At the last City Council meeting, a city-hired consultant presented his findings on Manteca’s hotel needs. The $26,000 study, which was meant to encourage developers to build more hotels in Manteca, found that with three hotel projects in the pipeline — Microtel Hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites Manteca, and Fairfield Inn & Suites — and the existing lodging market, the city would only need 100 to 150 more rooms by 2015. 

    Mayor Willie Weatherford berated PKF Consulting CEO Tom Callahan and said, “To say I disagree with you would be putting it mildly.” Weatherford claimed the international firm — which specializes in hospitality and tourism and owns the oldest and most comprehensive United States database for Trends in the Hotel Industry — did not understand the impact Big League Dreams and Bass Pro Shops would have on the Manteca lodging market. The mayor continued his attack, slamming the consultant for including Lathrop in the study. Weatherford went as far as to accuse Lathrop of circumventing environmental laws to build hotels. Why? The mayor answered that question best: “The fact that we (Manteca) studied the area (including Lathrop) doesn’t do much for me or my ego.”

    But unfortunately for the Mayor’s ego and arrogance, PKF, after studying other Bass Pro Shops markets, found that “Bass Pro Shops do not generate lodging demand.” The report, however, did acknowledge that people who are already staying in the area for other reasons are more likely to visit Bass Pro Shops.

    And in the case of Big League Dreams, the report indicated that the sports park would only account for 8.4% of all local hotel stays in 2008 — even with tournaments booked 52 weeks a year.

    Clearly, from the study, new hotels are not what are needed in Manteca. We certainly didn’t need to spend $26,000 to find out that hotels are not a top priority. But what riled the council was that PKF made the unfortunate mistake of calling their babies ugly, and for that, the consultant paid the price. 

    PKF may be guilty, but guilty of only one thing — a new trend  — preparing a study independent of the influence of city council and politics.

    PKF did their homework and we can accept the findings. Why can’t the Mayor and council?