Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

Your column Wednesday (Dennis Wyatt:  “Oil derrick-style cell tower with flag on top gives Manteca something to howl about”) and the Bulletin’s recent coverage of the proposed oil derrick/flagpole/micro-wave tower has been spot on. It’s hideous! And why would the Mayor or any of  our City Council members willingly sign on to erecting such an eyesore downtown, for any price? 

How does this ugly as a possum pouch oil derrick, in the mind of some bureaucrat at Metro PCS, become a flagpole? Could it be the result of too much exposure to microwave radiation over the years? Or perhaps the Metro PCS folks think that the dumb locals in Manteca have never seen a flagpole, but we’ve got them there.  We have, and this isn’t one. And who is going to scale this monstrosity to raise and lower the flag? Perhaps the Fire Department could send out a ladder truck - so much for cost effectiveness.

Generally, the fake flagpole/tree/cell towers are not very attractive, but they can become a part of the scenery in a Disneyland kind of way, and could eventually be ignored over time. However, this ugly oil derrick-looking tower will never blend in to the scenery in downtown Manteca.  Barstow, perhaps, but not Manteca.

Hey, wait just a minute. I have a great idea!  Why don’t we paint the water tower to look like a pumpkin, and then we could...

Stephen Breacain
Manteca
April 11, 2012