Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
I too am outraged that our Manteca City Council has voted to extend the waiver of collection of some $6.9M in ‘Bonus Bucks’ development fees and want to encourage folks to make their concerns heard by the Council. Perhaps if enough of us complain about them favoring the developers’ interests over the citizens, they will reconsider their decision. They yet have to vote to actually amend the development agreements so there is still time for city residents to be heard. You can call the Clerk’s office at 209.456.8017 or send an email to MayorCouncilClerk@mantecagov.com and in both cases, all Council members will get a copy of your message. You can also show up at any meeting when they vote on an item related to the waivers and voice your concern or speak up at the public comment section at the end of any meeting. I expect there will be something on the agenda for Tuesday, Sept. 2. My thanks to the Bulletin for the heads-up articles on what is up for consideration at each meeting.
On Councilman Hernandez’ analogy that this $6.9M of fees are like tips that he is fine with waiving, I can’t imagine that many of the folks that work jobs with tips can follow his logic. My son said that tips at one of the jobs he’s working are most of the income from that job and he needs that income. I think Manteca needs that $6.9M in income too as we can all see things those funds would enable – like what the department heads listed as reported in a previous Bulletin article. And even if the increased fees did slow down the rate the developers can sell new homes, I’m not sure that would be a terrible thing given the drought we are in.
Do you think we want the fees reinstated as was agreed to years ago to put $6.9M of ‘tips’ into the city funds for improvements for residents, or should those ‘tips’ just stay in the pockets of the developers? Please take a few minutes to make your voice heard to the Council and ask them to reconsider that decision – they are supposed to be representing our interests. Thank you.
Bruce Lownsbery
Manteca
