Councilman Dave Breitenbucher walks the walk when it comes to his commitment to tackle what is arguably the most perplexing issue Manteca and many cities face — homelessness.
“Most of the homeless in Manteca are in my district,” Breitenbucher, who represents District 3 that encompasses the 1970 city limits including downtown and Manteca High, said.
Breitenbucher is being challenged in his bid for re-election by Lei Ann Larson who qualified for the Nov. 3 ballot with valid signatures on Friday.
Manteca, since 2024, has been able to reduce the homeless population in the city by 27 percent going from 235 to 171 in the point in time count conducted every two years.
The city, as Breitenbucher points out, has been the driving force behind that drop working with community-based groups and government services to get the homeless off the streets while at the same time applying the legal pressure for those that refuse to access services to continue to illegal camping.
Breitenbucher, through his commitment with the Calvary Community Church and his role as a councilman on the homeless subcommittee, has been a part of the effort in the trenches.
He has rarely missed twice a month organized outreach efforts with representatives from government agencies, His Way the city contracts with to operate the emergency shelter, community groups, and faith-based efforts.
Those outreach efforts make contact with homeless throughout Manteca in encampments and other locations.
The goal is to get them to get them reunited with family or access services at 555 Industrial Park Drive to start the road back to being housed.
The idea is to build relationships to break down reluctance to be off the streets. They also address medical, clothing, and other needs while making it clear they will be subject to arrest at another time if they have outstanding warrants that primarily center around failing to appear in court for illegal camping.
Then, once a month, he joins Manteca Police along with Manteca Property Services on quality of life Enforcement sweeps. Those with warrants are arrested and their illegal camps removed.
The carrot and stick approach has been substantially more effective — and less costly —than the catch and release approach taken previously.
Breitenbucher said the city has taken full advantage of the Supreme Court rulings to put pressure in illegal camping and such while at the same time working to get at the root cause of what is preventing people from getting off the street.
He points to the large drop off in numbers of homeless milling about not just at Library Park but also be stores.
One big reason was the adoption of anti-loitering laws that required property owners to post signage that cites the city ordinance that legally allows police to enforce the law on public property.
“The $30 signs have made a big difference,” Breitenbucher said.
The councilman said the city augmented its blight fighting effort by contracting with Manteca Property Services to daily cleanup not just homeless debris in downtown and throughout the city but also the high degree of illegal dumping.
That illegal dumping is clearly being done by the sheltered as it includes tires, appliances, furniture, and large bags and boxes of garbage.
Breitenbucher is far from being one-dimensional when it comes to tackling community concerns.
The retired Manteca firefighter captain has worked to secure improvements within his district and throughout the city.
At the top of that list is public safety and streets including the new $92 million police headquarters that will replace an undersized and less than stellar secure station with a modern facility including the latest crime fighting tools such as a real-time crime center.
The hiring of nine new firefighters to place a sixth engine company into service 24/7 as well as 8 more police positions in the last years is also among major advances Manteca has made.
“We can’t afford to back off,” Breitenbucher said of efforts he wants to make sure continue to keep elevating the effectiveness of police and firefighter services.
That includes a seventh company to make sure the aerial truck is staffed 24/7 and not running on routine medical calls once the sixth fire station opens in southwest Manteca.
Breitenbucher noted, in working with the rest of the council during the past four years, Manteca has:.
*Obtained two replacement fire engines have been put on the street with the city to take delivery of two more fire engines in the coming months.
*Significantly increased street work spending while also backfilling a $2 million annual drop in local state gas tax receipts thanks to Measure Q’s passage.
*Completed major street work on segments of Airport Way, Louise Avenue, North Main, and Lathrop Road in addition to neighborhood-wide projects in the Shasta Park area and east of Highway 99.
*Stepped up contributions developers have made to infrastructure near their projects such as the widening of Austin Road all the way to Yosemite Avenue that is now in its initial stages in addition to paying growth fees.
*Put in place annual assessments on new subdivisions that have been proposed to cover their neighborhood street maintenance without tapping the general fund and to generate additional money ongoing to pay for more frontline police and fire personnel
*Secured a larger share of property taxes from the county when land is annexed to the city.
*Provided support to staff by hiring needed personnel to bring the city’s financials up to par to the point the city finance department has garnered professional recognition for keeping account of municipal money.
*Worked with downtown to develop the first ever business improvement district to enhance the central district after repeated failures over the last 55 years.
Breitenbucher noted the city’s strong financial AA bond rating means Manteca will be able to leverage Measure Q along with growth fees to build long desired recreational amenities in addition to constructing a new police station and a sixth fire station.
The city is currently exploring the possibility of a community center and an aquatics center.
About Breitenbucher
Breitenbucher is not only proud of his Manteca roots and the contributions newcomers are making, but he is far from a Johnny-Come-Lately when it comes to being involved with community endeavors.
The 64 year-old was the fourth baby born at Manteca Hospital that is now known as Doctors Hospital of Manteca.
His parents, Donald and Sandra Breitenbucher, moved to Manteca in 1947.
His dad first opened a tire shop on South Maple Avenue in downtown. They moved the shop to Main Street and Alameda and eventually to Garfield Avenue Moffat Boulevard where Precision Automotive is today.
His mother Sandra opened up the world of swimming ended up being a lifelong passion for Breitenbucher who coaching the sport at Sierra High for 26 years including 16 years as head coach for the Timberwolves.
Before that he was an assistant swim coach for eight years at Manteca High and served 3½ years as a Delta Valley Aquatics swim coach.
Ironically, Breitenbucher didn’t swim at Manteca High as they had cancelled the swimming program.
He ended up playing football for the Buffaloes for four years.
Breitenbucher also served as the student council director of athletics his senior year where one of his projects was overseeing the dedication of the school gym to Dr. Robert Winter.
After graduating from Manteca High in 1980 he went to Delta College where he swam competitively for the Mustangs.
He has spent most of his life within a one mile radius of the hospital where he came into the world.
That includes:
*his family’s first Manteca home that was among the 1,000-square-foot and smaller houses built on Fir Street to the west of the hospital.
*his family’s second Manteca home in the Magna Terra neighborhood immediately north and east of the hospital that the late Antone Raymus built and named the streets after American astronauts. It is while living there when Manga Terra still had a community pool that his mother got him hooked on swimming.
*his current home in Powers Tract sandwiched between Manteca High and Spreckels Park. It is the same house Manteca Mayor Ben Cantu first lived in when his family moved to Manteca.
*working at his dad’s tire shop as well as attending Manteca High and swimming at Lincoln Park swimming pool.
*manning an engine at the Powers Avenue fire station where he spent much of his 30-year career before retiring as a fire captain. He also served for 2½ years as a reserve firefighter.
He credits his uncle Dave Cameron — who served with the San Leandro Fire Department — for sparking his interest in a career as a firefighter.
When Breitenbucher was first hired as a Manteca firefighter, the city’s engines were still running two-man crews. They are all now staffed with three-man crews.
Breitenbucher had been serving as a Manteca Parks and Recreation Commission member before his election to the council in 2018.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
