Editor, Manteca Bulletin:

Our city officials and prospective city officials seem to think that by building more houses we will have more jobs and more revenue to provide more services.  Perhaps I am off base but it seems to me that by building more homes you only create a need for more jobs and services.

Instead, why don’t we sell the existing available inventory of homes and entice more businesses to come here.  We are in a great location to get people from Modesto, Stockton, Ripon, Lathrop, Tracy, Escalon, etc. to shop here. Why not make Manteca a shopping and entertainment Mecca for these surrounding locations? Our city needs to work with the management of the mostly vacant lifestyle mall to see exactly why it’s so empty (i.e. rent or city taxes, etc.). Last year I personally contacted the Whole Foods corporate offices and suggested what a great location Manteca would be; we are a crossroads for many other communities, we have Bass Pro as a destination spot and listed all the reasons why it would probably thrive here. (Wouldn’t the old Best Buy building be perfect?) They sent me their criteria for opening a store and we meet all of them.  They needed certain information from our city in order to further consider us.  I then forwarded this information and their email to our mayor, Willie Weatherford and that’s where it ended.  I never heard another word about it.

Many of us live here because we like the small town atmosphere.  Building more homes will perpetuate more crime, more traffic, higher taxes.  What is wrong with staying small?  Why can’t the city officials understand this and work on ways to live within their means like the rest of us have to do?  Unless, perhaps, the developers give them “private incentives” to make their private lives more comfortable.  It’s been known to happen. 

The mayor and the city council members are “elected” officials and as such should be doing what is best for the majority of the existing community.  They must take care of the “children” they already have, not have more.



Sandra Ahrens

Manteca