[San Joaquin County] It’s wise to invest in the south side

The Civil Grand Jury on Wednesday said Stockton government is guilty of “long-term neglect” of south Stockton.

That could be interpreted as an accusation not only against City Hall but the other two-thirds of Stockton. However, let’s throw government under the bus first.

“… South Stockton, an area of greater poverty and crime than most other areas of Stockton, has not been served well by City Hall in any sustained and meaningful way,” the report concluded.

If “served well” means “enough tax dollars,” then the Grand Jury didn’t make its case. A curious hole in its report is the lack of budget expenditure analysis.

But they did look at south Stockton.

It “suffers from extensive blight, poverty, deteriorating housing, slumlord residential ownership, and vacant lots, a lack of neighborhood services, and widespread drug dealing and crime,” the report said.

“It’s sort of like a forgotten place in some ways,” said Grand Jury Foreman Ward Downs. “We look the arena and ballpark and all that stuff. The funds that created those jewels of the Delta should have gone to south-Stockton cleanup. There’s no question.”

Isn’t there? I supported waterfront redevelopment. I wholeheartedly support downtown revival. But not at the expense of existing neighborhoods.

City Hall won’t say how much it spends on south Stockton.

“Now that it’s out it’s our responsibility to respond comprehensively,” spokesperson Connie Cochran said of the Grand Jury’s report. “We’re looking forward to doing that.”

Police issued a statement.

“We deploy our very limited resources the best we can across the entire city, also hot spots, strategically,” spokesman Joseph Silva said. “ … our patrol officers are evenly distributed across the city based upon calls for service and crime.”

Silva added, “It’d be safe to say the whole city needs more police.”

The Grand Jury went further in its recommendation. “South Stockton deserves … given years of neglect … more than its share of City resources until the area awakens to become a vibrant and vital part of the city …”

So, what the Grand Jury called for is a progressive redistribution of the city wealth in the name of social justice — equal life chances — and enlightened self-interest.

The self-interest being that investing in the southside would alleviate the tiresome problems that tarnish and retard Stockton, allowing the whole city to move forward.

Or so the theory goes.

“You fix the problems of south Stockton, you fix them for the entire city,” argued Councilman Michael Tubbs, who represents that part of town. “You have more tax revenue coming in.”

Tubbs also could not cite budget figures — nobody can, it seems — but he opined, “I think resources aren’t necessarily equitably distributed, although they may be distributed equally. To get the same outcomes some parts of the city may need more resources, clearly.”

Not just city money. State money. Federal money, as in the Promise Zone program.

The Grand Jury wants more police, more code enforcement and presumably more money to upgrade to streets and other infrastructure. But government alone can’t do the trick, Tubbs said.

“It’s going to take public-private partnerships. It’s going to take thinking outside of the box. It’s going to take private development corporations like St. Hope’s of Sacramento, people, nonprofits, business working with government.”

A private development corporation is a sort of mini redevelopment agency devoted restoring a part of town to civic health. A new idea for Stockton, which is in a post-bankruptcy period of new approaches.

It’s not just money. There has been a dearth of effective government policy targeting the southside’s lagging educational attainment, unemployment, crime, lack of commerce and other issues.

City Hall may have long neglected the southside out of racism, (classism, whatever-ism). Or out of its crack-like addiction to sprawl. But also because city leaders simply lacked the skills to fix it.

Few leaders possess the wherewithal to devise the necessary range of strategies. Such problems as the southside presents are among government’s toughest challenges, after all.

Yet the effort has begun. The Grand Jury’s report can be read as another sign of a shift in favor of it.

“I don’t dispute the report's finding,” said Tubbs, “but for the past two years we’ve been doing what the Grand Jury says we should do. Please jump on board and help.”

May 16, 2015

Stockton Record

By Michael Fitzgerald, Record Columnist