A woman told a News10 reporter at Mayor Anthony Silva’s swearing-in last night, “We are giving him 90 days.”
Nintey days to clean up a crime problem that has set down deep roots in Stockton over the last half-century. well, that’s not unrealistic, is it?
This desire for a quick fix is understandable. It’s also part of the problem, if it entails the rejection of deep analysis, community buy-in and systemic overhaul.
To put it another way, Stockton has tried the same solutions to crime over and over for decades. They haven’t worked. Citizens are clamoring for them to be tried again. Real leadership keeps such things in perspective. Real leadership delivers real solutions, though they may come by slow freight.
Mayor Anthony Silva is stuck with a terrible crime problem, but also with the unrealistic expectations of people who voted for him. Expectations he encouraged. We’ll see if he delivers rapid solutions or whether other leaders have to pull his chestnuts out of the fire with the Marshall Plan and other deliberate solutions.
