Lei Ann Larson, for better or worse, defined the Manteca mayor’s race.

Larson did wander off on some tangents.

Her core messages, though, never wavered.

*The City Council and municipal leadership are out of touch with Manteca.

*Manteca is perilously close to becoming a free-for-all for crime to proliferate based on how the city has funded — and essentially managed — the police department.

*The vast majority of people don’t want to spend $16 million even if it is state money on a homeless navigation center especially if it is located on the back of an 8-acre parcel across the street from her home.

Larson’s messaging was clear: Her opponents were Tweedledee & Tweedledum and were interchangeable.

At one point her more adherent supports referred to them as Gary Cantu and Ben Singh and not as Ben Cantu and Gary Singh.

Add in the fact this was without a doubt the most intense and talked about election since the 1983 recall, and you can’t make the case that “most people” in Manteca didn’t know what was at stake.

There is a conceit among elected officials that tend to believe every vote cast for them was 100 percent in their corner.

There are varying degrees of “yes” votes ranging from those who nearly mirror a candidate’s views and positions to those that view them as the lesser of three evils.

And the fact every “yes” vote cast for them isn’t 100 percent behind them is something to keep in mind with the rumblings you’ll likely to hear in the coming weeks that more votes could have gone to Cantu or Larson “if people only knew.”

So, what general lessons can the council take from Tuesday’s election that will be in office when Dec. 6 rolls around after the ballots are all counted and the results officially certified?

One way is to look at it through the prism Larson created with her messaging.

With the count trending with roughly 50 percent of the vote going for Singh and 25 percent apiece for Cantu and Larson, that would mean a vote for either Cantu or Singh were essentially one in the same.

As such, 3 out of 4 voters aren’t over displeased at the direction Manteca is headed. That doesn’t mean they don’t want change. They simply don’t want the change Larson proposed.

Even if  Cantu had not been in race and those votes cast for him went equally to Singh and Larson, nearly 2 out of 3 voters weren’t channeling the train of thought Manteca was heading to hell in a handbasket.

By no means does this mean business as usual is what the voters said.

It is more likely they are satisfied to a degree with the way things are going.  That said, complicity is never a good thing for elected or top bureaucratic officials in a  city where growth is deeply imbedded in the community’s DNA.

And that doesn’t mean just keeping basic services up to speed. Growth, especially the type that is occurring in Manteca means a growing mixture of expectations and values. It also means there are expectations that Manteca needs to come into its own as a city.

Those that pine over the loss of the small community they once  knew whether they were born here 80 years ago, moved here  in 1970 or 1991, or even eight years ago, need to understand: That ship has sailed; the genie is out of the bottle and can’t go back in.

 This is why the 25 percent of the vote Larson garnered can’t be dismissed. City leaders do so at the risk of Manteca’s future.

The closest dynamics of Tuesday’s race for mayor can be found in 2002. There were three candidates for mayor — Willie Weatherford, Carlon Perry, and Malma Nicholson.

Nicholson was the Larson of the 2002 in terms of how both perceived city hall as being severely out of touch with the residents of Manteca.

Perry was the incumbent mayor and Weatherford was a council member midway through his second term who was running  for mayor. It is just like Cantu is currently the incumbent mayor and Singh is mid-way through his second council term.

Nicholson in 2002 captured 13.7 percent of the vote. Larson, so far, is right around 25 percent.

Those who are dissatisfied more than a little with how things are going in Manteca — based on that matrix — has almost doubled in the past 20 years.

One of the goals of the council taking power in four weeks needs to be to find a way to address the concerns of those who clearly believe Manteca is headed for the toilet.

You will never make everyone happy. But those that voted for Larson — and who voted for Nicholson — are also citizens who contribute to the fabric of this community. The live here and they pay taxes.

Following through on projects and executing them right as well as  taking steps to increase services in the most fiscally prudent manner possible should be high on the to do list.

That, of course, is likely what anyone who cast a vote Tuesday wants the city to do.

More revenue is needed, without a doubt.

But there is a caveat.

Revenue must be increased in a manner that reflects the socio-economic issues of a city with homes selling for $1.1 million and homes people bought homes 20 years ago for $150,000

That growing minority of people who are mostly dissatisfied with Manteca also need to have a seat at the table.

Appointments to various standing bodies such as the Planning Commission that is now in place by council districts is a start. But that should also be extended to Parks & Recreation to reflect the different needs of various parts of the community.

It would also make sense that the council adopt the idea of Mike Morowit who is clearly heading to election for District 4, and establish a homeless commission. That commission needs to have someone sitting on it from District 3.

That happens to be Dave Breitenbucher’s district. It also happens to be where the homeless navigation center is going.

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