Questions? What questions? What ordinance?

Just for the record.  I sent a letter to the city council with a list of questions about the new “code enforcement” ordinance.  You know, the one that turns Manteca into a giant homeowners association.  There was no response from any council member.  That was over two weeks ago.

At the meeting I asked if any had received my questions.  The City Clerk verified that “her staff sent a copy to each member.” 

I also asked if any of the council members had read the law they were voting on.  None of them, as best I recall, said anything definite about having read the text of the proposed ordinance.  In other words, they were voting on something they had not read.

After I left the podium the mayor was kind enough to acknowledge that he remembers getting my thoughtful letter but that “I didn’t read it.”  I’m sorry for wasting His Honor’s valuable time.  I’ll include pictures next time.

Fallout from Monday's GOP debate - Amador asks for investigation

There has been a lot of buzz since Monday's GOP debate about candidate Robert Beadles' assertions that the January 4 raid on his home and business (RBI, a construction safety company) was politically motivated. Beadles also alluded during the debate that one of the other candidates has hired illegal aliens and cheated on taxes, though that wasn't reported in the papers.

Today's Stockton Record has an article "Probe of raid urged" which reports that another candidate, former US Marshal Tony Amador, sent a letter to California Attorney General Jerry Brown asking him to investigate the allegation by Beadles that the raid was politically motivated in an attempt to intimidate Beadles and discourage or dissuade him from running for office. I'd post a link here to the Record article, but they've gone to a "pay wall" format this week so you wouldn't be able to read it unless you have a subscription.

On Beadles' official campaign website, he has a copy of what basically is a press release sent out the morning of the raid from his competitor's office (Farwest Safety) notifying Brad Goehring, Jerry McNerny, the Contractors State License Board and every newspaper in the area of the raid. Also on Beadles' website is a signed statement by one of his employees recounting a phone call he received from an employee of Farwest Safety while the raid was in progress. The timing of the phone call and the press release are suspicious, as if Farwest Safety knew in advance that Beadles' business was going to be searched.

A few weeks ago, Contra Costa Times political editor Lisa Vorderbrueggen uncovered information that a campaign consultant for Brad Goehring had been anonymously bashing three of the other candidates, including Beadles and Amador, on a conservative political blog. When he was confronted, the consultant David Creager admitted it and said he didn't realize it was a conflict of interest. You can read the entire article here.

In a statement to The Record, another consultant for Goehring, Carl Fogliani, said that the Goehring campaign had nothing to do with the search of RBI and called the accusation "delusional." Sheriff Steve Moore, whose office headed up the investigation of the complaint against Beadles, has endorsed Goehring as a candidate but claimed he had no idea that Beadles was also a candidate until a briefing on the raid on January 4.

Keep an eye on this story, it might have "legs." There is nothing new about political opponents trashing each other's reputations.... we all witnessed the vicious campaign against Lathrop Mayor Kristy Sayles in 2008. This campaign seems even more vicious if the accusations by Beadles against Goehring turn out to be true and even more disturbing if it involves the sheriff's department.

6 candidates vie for chance to unseat McNerny in District 11

Manteca Live attended the South San Joaquin Republican meeting January 11 to hear from the 6 candidates (so far) hoping to get the chance to unseat Democrat Jerry McNerney in Congressional District 11 this November. Usually held at Chez Shari Restaurant, this gathering was hosted by Crossroads Grace Community Church in Manteca. There was a large crowd, at least several hundred people, and the mood was a far cry from the depressing SSJR meeting a year ago after the 2008 election.

SSJR President Frank Aquila did a fine job organizing the event and the debate format was well-done. Each candidate was given 2 minutes to make an opening statement, then questions were divided into three groups with each candidate getting 1 minute to answer each question. I think the first group of questions came from the SSJR, the second group of questions came from the candidates themselves (previously submitted) and the third group came from questions previously submitted by the general public which were randomly drawn by the candidates. The topics covered a wide range of issues including the economy, the war and foreign policy, the UN, the military, health care reform, taxation, immigration and (unfortunately) abortion and gay marriage. After the debate, the candidates stayed and talked to anyone who was interested.

