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Tea Party planning to tackle Manteca politics
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David Marks is fed up with the current political system.

And he plans to start right at the grassroots at the Manteca City Council and Manteca Unified School District board levels.

Along with Bruce Lownsbery and John Kramer, Marks is starting up a Manteca chapter of the Tea Party Patriots. It is the grassroots political movement that has become a force in Washington as champions for fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets.

The group’s first meeting will be on Thursday, Sept. 8, at Chez Shari at 7:30 p.m. Marks encourages anybody who might also be fed up with the current direction of the government to show up and let their voice be heard.

Marks said on one hand the policies of the nation are becoming more liberal and aren’t following the framework of the constitution. On the other hand, he says, the government has swelled up so immensely that it’s become counterproductive to the people it’s supposed to serve.

“I think that the way things are going today, there needs to be definite change,” said Marks – who helped local Republican organizer Frank Aquila put together the South San Joaquin Republicans. “Everything is going to hell in a handbasket. We need people that are willing to speak up and make sure that we steer this country in the right direction.”

According to Marks, Lownsbery – who will head up the group – became extremely disenfranchised when after lobbying extensively to lift the fees of the Landscape Maintenance District levied on homes in his neighborhood, the Manteca City Council went against the pleas of the residents and continued the assessment anyway.

Getting rid of the LMDs is also something that Marks wants to make a goal of the Manteca Tea Party. He’d also like to see the group become a force in who gets elected and best serves the will of the people.

“I’d like to see the group be able to put people up for election in different positions – school boards and city councils – that believe in limiting government and following the constitution,” he said. “I don’t feel that the school board here is trying to make the schools the best they can be. They’re just limping along and being mediocre.

“With the right people in there we should be able to cut costs and improve the education that we’re giving our kids. I think that preventing government waste even at a local level is something that should be a priority.”

The group currently has a website that lists their mission statement, the three pillars of the Tea Party movement, and how people can get involved with the organizers to help strengthen the young group. To find out more information, or to find out how to volunteer, visit www.mantecapatriots.org.