singh was the “best person to move Manteca forward” as mayor.

Those “events” Breitenbucher referred to include disruptions and statements made at the last council meeting as well as repeatedly stating the homeless navigation center was going to be regional when that is not the case.  Breitenbucher believes it has been creating unjustified divisiveness in the community and is being done in a manner that completely lacks respect for those that do not believe the same things they do.

The endorsement prompted a swift and sharp rebuke from Lei Ann Larson — the third candidate running for mayor on Nov. 8.  As recently as May, Larson was trying to convince Britenbucher to run for mayor.

In doing so, she essentially doubled down on a previous statement that she would vote for Cantu who is the very person she was trying to recall earlier this year after painting Cantu as responsible for everything that was wrong at city hall.

Larson has since decided to run for mayor herself.

In a campaign posting Larson contends there was a “plot against Ben Cantu by his fellow councilmen” based on email exchanges she had with Breitenbucher in May. Cantu is the very same person Larson “plotted” with Mantecas4Change to tried to remove from office several months earlier.

In her latest posting, Larson contends a May 28 email response to her from Breitenbucher backs up her contention there was a “plot” to remove Cantu by fellow council members, even though said “plot” was simply campaign strategy and defeat Cany in his bid for a second term as mayor.

Larson at one time blamed Cantu as being responsible  for all of the firings at city hall under former City Manager Miranda Lutzow’s watch that cost Manteca hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts.

It was the reason she advanced — along with the move to locate a homeless navigation center on property across the street from her home — the attempt to recall Cantu earlier this year.

 At the time Breitenbucher exchanged emails with Larson it wasn’t a secret that Breitenbucher was frustrated with Cantu as mayor and was far from being 100 percent in alignment with Singh. That was clear based on a number of council meeting exchanges.

The main issue: Breitenbucher disagreed with where the city wanted to place the homeless navigation center. As such Larson saw Breitenbucher as the best candidate to prevent Singh or Cantu from winning on Nov. 8.

Breitenbucher, who has never supported using the 8-acre site that will have the navigation center access from Carnegie Court, has always made it clear that he would work to make sure the facility was built and operated properly when it was clear there was no longer a chance of trying to convince the council majority to pursue another site.

In that May email Larson uses to question his integrity, Breitenbucher states, “Do not campaign for Ben. Let Singh win then he is gone in 6 months to 2 years (reference of Singh possibly running for supervisor). With Mile (Morowit running for the District 4 council seat) and I on there, we can get Charlie (Halford, another council member not up for re-election) to work with us. I don’t want to spend another four years listening to 40 years ago!”

The last reference was to a habit that Cantu has of repeatedly reciting city actions — or lack thereof — in the past  that he views as the foundation  for what he believes is the city’s inadequate service levels.

Larson also references another email Breitenbucher sent to “another individual” to bolster her case.

She declined to name the individual but posted a document on her website that under “penalty of perjury” contends it is true. The email essentially had Breitenbucher repeating his assertion Cantu has been bad for the city and that Singh is more amenable to working with others instead of holding steadfast to a position. She also stated the email said that Breitenbucher said “Ben wants the Taj Mahal across the street. He still wants that.”

The “Taj Mahal” reference is to the homeless navigation center — the issue that overwhelmingly drives Larson.

On Thursday, Breitenbucher said that more than a month ago he turned over all email communication between himself and Larson to the city attorney’s office in order to assure that he did not say anything that could be construed as being illegal.

City officials have confirmed that did happen and that there was nothing that Breitenbucher said that broke any laws.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com