My first impressions:

David Harmer - A little stiff and rehearsed, maybe too removed from the issues of the Central Valley since he lives in wealthy San Ramon in Contra Costa County. Held up several books he wrote and one on Ronald Reagan written by his father, former California Lt. Governor John Harmer. Had a big colorful chart of the bureaucratic nightmare healthcare reform will create. Nice props but I wasn't real impressed with his answers, reminded me of a career politician.

Tony Amador - Former LAPD patrol officer and US Marshal, currently resides in Lodi. Seems like a nice enough guy but in my opinion, he has too much union involvement for him to be a good representative so I won't make any other comments.

Elizabeth Emken - The only woman in the group, sort of Sarah Palin-like, well-spoken, has a degree in economics (a big plus). Lives in wealthy Danville in Contra Costa County, but seemed well-informed on most issues. Left out Representative Michele Bachmann when listing Republican women in congress that she admires and that disappointed me.

Brad Goehring - Cocky and sure of himself, told the audience several times that he was wealthy enough that he didn't need the job of congressman for the money. He also boasted that he has the endorsement of many in local government (including Manteca mayor Willie Weatherford), which is reason enough not to vote for him. Couldn't name any Republican members of Congress. Born and raised in Lodi, currently resides in Clements.

Robert Beadles - Young and a little rough around the edges, seems earnest, resides in Lodi. He was distracted by recent troubles with the law when the police searched his home and business and arrested him for possession of stolen property on January 4. There is some evidence that a competitor reported him to the police to damage his business and his political campaign. He was subsequently released, not charged and his property returned. Wants to make a difference and probably should start off running for local office instead of aspiring to national office on his first try.

Jeff Takada - Takada, a graduate of East Union High School, is the only Mantecan running for congress. Young, intelligent and well-spoken, he garnered the most response from the audience out of all the candidates. People responded to his humor and spontaneous applause interrupted several of his answers. He named former presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul as someone he admired and, being a Ron Paul fan myself, this is a definite plus. Down-to-earth with good ideas, he could be a dark horse in the race.

There was some drama towards the end of the debate when Robert Beadles gave his closing comments and recounted the raid by police on his business. A collective gasp arose from the audience when he turned to Brad Goehring and asked him to "do something about this" implying that Goehring was behind the accusations that he had stolen property.

You can visit each candidate's official website by clicking on their names.

Lathrop candidate Valencia answers questions

Manteca Live: What are the biggest problems facing Lathrop today and what do you suggest to fix those problems?

Rosalinda Valencia: The way I see it the biggest problem facing Lathrop right now is the Mayor and her inability to work well with other members of the council. We need a council that works well together to solve the issues. We need to stop the back door deals taking place at city hall. We need to work towards a solution to get the sewer up and running at the new High school ASAP!

If I am elected I will ask the tough questions not just rubber stamp things. My plan is simple: find the problems and work with those involved to reach a solution. I am willing not only to work with other members of the council but also the development community as well as the business community. I would love to get public input on any issue that comes before the council. I have already said publicly that if I am elected I want to know everything about every project going on in the city and about all programs that the city supports. I want to be able to talk to and ask questions of staff and expect to be given answers.

Manteca Live: Do you think Lathrop is "business friendly?" What do you think the city should do to attract new businesses?

Rosalinda Valencia: I will fight to make sure that Lathrop gets a business friendly attitude. We are in need of a great community development department and I will make sure that we get only the best in the business to head this department and any other department that I feel is not up to par, as it is my current belief that we are not now, or have in the recent past shown businesses that we are capable and willing to work with them to help bring the jobs that are so desperately needed in Lathrop.

