Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
The most recent Q&A for our Manteca City Council candidates was not “What would you do?” but “What would you have done?”
The candidates gave answers that ranged from ‘We don’t need the city to be branded’ to ‘They voted to do it, let’s trust them’. While the question was directed at the website, most of the candidates chose to spend most of their answer on the need for the city to be ‘branded’, whatever that may mean. The branding of the city for marketing purposes was tied to how the city’s website looks and functions.
The city website seems to be quite functional. If the council, or others within the city offices, believe the website needs another major revamping, I don’t believe spending $57,500 to have an outside agency do it is the right path to take. The city has an Information Technology department that is tasked with keeping the website functional and up to date. If improvement needs to be done, maybe it is within the IT staff, specifically to offer additional training to those hired by the city to manage the website. Specific input from each Department Manager would give IT direction on what information to include in each section of the website.
There seems to be a lot of discussion about spending money on outside agencies to make Manteca someplace new. The Council, Staff and businesses of Manteca just need to work together (including the out-of-town owners) to make Manteca a destination worth considering for people and businesses.

Jim Prestwood
Manteca