He’s been demonized by some, vilified by a few, and marginalized by others.
But no matter how you deal the cards, Carlon Perry has had a significant impact in the shaping of Manteca politics and city government.
Perry’s third run for mayor - one that he contended Tuesday night would be his last stab at public office - had him lagging behind his nemesis Willie Weatherford by a margin in excess of 2-to-1 at midnight with about 60 percent of the vote counted.
Whether Tuesday’s election is the final chapter in Perry’s public service and runs for elective office has yet to be seen.
However before he goes kicking himself for failing to successfully get his message across or before any of his foes want to relegate him to the status of a mere asterisk in Manteca’s political history, they might want to consider a few things.
•1. You can make the argument he is one of the reasons why Manteca for years ran “lean and mean” in terms of municipal staffing.
Perry would contend staff didn’t listen very well but he needs to ask himself how things would have been different if he wasn’t there carping about spending all the time when he was on the council. As for his detractors, you can’t argue that staff didn’t try to prove Perry wrong and in doing so made themselves a bit more efficient.
•2. His almost legendary - in his own words “hell, no” - approach to budgets when he was on the council may have set the stage for the relative fat-free status that the city finds itself in.
Everyone will read this differently but Manteca didn’t go on a general fund spending spree when other cities did. Who do you credit? Well, based on those who weren’t wild about some of the positions of former “Mayor No” you’ve got to give him his due for keeping things in check although Perry believes things still got out of hand. There’s a huge disagreement on that point but he still deserves credit for keeping everyone on their toes.
•3. Privatization moves by Perry and his ideological colleague former Councilwoman Denise Giordano certainly intensified efforts by municipal workers to redouble efforts to prove they were among the most efficient around the region.
If you doubt that, go back 10 years when the Parks & Rec staff - which already was producing more work per employee than other cities in the region - went back to the drawing board when Perry went on one of his crusades for privatization. They came back with even more ways to cut costs. And if you doubt there wasn’t more room to cut, look what has happened in the aftermath of the budget crisis. You may not like it, but things are working.
Perry also gets credit for creating the privatization movement. Prior to Giordano and him being on the council, the only thing privatized was the city attorney’s office. Now part of the parks and recreation system is privatized through Big League Dreams as well as the golf course. Giordano, by the way, was the one who first came up with the idea of the private-public sector partnership. Weatherford was the one who drove it home.
•4. Perry personified a poker face player from all accounts in the BLD negotiations getting Manteca a bigger slice of the revenue pie than the private firm intended to offer up. Perry Tuesday said that doesn’t matter now. Well, it does. The pressure a solid opposition can apply can bring boards and councils to a better place than either side envisioned. It’s a thing called compromise.
Perry’s style in how he went about getting his point across during past council service was undoubtedly an albatross around his neck in the eyes of some voters. He was vilified as being sneaky and underhanded. If you look at it from one perspective then perhaps that is true. But there is no one who has known Perry over the past 20 plus years - friend, foe or indifferent - who honestly couldn’t tell you where he stood.
When the bottom like came, he voted against budgets because ultimately they did not meet his litmus test.
Perry may not be viewed as the architect of the Manteca Miracle but he certainly was the guy who kept nagging - as is needed one might add - about whether the city could afford what they were doing or if they really needed something.
In the end, a lot of projects Perry opposed went forward. But they did do with people acutely aware there was someone out there who was going to keep looking at every dollar and penny spent.
But no matter how you deal the cards, Carlon Perry has had a significant impact in the shaping of Manteca politics and city government.
Perry’s third run for mayor - one that he contended Tuesday night would be his last stab at public office - had him lagging behind his nemesis Willie Weatherford by a margin in excess of 2-to-1 at midnight with about 60 percent of the vote counted.
Whether Tuesday’s election is the final chapter in Perry’s public service and runs for elective office has yet to be seen.
However before he goes kicking himself for failing to successfully get his message across or before any of his foes want to relegate him to the status of a mere asterisk in Manteca’s political history, they might want to consider a few things.
•1. You can make the argument he is one of the reasons why Manteca for years ran “lean and mean” in terms of municipal staffing.
Perry would contend staff didn’t listen very well but he needs to ask himself how things would have been different if he wasn’t there carping about spending all the time when he was on the council. As for his detractors, you can’t argue that staff didn’t try to prove Perry wrong and in doing so made themselves a bit more efficient.
•2. His almost legendary - in his own words “hell, no” - approach to budgets when he was on the council may have set the stage for the relative fat-free status that the city finds itself in.
Everyone will read this differently but Manteca didn’t go on a general fund spending spree when other cities did. Who do you credit? Well, based on those who weren’t wild about some of the positions of former “Mayor No” you’ve got to give him his due for keeping things in check although Perry believes things still got out of hand. There’s a huge disagreement on that point but he still deserves credit for keeping everyone on their toes.
•3. Privatization moves by Perry and his ideological colleague former Councilwoman Denise Giordano certainly intensified efforts by municipal workers to redouble efforts to prove they were among the most efficient around the region.
If you doubt that, go back 10 years when the Parks & Rec staff - which already was producing more work per employee than other cities in the region - went back to the drawing board when Perry went on one of his crusades for privatization. They came back with even more ways to cut costs. And if you doubt there wasn’t more room to cut, look what has happened in the aftermath of the budget crisis. You may not like it, but things are working.
Perry also gets credit for creating the privatization movement. Prior to Giordano and him being on the council, the only thing privatized was the city attorney’s office. Now part of the parks and recreation system is privatized through Big League Dreams as well as the golf course. Giordano, by the way, was the one who first came up with the idea of the private-public sector partnership. Weatherford was the one who drove it home.
•4. Perry personified a poker face player from all accounts in the BLD negotiations getting Manteca a bigger slice of the revenue pie than the private firm intended to offer up. Perry Tuesday said that doesn’t matter now. Well, it does. The pressure a solid opposition can apply can bring boards and councils to a better place than either side envisioned. It’s a thing called compromise.
Perry’s style in how he went about getting his point across during past council service was undoubtedly an albatross around his neck in the eyes of some voters. He was vilified as being sneaky and underhanded. If you look at it from one perspective then perhaps that is true. But there is no one who has known Perry over the past 20 plus years - friend, foe or indifferent - who honestly couldn’t tell you where he stood.
When the bottom like came, he voted against budgets because ultimately they did not meet his litmus test.
Perry may not be viewed as the architect of the Manteca Miracle but he certainly was the guy who kept nagging - as is needed one might add - about whether the city could afford what they were doing or if they really needed something.
In the end, a lot of projects Perry opposed went forward. But they did do with people acutely aware there was someone out there who was going to keep looking at every dollar and penny spent.