One idea I have is to find out if we are able as a city to give tax incentive to companies that come to Lathrop by how many Lathrop residents they employ. The more residents they employ the bigger the tax incentive. This is just one thought I have, but need to find out if this idea is feasible or legal to do, but it is an idea. I havenʼt heard of any other ideas lately to help bring companies to Lathrop.

Manteca Live: What do you think is the biggest mistake or mistakes the current city council has made in the past several years and what would you have done differently?

Rosalinda Valencia: One of the biggest mistakes I strongly feel the current council has made is the pay as you go idea. I was the first one to speak before the council way back when that idea came about. I told the council as well as the developer, who left us without sewer for the high school, that they would be like used car salesmen coming in and lining their pockets and then leaving us to deal with the aftermath, and that is exactly what happened. I think that the council should have taken a closer look at the projects and the contracts that were signed prior to signing them. I do not think that any project should be started without having everything in place first. Things like storm drains, side walks, and especially sewer capacity.

Manteca Live: If you are elected to the city council, is there any law or ordinance you would like to see repealed? Is there any new law or ordinance you would like to see enacted?

Rosalinda Valencia: I feel the laws currently on the books are pretty good at this time and cannot think of one I would repeal at this time. I would, however, like to see the curfew changed to 10:00 P.M.

Manteca Live: Who is your favorite economist?

Rosalinda Valencia: I do not have a favorite economist. I do however like to watch the CNN news channel to get up the minute information as to what the DOW & Nasdaq are doing on a daily basis.

Manteca Live: What is your favorite book?

Rosalinda Valencia: I like books by Danielle Steel but I am currently reading a book entitled The Penny Whistle. I also enjoyed the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Manteca Live: What is your favorite movie?

Rosalinda Valencia: I know itʼs a chick flick but I love the movie Steel Magnolias and yes it still brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.

Manteca Live: Our thanks to Rosalinda Valencia, candidate for Lathrop city council, for answering our questions.

Lathrop mayoral candidate Rock answers questions

Manteca Live: What are the biggest problems facing Lathrop today and what do you suggest to fix those problems?

John Rock: One of the largest problems facing Lathrop is the political environment and its negativity. We may see a candidate claim their value based on how long they have lived in Lathrop. I disagree with this because we have good people who are new to Lathrop and have the education and experience that allows them to help conduct City business with no past biases. We have two such candidates for City council and they should not be shunned only because they are essentially new residents. There is a need to have local knowledge but that should be a single attribute and not an entire qualification.

The other matter is the bashing of our current Mayor. I see at times where I, as a candidate can tell the voters why I would do a better job but to continuously bash a person becomes counter productive. I helped get Kristy elected and I do agree that the www.KristySayles.com web page is good for first amendment and healthy political debates but there needs to be an open two way communication forum. This is where your Manteca Live web site enters. However, your site, just as the previous mentioned site, should keep information open and limit anonymous hate comments.

Politics from those who are eager and desperate to hold on to power becomes down right nasty venues of dirt flinging and degrading comments toward others. This level of power seekers shall be detrimental in any community. Foremost it hurts what I am trying to do in my campaign. In my campaign I am not accepting money from any person or developer. I want to show the everyday citizen that they can get elected without (the belief it requires) taking money, making secret deals, clogging our intersections with large political signs and all of the other nuisances such as automated phone calls as an election nears. I wish to encourage an average person (nonpolitical crony) to replace me by them just walking door to door and running a clean campaign.

If you feel as I do and that is Kristy is a good person but will not give herself a time out (we must do so as a favor to a friend), then give me your vote. If you seek to leave Kristy tacked to the Dart board where everyone is taking cheap shots at her then vote for Kristy and allow her to continue on the current course. The way I see things, Kristy is fighting in every direction every day. This is not cool. I have said it before, give her a break and invite her to return when she is in her 40’s or 50’s. This is a major reason why I entered the race. To Help Kristy and the non political residents of Lathrop. For those Christians reading this, I feel you shall hear my words the loudest. I hope everyone does.

