Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
Last Thursday  Rich and I attended a badge ceremony  pinning at the Council Chambers to swear in and welcome 7 police officers and  to also welcome 7 non-sworn supporting  staff including 3 Safety Dispatchers,  a new Booking Officer,  Records Clerk, Code Enforcement officer, and Community Resource Officer for a total of 14 positions in the Police Department.  We were joined by Mayor Steve De Brum and his wife, Veronica, as well as Councilman Gary Singh. To become a police officer takes a while as most need to attend Academy and pass various other tests before they can be hired.  It’s not an easy process and it takes time.  Congrats to those who made the cut.
Last Friday we attended a badge pinning Ceremony at the Transit Center for the firefighters.  Four fighters received promotions and we were lucky enough to welcome 3 new members to the rank of Firefighter.  They also have to be trained and qualify to be hired and it’s takes a while to complete. Congrats to our new firefighters. This brings our firefighting line staff to its full authorized strength. That’s a total of 17 new employees to serve and protect the City of Manteca.  I believe that between these two badge ceremonies that is a huge change for the City and a big step in the right direction.
The city is still recovering from the Great Recession but significant steps to make the city safer, improve and widen the tax base, and improve the quality of life have taken place over the last 10 years. The full effect of these changes takes time to reach their full potential. I welcome Ms. Angela Smith to attend the State of the City event this Wednesday and hear about the steady stream of improvements the city is making on a daily basis. Yes, there is room for improvement and, yes, there are areas of concern that still need to be adequately addressed, including the tremendous required future funding issue for CalPERS pension costs.
Ms. Smith claims that things are not improving.  I’d say this last week the City made huge improvements and I’d bet the majority of our citizens would agree.

Linda Silverman
Manteca