Mayor Gary Singh knows he his detractors.
He said it goes with the territory when making decisions needed to move Manteca forward.
“You are never going to please everyone,” Singh, who is seeking his second four-year term as mayor in the Nov. 3 election, said.
Singh is being challenged by fellow businessman Jacob Naven.
And from where he sits — whether it is in the oversized teal Adirondack chair downtown, a chair at the dais of the San Joaquin Council of Governments working to secure money for Manteca streets, or in a chair across from a resident discussing municipal challenges — Singh said the negative fallout is worth it.
The pushback is due in a large part to Singh being the driving force behind passage of the Measure Q sales tax that has been the biggest game changer in Manteca in a quarter of a century when it comes to the city’s ability to deliver services.
That — along with other initiatives Singh and his fellow council members have undertaken in the last four years — has led to Manteca:
*Adding eight new police officer positions.
*Adding an entire 24/7 engine company with the hiring of nine more firefighters.
*To be able to break ground this fall on a modern and adequate police station — a deficiency first declared by law enforcement command and civic leadership back in 2002 when the city had 50,000 people and less than half the police force they do now.
*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.
*Major street work was done 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 large 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.
Due to personal working relationships Singh has developed with those representing Manteca in Congress and Sacramento, the city has secured $3.3 million in federal grants beyond what they typically receive.
It includes $750,000 for a real time crime center at the new police station, $850,000 toward the animal shelter expansion, $900,000 toward a community center, and $800,000 toward a veterans community center.
That excludes $16 million the mayor was the driving force in securing from the State of California working with then State Sen. Susan Eggman when Singh was still a Council member for the establishment and operation of a homeless navigation center.
It stands as the largest government grant ever obtained by Manteca and the largest homeless grant award by the state in a Central Valley city of less than 150,000 residents.
Going forward in the next four years Singh is targeting:
*Development of a new aquatics center.
*Building a community center.
*The initial development of a 60-acre community park in north Manteca.
*Expanding the animal shelter including adding on-site facilities for low-cost spay and neutering.
*Creating a veterans memorial plaza honoring those who have served.
*Adding amenities to parks such as an amphitheater, new skate park, and sensory playground.
*Continuing to puruse new retail and dining opportunities.
About Singh
Singh, at age 43, is still the youngest member of the council despite serving for 10 years, with the first six as a council member.
He’s proud his two sons have — or are going — to the same high school that he did, Sierra High, with one now attending his collegiate alma mater, the University of the Pacific.
Singh said he wants to create a better future in Manteca for all of the community including his sons
“I want them to be as proud of me as I hope my father is as proud of me,” Singh said.
Singh, Manteca’s 10th directly elected mayor, was the first immigrant elected mayor.
Singh is also the first Punjabi-American as well as Sierra High graduate to be elected mayor.
Singh, whose first name given at birth is Gurminder hence his American nickname Gary, was a toddler in a village of 500 people in northern India.
His grandfather wanted his son and his young family to have a better life. They were living in a mud hut with no running water. If they needed to go to the bathroom they went out into an adjoining field on their farm where they grew sugar cane and wheat.
The family mortgaged the farm to pay for their son — Singh’s father — to travel to the United States.
At age 28, Singh’s father “Sam” started working as a farm laborer in the lettuce fields of Salinas in the early 1980s. Because he was an agricultural worker and because President Ronald Reagan had implemented the green card program he was able to stay in the United States.
Sam moved from the fields to a restaurant in San Jose. It was there that baking skills he learned while working for a period in Germany allowed him to get promoted to being a cook, allowing him to pay to bring his wife and then 3-year-old Gary to California.
Sam started working in various doughnut shops. He saved enough money that he was able to buy a shop with partners in Tracy aptly called the Tracy Doughnut Shop. The family rented a two bedroom apartment where altogether 12 people lived.
Sam labored from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. baking doughnuts and then worked until 2 p.m. selling them. After clean-up, he had 5 hours to spend with his young family.
They bought a house in Lathrop for $90,000 that was a struggle for them to make payments. Gary went to Lathrop Elementary School while his dad worked and his mom worked at a Stockton cannery. It is a home they still own today.
Sam sold his share in the Tracy Doughnut Shop and bought the liquor store on East Yosemite Avenue in Manteca just west of Austin Road in 1989. Several years later, he sold that store and bought Manteca Mart from Bob Miner.
Sam worked in Manteca Mart seven days a week while also working the weekend shift at the Pak-n-Sav bakery that was the forerunner of today’s Manteca Safeway store adjacent to Walmart. Sam would end up working nearly 24 hours non-stop on Saturdays and Sundays.
That allowed Sam to not only keep his business but to eventually acquire two smaller Manteca shopping centers.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulleltin.com
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