Manteca Live: Do you think Lathrop is "business friendly?" What do you think the city should do to attract new businesses?

John Rock: Before I can answer this with any degree of true accuracy, I need to be in Office and see the past actions of our city leaders. I do not believe I or you can see such past acts without first becoming a Mayor or Council member. Only then will past behaviors become visually clear. It is also a time that I would hear from business owners. I would seek to hear what they have to say. As it is in most situations, there is two sides to every story.

Manteca Live: What do you think is the biggest mistake or mistakes the current city council has made in the past several years and what would you have done differently?

John Rock: Once you go to my web page: www.RockLathrop.com you shall see I have been asking, begging and almost demanding that we have a flood study before the City allows the developer to build forty thousand new homes and four schools in an area I feel is a flood zone. The voters just approved a self taxation for levee improvements. This would never have been needed had any previous City council taken any of the actions I have requested in the past. Lathrop still does not own its levees. Lathrop still to this day has not had a new flood study done. Now we have all of these new homes with people in those new homes and the old levee still there with ground squirrels burrowing holes into the old dirt that has been laying there for so many decades with no hardened surfaces to prevent burrowing rodents.

I have a new High School next to my home and despite my requests to the City to open the new Lathrop Road and to also, fill in the deep old irrigation ditches on Dos Reis Road, nothing is getting done. I ask and I see no action. When I write to the City and ask them to be proactive and not reactive, I get nowhere. In past years when the river is at a very high mark, I see countless Moms and Dads driving to the end of Dos Reis Road to look at the river with fears the levee may break. I told the City years ago that with the new home owners and the old levee, the City needed a link on the Cities web site that would allow individuals to stay indoors and check the river level on their computer from home. The City did respond but why did I need to tell them this? If we had proactive thinkers in Office, concerned about the public, such work would be clearly evident.

It is the very same way with the emergency management link I had asked for that tells citizens where to relocate to in the event of a disaster. The City made a link to a county web page but never made, that I know of, a publicized evacuation route in the event a levee collapsed. I am not advocating that the sky is falling but rather, to build a system of knowledge that the public can quickly and easily access in the event of any power outage or emergency and have the faith their City leaders have been proactive in building a safe environment when an emergency does occur.

Manteca Live: If you are elected to the city council, is there any law or ordinance you would like to see repealed? Is there any new law or ordinance you would like to see enacted?

John Rock: I would like to study the Police services contract. In doing so, I would look for ways to bolster the number of Officers on the street. If say I found that the current contract was composed of more managers than we might need, I would listen to the argument and find a manner to lesson managers and increase Officers on our streets. I would also explore the possibilities to increase training and educational opportunities to such Officers and also, listen to them insofar as their requests for additional tools of the trade they may request.

I would use this same approach in listening to the employees and their union about what they would like to have changed or removed to better help them conduct their work. I would seek to build a working environment where City workers were enthused to come to work everyday. We must also have a Lathrop Mayor that can hug Manteca and work with Manteca. There seems to be friction between Lathrop and Manteca and I am a team builder. I want a productive unity with Manteca so that each City can help their neighbor.

Manteca Live: Who is your favorite economist?

John Rock: The single parent trying to make ends meet and not deprive their children of anything. The Mom or Dad that holds down two jobs and still finds time to play with the kids and help with homework. The working adult taking care of their elderly parent(s) and also, their immediate family. The retired person or disabled person living on a fixed income that can still find time to help their neighbor and/or, contribute time to community service deeds. These are the core economists in our lives and in some cases, my depict one of us or, our Mom or Dad.

Manteca Live: What is your favorite book?

John Rock: The Dictionary, The Bible (and not always in that order).

Manteca Live: What is your favorite movie?

John Rock: Dances with Wolves

Manteca Live: Our thanks to John Rock, candidate for Lathrop mayor, for answering our questions.

Questions for Lathrop candidates

The following are our questions for Lathrop's candidates, both mayor and city council. Any candidate interested in answering can email the answers to jackie@mantecalive.com and we'll publish your statements as we receive them.

