Here’s a prediction.

Barring a mayoral candidate getting more than 50 percent of the vote on Nov. 8, the majority of people in Manteca — at least those that bother to vote — will not be happy.

Granted, there are some who have soured on Ben Cantu  that voted for him in 2018 when he defeated Steve DeBrum for the mayor’s post by a clear majority and the largest voter tally ever in city history.

But this time it will be different. Very different.

That’s because whoever the next mayor takes the oath of office on Dec. 6 may not have the support of the majority of those casting votes before they even get out of the gate.

The last — and only — time that happened was in 2010.

There were four candidates — Willie Weatherford, Ben Cantu, and Debby Moorhead.

Weathered captured 42 of every 100 votes cast.

The following four years — Weatherford’s third and final four-year term of Manteca that set a record for Manteca — was not filled with council infighting or widespread community strive.

The campaign wasn’t even a tenth as acrimonious as the current one. Cantu can attest to that given he finished second in 2010.

In fact, candidates seeking election at all levels should take a cue from Cantu.

Cantu has always been a gentleman when it come to how he treats others including those who disagree with him.

This is his sixth campaign. Not once — even in the current campaign— has he resorted to playing dirty and slinging accusation.

It illustrates how bizarre this race is, Cantu — who is a Hispanic American — has never played the race card. Not once.

The race card has been played against him by an opponent’s camp whose favored candidate is Caucasian. They accused Cantu of using the fact the ethnic makeup of the council district where he voted to locate the homeless navigation center is heavily Hispanic. Not only was the race card used against him, but the boundaries of council districts weren’t even known for almost a year later.

Apparently Cantu is a modern-day Nostradamus who discriminates against his own ethnicity.

Then we have one candidate — Lei Ann Larson — making it clear in an email exchange back in May with Councilman Dave Breitenbucher that since Breitenbucher wasn’t running she would work to get Cantu re-elected to make sure Councilman Gary Singh doesn’t become mayor.

Granted, this was before Larson decided to run.

Then in the past week supporters of various candidates have taken their trash talk at public forums and on social media to new lows. They have been tossing about “death threats” as casually as if they were dropping candy into a trick-or-treater’s Halloween bag.

Both sides have also been posting addresses and Google aerial photos of  homes of candidates — and/or their supporters — they do not like on the Internet.

It doesn’t matter who started it. Joining in repugnant behavior means you no longer can claim the higher moral ground. It means when push comes to shove you are no better than who you are targeting.

And those who started it who believe they are righteous to do so because they believe they are fighting some cultural holy war really need to open their eyes when they look into a mirror.

Then there are those who have no problem “destroying” Manteca in order to “save” it.

The point of the preceding observations is not to elevate or take away from either Larson, Singh, or Cantu and their respective campaigns

It is to illustrate the dark-hole Manteca could be headed into.

It is clear that the daggers are being taken to decorum and the fabric that holds the community together.

At the same time, Larson — based on her own words at least as of May — would vote for Cantu over Singh if that were her only choice.

That means people, regardless of how enthusiastic their support may be of their candidate, will more often than not vote for another candidate if their preferred choice is not on the ballot.

One is left with the distinct impression among supporters of Singh, as an example, that if he were not on the ballot and how much they might not be thrilled about Cantu that they would vote for Cantu if the only other choice they had was Larson.

The same goes for Larson supporters. As much as they try to say Gary Singh and Ben Cantu are joined at the hip with edgy wit such as calling them “Gary Cantu and Ben Singh”, they are likely to hold their nose and vote for one or the other on their perspective of who is “the lesser of two evils” if Larson wasn’t on the ballot.

There is a danger to believing every supporter of either Larson, Cantu, and Singh that has chug-a-lugged the Kool-Aid of their particular candidate would not vote or another candidate if their favorite wasn’t running unless they were exact clones in terms of  views and approach of their anointed choice.

It is why the next council as defined by the December 2022 certification of election results needs to seriously consider going to a primary for the mayor’s race in the 2024 election cycle.

The mayor within two years is destined to become the only citywide elected member of the City Council.

They also are the person that is picked to be the face — and by extension — the “voice” of city government even though as Larson pointed out in her last campaign video posted on social media that the mayor has no more real powers than other council members.

The reality is the tone of, as well as how, council meetings are conducted does matter. It can also be devastating when the person that is mayor is in a clear philosophical minority with the council majority.

One needs to go back to the routine 6 to 8½ hour rough-and-tumble council meetings that Carlon Perry presided over as he used the position of mayor to try to wear down the council majority but to no avail.

That is not a criticism of Perry as mayor. It illustrates what can happen when people have strong views and use every measure to try and prevail.

Electing leaders and they those elected governing is akin to making sausage.

The process isn’t pretty.

Even so, what you don’t want to happen is to poison the process to the point that no one will be willing to touch the sausage or accept the council that is governing them.

They would be more buy-in if the person who occupies the mayor’s chair is seated by a majority of the voters casting ballots.

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

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