The Manteca Tea Party Patriots are taking it to the streets.

More than two months after they first formed at a packed meeting at Chez Shari, the organization is planning a rally for Saturday, Nov. 1,2 at the corner of Manteca’s busiest intersection –  Louise Avenue and Main Street.

And according to organization co-founder David Marks, having a group armed with posters and signs trying to get out the message that there is a Tea Party in Manteca will serve two benefits –  help promote the grassroots movement that advocates free markets, a constitutionally limited government and fiscal responsibility and send a message that not every single rally has to include violence and looting.

“We all saw how those protests in Oakland turned out, and this is a chance for us to show how it’s supposed to be done,” Marks said. “There’s definitely that factor included, but primarily we want people to know that we’re here in Manteca and that we’re non-partisan and everybody is welcome to be a part of the organization.”

Marks teamed up with Bruce Lownsbery to lay the foundation for the Manteca Patriots after the two had a rather discouraging experience battling the Manteca Council over the taxes that are taken from homeowners to cover landscape maintenance districts.

It was an inside glimpse for both, Marks said, about how bureaucracy works, and gave both the motivation to search out options to make sure that they’re able to hold government and political representatives responsible to the wants and needs of those that elected them.

“I think that government has really gone wild,” Marks said. “This is an organization that lets politicians know that we want to see change. It’s about getting people active in their communities and telling politicians and congress that we’re going to hold them accountable.

“Both sides in politics are always trying to make the other look bad, and this is an alternative to that.”

The Manteca Patriots will meet again on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Chez Shari. The group will be making posters and signs for the rally – which will take place Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon at the corner of Louise Avenue and Main Street. For additional information, visit www.mantecapatriots.org.