1. What are the biggest problems facing Lathrop today and what do you suggest to fix those problems?

2. Do you think Lathrop is "business friendly?" What do you think the city should do to attract new businesses?

3. What do you think is the biggest mistake or mistakes the current city council has made in the past several years and what would you have done differently?

4. If you are elected to the city council, is there any law or ordinance you would like to see repealed? Is there any new law or ordinance you would like to see enacted?

5. Who is your favorite economist?

6. What is your favorite book?

7. What is your favorite movie?

No candidate debate forum for Lathrop

The Sun Post and the League of Women Voters held a debate forum for Manteca city council candidates on Thursday, October 16, at the council chambers at city hall. We asked the Sun Post if they were planning to hold a similar forum for Lathrop candidates and were surprised at the answer. They said that last year they approached Lathrop to hold a debate forum and were told that they could do it if they paid the city $500 for use of the council chamber. Because this is a public service and Manteca never charges them, they decided not to sponsor a debate for Lathrop.

I think it's odd that Lathrop would ask for money to do something so beneficial for their citizens. You can learn a lot about candidates by listening to them speak and answer questions. You get a feel for who they are and why they want to serve in an elected office. It's a pity that Lathrop residents won't get to have that experience. If I lived in Lathrop, I'd be kind of angry about that.

Because there won't be a live debate for Lathrop candidates and because some of the candidates have asked to be interviewed by Manteca Live, we've come up with a questionnaire for the candidates and if any of them answer, we'll publish their statements here.

Record endorses mediocre candidate

On Monday, The Record (Stockton) came out with its endorsements for Lathrop candidates. Citing a "shallow talent pool," they begrudgingly endorse Robert Oliver for mayor but go on to say that it's more a "vote of no confidence" for Mayor Kristy Sayles than an endorsement of Oliver.

The Record doesn't say why the vote of no confidence but they usually don't endorse Republican candidates. While the mayor's office is non-partisan, Sayles is prominent in the South San Joaquin Republicans and is a former city captain for the group.

I think The Record was remiss in not pointing out that if Oliver, current councilmember whose term is not up, wins the election that there will be an empty council seat. Technically, that seat can be filled by appointment which it probably would be. The alternative is an expensive special election. Lathrop could have a drastically different council if Oliver is elected and one (or both) of the current council incumbents defeated. Different doesn't mean better or smarter.

Something to think about Lathrop!

"Friend" of Sayles

Recently, someone with the moniker "friends to the Sayles" posted on the "smear website" devoted to destroying Lathrop Mayor Kristy Sayles and her family. This "friend" claims to have been in attendance at an open house event for the mayor last week when council candidate Rosalinda Valencia crashed the party and apparently was not welcomed with open arms. "I only write now because I feel sort of bad about how Mrs. Valencia was treated by people I call friends." The "friend" claims to have spoken with the mayor and her husband about why Valencia wasn't welcome but apparently didn't like their answer. The "friend" goes on to praise Mrs. Valencia for not rushing to "post" about her shabby treatment at the Sayles event.

Perhaps the Sayles "friend" is completely clueless as to some of the things Valencia has done that might make her unwelcome, such as publicly calling for the mayor to step down from office and participating in a "smear website" (not to mention the grand jury investigation based on a complaint by Valencia).

*Sigh* Does anyone really believe that a friend would post such garbage on a website totally devoted to destroying the friend? And of course, the "friend" wants to remain anonymous because "I am known by many in Lathrop and do not want to have people look at me the way they do the Sayles" and "I really am a good person otherwise I would not have even wrote what I did because they are my freinds" and "I remain friends with the Sayles and will for as long as I feel they are doing the best they can."

