Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

To have any chance at all, new candidates for Manteca City Council or mayor should attack the records of incumbents Steve DeBrum and Vince Hernandez.

These two candidates help spend us into a record number of deficits that endangered this community by losing 12 police officers from the ranks. These two also caused the city employees to lose a serious amount of their pay, and reduced the work force three consecutive times. This was to ask for wage concessions to bridge a $14 million deficit they spent us into.

 These two thrive on denying the people a voice in having a say in spending our taxes.

Hernandez championed  millions of dollars to his neighborhood for Woodward Park, while some parks didn’t even have playground equipment. Woodward Park is now a large fully equipped park, with a large picnic shelter  while other park picnics are held under no shade and three digit heat. If you need to see improvements in this city, don’t expect them in parks outside Woodward. It seems as though these two big spenders view the rest of the taxpayers as peasants, and entitled to nothing, if you don’t reside in the Woodward area.

These two councilmen have spent a long time in office and have failed to give us a much needed library upgrade. This council spent over $70 million in redevelopment funds but not one dime was spent on the library. Instead, they chose to upgrade Library Park to provide a home for transients. They built a station on Moffat with no train service to justify this expenditure.

Everything they vote on benefits special interests such as developers and engineering firms. Anytime you think these two are for the people, you are wrong. They are controlled by special interests. It’s a laughing joke in telling us these two need to solicit campaign donations. DeBrum represents the Dairymen Association and he knows how to milk special interests for support. It’s simple enough, you support me and I will take care of your needs.



Fleener Richards

Manteca