Introductory Blog

Greetings:

This marks the first post in the City of Manteca City Manager blog.

I'm hoping that this blog can serve as a means of discussing the wide range of issues that the citizens of Manteca face each day.

I'm a firm believer that government is MOST effective when it is a collaborative effort between the citizens and its civil servants. In order to encourage facilitiation, it is critical that government operate as transparently as possible.

Transparency encourages open, honest discussion and allows citizens a larger role in determining the range and level of services provided by their local government. As our financial resources diminsh, and we are forced to do more with less, it is critical that we continue to provide our citizens with the services that the public determines are the highest priority. Additionally, much of the criticism of government typically occurs due to lack of information. If the public was provided with full information, it is likely that citizens would better understand why government sometimes does things that seem counterproductive or contrary to the wishes of its citizenry. Of course, there are times when we screw up, and we as civil servants would be better served to fess up instead of attempting to justify what we did.

I am hoping that this blog can be that vehicle to let the citizens know what we do, why we do it, and to ask forgiveness when we screw up. Most importantly, I'm hoping that this blog can be part of a larger dialogue that can help Manteca continue to grow in a way that preserves its small town values yet provide the services that it citizens want.

So here it is, I'll try to contribute something new just about every day and I hope that you, the citizens of Manteca will find it informative and a starting point for working together to keep our community a great place to live.

P.S. I'll try to include photos, articles, and other informative materials in every post. In this first post, please excuse my need to be the proud papa! Daniel James was born this past Monday, March 2. He and mom are doing great!