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Ignorant villagers show off nitpicking skills

When Lathrop Mayor Kristy Sayles' statement in response to some of the personal accusations on the "smear website" appeared on Manteca Live! it gave her detractors fodder for a few days, nitpicking everything from the exact mileage between Lathrop and Oakdale to what she supposedly did when she was 16 years old. (How many of us would like to be judged today on what we did as a teenager?) But what can you expect from ignorant villagers? Now they're again trying to blacken her husband's reputation because apparently they've gone through their repertoire of alleged offenses the mayor committed 15-20 years ago.

The Sun Post on Friday reported that mayoral candidate Robert Oliver was "ordered to remove" some derogatory statements about Lathrop city manager Yvonne Quiring from his campaign website by Quiring's attorney. Oliver's website has changed significantly over the past couple of weeks going from a single long diatribe against Mayor Sayles and the city manager to a more condensed version of why he's against the mayor in 6 talking points. Oliver supporters over on the "smear website" urge a vote for him because "Oliver is a man of God, Kristy is the devil."

We previously named current Lathrop candidates who have posted on the "smear website" and questioned their character and integrity for even allowing their names to be associated with it, let alone joining in spreading the malicious gossip. Those candidates are: John Rock (for mayor), Oliver, Steve Dresser's wife (Dresser is a current councilman running for re-election) and Rosalinda Valencia (for city council). This week we add a new name to those posting there: Lathrop city council candidate Chris Mateo. The city of Lathrop has a real brain trust running for public office this year.

As to the actual issues in Lathrop, it's a little unclear where everyone stands because they don't talk much about that. It's much more entertaining to gossip and talk about scandals and who doesn't like whom. Reading between the lines (and some since-deleted web content) it seems a lot of the discontent with the mayor hinges on her vote to hire the current city manager. Since personnel issues are cloaked in secrecy, we may never know what happened with the shake-up of city staff. Most likely, the new city manager had high expectations for staff and that ruffled some feathers. Expecting people to actually earn their bloated salaries and golden benefit packages? Off with her head!

Another thing we keep hearing is that Sayles "took developer money" for her campaign and she's in the pocket of the developers. But then we hear that the reason for the problems in Lathrop is that the mayor didn't do what the developers wanted and so they took their business to Manteca. Manteca city council is definitely in the pockets of developers, but Mayor Willie Weatherford recently said Lathrop was getting all the plum businesses because of Lathrop's developer-friendly policies.

Lathrop's high tech witch hunt

The rumor mill is still in full force on the website devoted to destroying Lathrop's mayor, Kristy Sayles. The personal attacks and pure vitriol from those posting on the message boards there is pretty frightening. It's especially chilling to see the posts from so-called Christians condemning her morals and telling her to repent and ask God for forgiveness for her sins. They even quote scripture. I guess they've forgotten the part of the Bible that says "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." One particularly nasty poster, who claims to go to the same church as the mayor, called her a filthy name in Spanish in one of his posts.

She's been accused of bigamy, of having children fathered by men she wasn't married to at the time, of taking thousands of dollars from somewhere and doing something with it (doing what is not exactly clear...but who cares about facts when we have so many good rumors). She's accused of using aliases for criminal purposes, and of lying about her age and education and income. We see documents and bits of documents taken out of context, mixed in with accusations and speculations. The condemnation is fueled by the self-righteousness of the "webmaster" and others in the holier-than-thou atmosphere that pervades the site, whipping themselves into a frenzy over the "immoralities" of the mayor.

I'm not here to defend Mayor Sayles. I don't live in Lathrop and can't vote in their elections. What bothers me is the trend throughout our country towards dirty, nasty politics in name of "truth" when often what is put out there is a vile perversion of someone's idea of the truth. Intelligent, thinking citizens will look past the mud and arrows and discern for themselves what to accept and what to reject and take into account where the information is coming from. The ignorant villagers will light their torches and call for burning the witch based on rumors and innuendo spread on a viral website.

