If you are a City of Manteca taxpayer, you have a vested interest in the IOOF Hall and the adjoining parking lot at the corner of Yosemite Avenue and Main Street in downtown.

It is the property the City bought with $1.2 million in set aside economic development funds collected on top of development fees.

The city’s goal is to devise a plan to repurpose the high-profile historic structure in a manner that it can be a catalyst to help transform the downtown district in the coming years. They intend to do it with a private sector partner in one form or another.

It’s not something new. Other cities such as Livermore have basically used the same strategy to create a new synergy for their downtowns to successfully create vibrant gathering places that have significantly pumped up downtown economies while simultaneously bolstering civic pride.

Ray of Hope, that occupied the second floor of the IOOF Hall before the city purchased it, has other plans.

They are demanding that they be allowed to turn it into a thrift store.

That is how Ray of Hope is repaying the city’s kindness to allow them to stay in the building through January of next year at the extremely below market rate of $1 a month while the city gets its proverbial ducks in a row to allow them to physically move forward with repurposing the IOOF Hall they paid $1.2 million to acquire.

The gesture was designed to give Ray of Hope, that occupied the top floor for years, time to look for a new home.

Instead, the non-profit has been spending the time to slam the city as heartless villains on social media and demanding the city essentially turn it over to them for use as a thrift shop for their organization.

It gets worse.

The Ray of Hope in a social media post vowed to bring down Mayor Gary Singh in his re-election campaign if the city doesn’t meet their demands to turn over the $1.2 million city investment at below rock bottom market rates for their exclusive use.

Keep in mind Ray of Hope when the city bought the build for did not have a lease.

The city, in a bid to be more than reasonable did not require the premises be vacated before escrow closed.

Not only did they offer Ray of Hope the opportunity to stay through Jan. 1, 2027 at the rate of $1 a month, but they conditioned it by requiring the non-profit move into the bottom floor and vacate the top floor.

The offer was driven by the reality the city, as the temporary landlord, viewed access to the second floor as anything but ADA compliant.

The access via stairs, closing in on 120 years old with steps not in synch with modern dimensions dictated by the building code, was considered a safety concern by the city.

The second floor — based on ceiling height for the first floor — is basically at the level of a third floor. The only help for the disabled or elderly to reach it is by a rickety old stairwell lift — it was more than reasonable on a number of levels.

But guess what?

Months after Ray of Hope signed a lease — the first they have ever had for the space — the non-profit still had not relocated to the first floor to make it easier on their clients to access.

Instead, they demanded the city drop plans to repurpose the building with a private sector partner as a high-profile restaurant venue and allow them — at extreme subpar-market rates — to move their existing thrift shop across town at Lincoln Center next to Hafer’s Furniture into the ground floor of the IOOF Hall.

At that point when the non-profit still hadn’t moved it’s rather large collection of previously used items, racks, refrigerators, and other items downstairs, the city hired a moving company to do the job.

The job took four days with five movers and cost the city $7,000.

And did that earn the city a thank-you?

Not in the world that Ray of Hope operates in.

Instead, they significantly stepped up social media attacks on the city. Ray of Hope then proceeded to double down, trashing the city while speaking before several community groups.

In reality, the city has been beyond reasonable including efforts to help Ray of Hope find an alternative location in Manteca.

The bottom line is the city — and by extension Manteca taxpayers — does not owe Ray of Hope anything.

Whatever promises made by the previous owner to Ray of Hope — especially in absence of a legal document such as a lease — are non-binding legally or morally