What does this mean?
“Government isn’t working for Mayor Anthony Silva, so on Wednesday he unveiled a list of committees and commissions to address some of the city’s prickliest problems.”
Thus the lede in today’s story.
Stockton’s government has taken probably the strongest measures in city history to address the city’s fiscal crisis. It has replaced incompetents with highly qualified executives. It has made great strides in changing the culture of Stockton’s public employees from hogs at a trough to people with the higher calling of public service. It has addressed crime with a Marshall Plan so well thought out there’s no precedent for it. And it has approached its Chapter 9 filing wisely, avoiding the uncontrolled default now causing mayhem in San Bernadino.
So government is working — it just isn’t working for Mayor Anthony Silva who, thanks to his unethical campaigning and lack of political skills is politically isolated on the council. He doesn’t have four votes. He can’t enact his agenda. Simply put, there’s a better one in the works.
So he’s turning to committees of citizens with no governmental experience or qualifications. And to special interests. Silva left a draft of his mayor’s Advisory Council member list lying around, and it found its way into my hands. Half the proposed members are developers. Well, at least somebody on his team will have political skills. You know what they’ll use them for. It won’t be populism.
