Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
Hats off to Z. Andrews, the writer of the “Drab, Dull, Dirty Manteca” letter in Wednesday’s paper.
 We retired here two years ago and have the same vision of this town.  While we love our home and the easy access to many other cities, etc., Manteca is a depressing place.  When family and friends come to visit, we avoid driving anywhere near downtown and instead go to Ripon, Modesto or even Stockton.  Frankly, it’s embarrassing!
The City Council is useless.... are they blind or just a bunch of “good old boys” running the show?  Do they ever drive around and see all the weeds, dirt and semis on streets where they don’t belong?  The people of Manteca may be good people, but the first thing you notice about a place is what it looks like.  From there you determine just what type of people live in or run the place.  Do they have a pride of ownership?  Even the street fairs are disappointing — dirty streets and boring booths.  It’s so different from other towns.  We no longer attend street fairs in Manteca.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem much will change with this Council. We need more stores, restaurants, flowers in mediums, empty lots and buildings cleaned up.... yet they do nothing.  It’s not our job to make this town pretty by enforcing regulations, attracting new businesses (and no more car washes or fast food please), or cleaning the streets and sidewalks, it’s theirs.  Until new folks are brought in to run this town, not much will change..... unless that is their plan!

Kris Day
Manteca