Mayor Ben Cantu has just the ticket to start bringing respect back to Manteca’s traffic beginning one blue parking space at a time.

Cantu wants the hard-working volunteer members of the Seniors Helping Area Residents & Police (SHARP) to once again be able to issue tickets for handicapped parking violations.

That was the case roughly 15 years ago when SHARP volunteers working with the Manteca Police Department issued citations for handicapped parking violations, expired tags, and assorted other non-moving violations.

Cantu noted during Tuesday’s City Council meeting that he sees a lot of handicapped parking violations that end up making life harder for those who can’t use the blue spaces that were intended for them because those who chose to violate the law and park there can do so with virtual impunity.

The mayor said he’d like to see the city pay for training that would allow SHARP volunteers to again issue tickets with them initially starting with handicapped parking violations. 

Staff indicated issues with tickets not properly written or being issued when there wasn’t a violation created issues as well as some SHARP members being physically threatened while issuing citations was why SHARP stopped writing them.

City Manager Tim Ogden said he would have Police Chief Jodie Estarziau present a report at a future council meeting detailing why SHARP ticket writing was stopped, what training it would require for volunteers to resume ticket writing, and what type of citations they could possibly issue.

Over the years the SHARP unit has been credited with a wide array of enforcement tasks ranging from documenting and removing graffiti, shopping cart retrieval, and removing illegally posted garage sale and other signs to being part of a two-month blitz that successfully addressed people who were leaving solid waste carts in view of the street  throughout the week.

Push button coming

for council chambers

front door entrance?

City Manager Tim Ogden on Tuesday said he’d work to include $5,000 in the upcoming municipal budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 for the addition of a push button for handicapped individuals  to allow the doors to the council chambers to open automatically.

Even though the current doors put in place several years ago during a remodel of the council chambers driven by the need to bring the meeting room into compliance with updated Americans with Disabilities standards meet ADA requirements, Councilwoman Debby Moorhead said that wasn’t enough.

She noted that there are handicapped people who still struggle with opening the doors.

The push button would be similar to what you see outside a number of stores such as JC Penney at The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com