Candidate for
Mayor; City of Manteca

My family have been long-time residents of Manteca, over 55-years. While some of the community knows me by name, some residents are not familiar with my history, my principles, and my goals. As such, I thought a brief history would be helpful.

Manteca has been our family home since the early 50s, when my father moved the family from the Bakersfield area in advance of starting his sugar beet harvesting and trucking business. At an early age during our preteen and teen years, my brother and I became accustomed to helping in the family business by operating farm machinery and driving trucks after school and on weekends. At the age of 15, I was driving highway trucks delivering sugar beets from the fields to Spreckels Sugar or Holly Sugar, and by 17, I was driving trucks delivering produce from the fields to destinations in northern and southern California. During some of these days, my workday started at 5 a.m. and ended after sunset.

My parents bought their first home in 1960 from Mr. Raymus, next to Spreckels Sugar, at the end of Yolo Street; prior to that we lived in a number of different small two and one-bedroom apartments located throughout Manteca. I attended Lindberg School and Lincoln School, and graduated from Manteca High School in 1969, where I majored in Science and Mathematics. I then attended San Joaquin Delta Junior College in Stockton, where I majored in construction technology and business administration and minored in engineering, and graduated in 1972 with plans to attend architectural school at the University of California at San Luis Obispo. That was the plan until I received a telephone call from a local Manteca engineering firm, asking if I would interview for a temporary position. Since my next round of college was not scheduled to commence for a few months, I interviewed for the position.

The following day I received a telephone call from the City of Manteca, asking if I would be interested in applying for a position in the newly formed Planning Department. I explained that I was planning to attend college at the end of the summer; they said it was a temporary position. I interviewed for the position, was hired, and I stayed for 35 years. Some will say it was coincidental and some will say it was destiny, who knows. I do know that for 35 years, until I retired in 2006, I enjoyed my job as city planner for Manteca, and working with the residents and business people and the family at city hall. During this time, I also attended college extension courses and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco.

During my tenure with the City, I had opportunities to initiate and to operate a number of businesses, which, with my educational background, expanded the breadth of my business and life experiences. In the 35 years, I have owned and operated an architectural drafting business, constructed and operated a snack shop in the Manteca Industrial Park, a screen printing business, a retail store in downtown Manteca, and managed a four-truck trucking business hauling heavy steel products from our area to Los Angeles. During this same period, I assisted in and managed the staff and operations of Manteca's planning and community development department, including budgeting, personnel matters, work and project schedules, short and long-term planning, attended planning commission and city council meetings, and represented Manteca at other agencies. For several years, I was also the city employees union president, which included negotiating contracts, overseeing working conditions, and presenting the employees' needs and terms to an unreceptive city manager and city council.

From an early age through adulthood, I have experienced hard work and dedication to tasks, to improve my family, my community, and myself. My parents taught me to respect others, and to question "why not?", my personality and life experience has taught me that all things are possible with persistence and foresight. I can truthfully say that because of my life experience no other candidate for office in Manteca has the same breadth and depth of life experience necessary to conduct the responsibilities of Mayor.

I have been asked a number of times, why would I run for office, or want to be mayor? There are two answers; one, I believe that the current mayor and city council are doing the community a disservice by continuing to ignore the quality of life issues of the existing residents and by fostering an unstable living and working environment by mismanaging the budget and revenue stream of the community. Secondly, my principles include looking out for, and assisting where I can, my community.

The second response reminds me of an event that occurred at Christmas time when I was about eight years old. The family next door was apparently less fortunate than we were, so when the boy next door indicated that he had received no presents I gave him the locomotive from my brand new train set. Naturally, my friend was happy but my train set was rendered non-operational. Apparently, I have placed the well-being of others above my own needs from an early age.