Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

In past weeks, letters and an editorial questioned my “fixation” and my perspective of community leadership and the diminishing general welfare of this community.  It seems the larger picture is being missed by a few.

Linda Rock, there is grass growing in the cracks in the streets all over town.  The water tower is not a fixation; it is however symbolic of the Council’s continued lack of insight and fiscal response to the needs of the community and its residents.  Ask Mayor Willie Weatherford why the problems confronting Manteca today are the same problems that the community was confronting twenty years ago.

Artemis Vourakis, blaming the economy and the rest of the country’s woes (for Manteca’s fiscal deficit) is getting old.  I have heard that same excuse used by this council and previous councils during the past three “recessions” for each of their deficit budgets, yet they do nothing different to alter their perspective of “doing business.”  If there isn’t enough money at city hall today, ask why?

David Jinkens, you missed the point.  The dire fiscal condition of our local and state governments, the diminishing levels of services, the present fiscal deficit in Manteca, Elk Grove, South Lake Tahoe, and others, are symbolic of a pattern of governance by administrators and elected officials that leads to fiscal deficit every eight to 10 years.  I propose that we stop the structured deficit form of fiscal management so that we are not having this same conversation in 2023.  Recent budgetary decisions once again illustrate that Manteca is gradually sliding into yet another deficit budget cycle.  In South Lake Tahoe, the budget has similar issues due to long-term fiscal deficits since 2008.

Dennis Wyatt, minutia aside, the water tower is not a detriment to anyone or anything; it simply stands silent as a visual sentry, a legacy that declares we are “Manteca.”

Benjamin Cantu

Manteca

July 17, 2012