The reasons to vote against Anthony Silva for mayor of Stockton get clearer every day. At least four leap out of the latest story, about him blowing off his campaign disclosure filing deadline.
—He’s labor’s candidate. No other reason is needed. The city has not even entered bankruptcy, let alone recovered from it. Stockton needs a pro-labor mayor right now like a jellyfish needs a cheese grater.
—His casual disdain for rules that don’t suit him. Campaign disclosure deadlines exist so voters can judge who’s supporting a candidate and, by extension, whose interests the candidate will serve when elected. Blowing that off — and it appears he intended to until after the election, until he realized it was becoming in issue in the paper — is tantamount to the will to keep your masters secret from the public.
—His refusal to say why he broke the rules. Hey, why be transparent? It’s only government.
—His policy laziness. “On Tuesday, Silva proposed a tax hike he would ask voters to approve next year that he said would allow Stockton to hire 200 police officers and create youth jobs programs,” the story reported. On Tuesday? Six days before the election?
“If you’re going to play in the big leagues, you have to act like a big-leaguer,” Mayor Ann Johnston said. “He’s acting like a Little Leaguer.”
I don’t know that Stockton is the big leagues. More like Class A. But there are definitely Little Leaguers out there, and Silva is one of them.
