Manteca’s brass has a messaging problem.

And it all centers on what city workers they are deeming essential to be eligible for additional days of paid leave above and beyond negotiated bargaining unit contracts for dealing with the challenges of working during the pandemic.

All full-time employees that were on the job despite exposure to what was then a 100 percent unvaccinated public and fellow employees they interacted with have been offered $5,000 “bonuses” for staying on the job. Those that were fully vaccinated also received $400.

On one level if you’re fiscally conservative you might argue that there was nothing “above and beyond” that went on and that based on the very nature of their jobs the police, firefighters, and select engineers that had a higher interface with the public worked at a much higher personal risk of contracting COVID that could make them ill or they could pass along to loved ones.

But anyone interacting with others — whether it was the public or fellow employees that were not always social distanced, operating in offices not with the best air quality, or unaware they may have contracted COVID-19 that they can spread to others without themselves becoming ill — was at an elevated risk level.

And as much as one might be repulsed by the federal government shoveling money by the ton to local jurisdictions for COVID related expenses — Manteca is receiving more than $13 million — the money the city needs to make itself whole from the pandemic should address COVID related costs first and foremost.

It is that pot of money where funding for employee bonuses for working during the pandemic, employees vaccination incentives, and backfilling of lost general fund revenue from pandemic lockdowns of businesses that collect sales tax will come from. It is where also the cost to the city of additional paid leave will be covered.

Based on the backfilling on the general fund deficit, city incurred COVID expenses, and the pandemic bonuses Manteca will still have somewhere around $7 million they can spend on things such as the homeless shelter, streets, or reducing public pension shortfalls.

In normal times the first reaction of any self-respecting taxpayer to what more than a few employees are referencing as the latest “morale poisoning decision” at city hall, would be an affront of sorts to how public employees are being “gifted” with bonuses for basically doing their jobs.

But as the pandemic has taught us more than a few workers in the private sector opted to rely on unemployment benefits on steroids to weather the early stages of the pandemic without working. At the same time the labor shortage that created triggered pay raises, retention bonuses, and such to keep and attract workers.

And, yes, while public employees have better retirement plans than most taxpayers and often have better health benefits they still could have declined to work during the early stages of the pandemic and deeper into it.

There, of course, was the decision by former City Manager Miranda Lutzow to make it clear it was all hands on deck if needed.

Still one can’t fault the thinking of City Manager Toby Wells and his executive team for not being fast and loose with public money even if they are federal and state dollars as opposed to local dollars. Manteca, or any city for that matter, needs people running the show that are fiscally prudent.

That said there is a narrative that works to undercut the position that Wells has staked out. And quite frankly it has nothing to do with the fact the city has hired the consulting firm of “Common Thread” to identify and address city employee moral issues that took a severe beating during the Lutzow era.

The narrative has to do with municipal staffing for the last 40 or so years.

City manager after city manager — with the exception of Lutzow who wanted to create senior management and mid-management positions by the truckload — has pushed back on numerous council initiatives to expand city services by adding rank and file staff whether it was police, fire fighters, code enforcement officers, or streets and park workers. The argument has always been Manteca can only afford the bare minimum it needs to deliver basic services.

The message for 40 plus years is there is no fat at city hall. That does not mean there hasn’t been deadweight here or there. But for the most part the ranks of the frontline and mid management have been kept lean and mean.

Under such circumstances, what position in the city isn’t essential? While it is clear you can’t ever go without police and firefighters on a daily basis or not have utility workers that collect garbage and keep water and sewer systems operating not on the job for more than a few days at a time, it is also obvious other workers need to do their jobs. They might be able to be sidelined for a week or so at most but the city needs planning, finance, human resources, park and street crews, administrative and tech support, non-utility public works staff, plus others to keep operating.

Mayor Ben Cantu — as well as Councilman Jose Nuño that echoed his sentiment — is right. All city employees are essential. Without them the city would not function.

And unless there has been a 40-year plus conspiracy to hoodwink taxpayers, there is little if any fat to spare when it comes to municipal staffing.

The city needs to rethink its position regarding the additional leave for essential employees. And they can do so without cannibalizing funds collected from local taxpayers collected for the purpose of providing services, running the city day-to-day, and preparing for the future.

At the same time staff should try and not villainize the current city manager for the original position Wells staked out no matter how much it irks them.

The person that made promises by the bucket load even if she conditioned them by adding she had to convince the council first which meant she had no real authority to dangle carrots in front of them to lure them back to city posts even when everything was extremely dark when it came to knowing what the COVID-19 pandemic meant to people’s health and lives of their loved ones, was Lutzow not Wells.

This is not a case of paying employees to buy morale points or to quell discontentment.

It’s about doing the right thing.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com