There is little evidence that there is any likelihood the City Council is going to waiver from a decision  to locate the homeless navigation center off of Carnegie Court in the Manteca Industrial Park.

Responding to sharp rhetoric in the campaign and since its conclusion, all five council members wanted to make that clear during Tuesday’s meeting when they took steps to officially accept the $16 million the state has set aside for the homeless navigation center project.

“Now that we have the money we have to look at how to make it the best use for this project,” said Councilman David Breitenbucher. “That is where we are at now.

Breitenbucher was the only council member that voted against the site when that decision was made last year. But as he said at the time, once it was clear he couldn’t convince a majority of his colleagues to opt for another site that he felt was better, that he would commit himself to making the navigation center as effective as possible at the chosen site.

“District 3 is the best site for this project,” Breitenbucher said of the Manteca Industrial Park location.

He went on to add, “unfortunately that is where most of the homeless are.”

District 3 also happens to be the council seat that Breitenbucher was elected to a four-year term to represent in the Nov. 8 election. He ran unopposed.

Breitenbucher also used Tuesday’s meeting as an opportunity to try and bat down contentions the navigation center will be for regional use as well as the incorrect assumption the homeless in Manteca do not have ties to the community.

He again noted the social media posting of Assemblyman Heath Flora lauding the funding — and that for a related homeless endeavor in Modesto — was good for the region did not mean the Manteca project was designated as a regional facility.

Breitenbucher, who often helps with church efforts to assist the homeless, said he took an informal poll while volunteering several days earlier.

He said none of the homeless he talked to were from Ripon, Escalon, Lathrop, or other nearby communities.

That mirrors a January point-in-time count that shared similar results.

Councilman Charlie Halford also pointed to state documentation regrading the funding that simply refers to it as a “Manteca” navigation center  and not a “regional” facility.

“Let me be very clear,” Halford said. “It (the $16 million funding) is not tied to 682 Main Street.”

What is, however, is the $2 million the city received from the county to acquire the 8 acres sandwiched between South Main Street and Carnegie Court for use as a homeless navigation center.

Councilman Jose Nuno touched on allegations that somehow the council decided on the site because it was in the council district with the largest concentration of Hispanics.

Nuno noted the city spent several years vetting various locations in Manteca at public meetings before determining that the selected location would work the best.

“As a Hispanic, I have never played the race card,” Nuno said of allegations the council — which includes two Hispanic members — decided to locate the homeless center in the district because it had the most Hispanics in the city.

Mayor Ben Cantu disputed the assertion of nearby residents who contend the navigation center is being located in their neighborhood.

The center which will be accessed from Carnegie Court and blocked from the front half of the property by a sound wall is going on the eastern side of the 8 acres.

Cantu noted plans call for possibly police station, affordable housing, and even commercial to be built along South Main Street.

“Anyone walking or driving on Main Street will never see it,” Cantu said.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com