I've suggested that the candidates on the Lathrop ballot come out and disassociate themselves from the opposition website. Only one candidate actually said she had nothing to do with it and that's Rosalinda Valencia, candidate for city council. However, though she claimed she's not involved with it, she regularly posts and contributes to the website. According to a trusted source who attended Tuesday's Lathrop city council meeting, Mrs. Valencia "disgraced" herself by making public comments at the meeting about the "blog" and calling for Mayor Sayles to step down.

Who else is posting on the opposition website? John Rock, candidate for mayor, has made several posts under his real name. Laura Thimler posts under her own name and some of the nastiest and juiciest gossip has come directly from her. I think Thimler is a former Lathrop city clerk (but don't hold me to that) and was a candidate in 2002 for MUSD trustee. "Dan," another regular poster to the website, doesn't give his last name but appears to be former Lathrop city council candidate and current Planning Commissioner Dan MacNeilage.

In the end, the smear campaign being waged by Mayor Sayles' enemies may backfire. Word on the street is that even people who don't particularly like her or support her, feel sorry for her because of the website. I think most people can relate to their personal lives being turned inside out and published on the Internet and their disgust with the website is stronger than their feelings about the mayor. Not everyone is an "ignorant villager" and many will see the website, and those participating in it, for what it is.

Local Smear Campaign

When I heard about the website devoted to smearing Lathrop's mayor Kristy Sayles, being interested in all things political, I immediately had to take a look. My first reaction was, "this is why people don't run for public office." (And thank you Manteca Bulletin for giving the deplorable piece-of-crap website publicity it doesn't deserve.) I don't live in Lathrop but I follow what goes on there since it's so close by and we have friends that live there.

Regardless of how I feel personally about Lathrop's mayor, I gotta say that I was pretty much horrified by what I read on the "anonymous" website. It's basically a litany of her personal life and the goings on there, past and present, and has little or nothing to do with how she's performed as mayor or why she should be voted out of office.

The Bulletin calls the website "slick" and that it is. It's also one of the meanest smear campaigns I've seen and the "webmaster" seems to personally take great delight in airing Sayles' dirty laundry and responding to comments, maybe a little too much delight. It borders on the obsessive. I also have a pretty good idea who might be behind it and I'm sure a lot of other people have a good idea too. Do I need to say that it's someone who's also running for public office in Lathrop?

When I first looked at the "anonymous" website there was something very familiar about it but I couldn't figure out what it was until today when Joe told me to take a look at one of his older posts on our blog here. The anonymous website owner/owners stole the photo they used for their website's logo from MantecaLive.com. We were not asked permission by anyone to use the photo which was taken by my blog partner. Not only is this a theft of our intellectual property, but it taints us and our blog by associating us with what may be a libelous website trying to destroy the reputation of a city official.

There's something fishy in Lathrop and it stinks to high heaven (I know, it's a terrible cliché but it fits). It's pretty obvious that Kristy Sayles has attracted some enemies during her tenure as mayor. What is not obvious is exactly what she's done to garner such wrath. We've heard she "took money from developers" but so what? Almost every single person in an elected position in Manteca and Lathrop has taken money from developers. How many of them have been investigated by a grand jury?

When's the last time you heard of a city council rejecting the findings of a grand jury about their own mayor? That's one of the issues on the website dedicated to her political demise. If a grand jury can find no evidence of wrong-doing, then who can? Shall we try our politicians in the media (and I'm including websites and blogs in that definition) by repeating half-truths and innuendo and stating it as fact and hide behind the veil of anonymity the internet offers? Do we want to elect people to represent us who engage in such tactics? I don't think we do.

I think the people of Lathrop deserve to know who's behind the "anonymous" website dedicated solely to ruining the reputation and career of a publicly elected official. Whether you like the mayor or not, this is truly politics at its dirtiest. If I lived in Lathrop, I'd want to know who was behind it because I think it says far more about their character than it does about anything else.

I call upon all the candidates on the ballot for Lathrop public office to publicly denounce the anonymous website and disassociate themselves with it. Maybe by process of elimination, the truth will come out.