Quick Links for May 6th

Ah Wednesday...wait, it's Wednesday right? I was down shots of tequila and smoking a rare pack of cigarettes in honor of Cinco de Mayo yesterday so my mind's kinda fuzzy today. But I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday, wouldn't mind it being Thursday (or Friday), but it's been a painfully slow news week so I'm no...oh shit! Enough chit chat, Quick Links time!

Cue the training montage!

Wooo! Violent crime stats came out! Sure, if you're a new reader that may not be news to you, but the "Title" part of Reclaiming the Title is specifically the violent crime rate title we lost to Oakland. Sure, we want Stockton to have all titles and be the most decorated champion in the history of cities, but the violent crime rate title is the brass ring.

So how'd we do? Well, the actual violent crime rate won't be determined until later (probably next month) when 2008 population estimates come out, but the preliminary numbers are encouraging. Despite the lowest number of homicides since 1976, the number of violent crimes rose by 2.5%. The culprit? Aggravated assaults. From the linked article:

"'You can see the increase in aggravated assaults; that's really driving it,' said Officer Pete Smith, a Stockton Police Department spokesman."

See, we're totally a fight town.

No word on how Oakland did this year, so let's just hope that a bunch of people moved from Stockton to Oakland to inflate our rate while simultaneously deflating the O's.

Is there some "one vice at a time" law we're unaware of? (4th item down)

We're not going to pretend to understand permit law, but what the fuck does bong sales have to do with someone's ability to legally sell alcohol? Especially in Califuckingfornia. Technically they're for smoking tobacco, dude can't control it if people misuse his products. Other places are allowed to sell blunt wraps and booze and nobody uses those wraps for tobacco. I damn sure don't know anybody who uses piña colada wraps with their Buglers. But selling bongs is crossing a line? Technically they're healthier for you.

We're also massively disappointed with Susan Eggman for insinuating that people loitering out front and a cashier playing cards has any affect on alcohol sales. So what if it's close to a school? To buy any of that shit you gotta be 18 anyways. So how does that affect the kids? It's not like he's selling fucking pot. That's what Victory Park is for.

It is nice to see somebody's still selling looseys though.

Oh, and congratulations on reaching 1000 posts Mr. Siders. Not only is that a shitload of posts, but they were also 1000 times better than anything Fitzy's thrown up on his blog.

As if I wasn't having a hard enough time figuring out what day of the week it is already

Mike Fitzgerald's massive workload of 3 columns a week has been lightened to 2 apparently as Mike Klocke took on the Wednesday columnist duties and for once didn't have to announce changes to the paper. Instead he advocated the need for a more secure courthouse. Which is hilarious because, you know, one's on the way already. That's like us saying the city should layoff police officers to balance the budget. But hey, gotta write about something. So why not argue that the courtroom is dangerous because of one isolated incident involving a crazy meth head?

Of course, one incident isn't enough to be a trend so he included the dubious example of Brian Payne shouting out conspiracy theories. Because, you know, crazy handcuffed cokeheads shouting is totally dangerous.

Look, we understand the courthouse has the potential for danger, but let's face it, everywhere has that potential. And throwing money at a place for temporary upgrades sounds great but, I don't know if you've noticed, there isn't any fucking money. Yes, courthouse security is underfunded, but so is 99% of Stockton (That 1% being downtown Stockton). So yes, we recognize you need money, get in line behind the cops, firefighters, tree trimmers, and pretty much everybody else with outdated shit. Considering the courthouses needs are actually going to be met, forgive us if we really could care less about this "potential powder keg of disaster."

Quick Links for April 30th

Sorry about the impromptu day off. BlogSpot/Blogger changed a few things with their site that hinders our regular posting ability. We're back for today, so let's knock out some Quick Links! While I contemplate a switch to WordPress.

Somewhere, Alan Pettet is channeling his inner Mr. Burns and letting out an "Exxxcellent"

So it's April 30th, which means it's the City Council's self-imposed soft deadline to have a deal in place with the Stockton Police Officers Association so they can get their budget in on time. So naturally there's still no deal in place and labor talks have ended. And, as with any milestone in this debacle, the number of planned layoffs has jumped again! This time it's jumped up 9 more officers bringing the grand total of the most optimistic budget plan to 52. The city is presumably waiting until those 9 cops have knocked up their wives or at a loved one's funeral (or in the hospital after injuring themselves disposing of that dangerous looking bag of lawn clippings) before dropping off layoff notices in their mailboxes. Of course, that number will shrink once the city offers retirement incentives to some of the older cops who have higher seniority and the resulting higher paychecks. So really, even though we're just a month away from the hard budget deadline, we're still playing the same posturing game we were playing 6 months ago. Now that's progress.

Fuck, it's always something with Tracy

Well, that Swine Flu pandemic that's claimed one whole life in the US (Note: it could be more by now, but well, I don't care) has finally (maybe) hit SJ County. Where? Tracy of course. Was there really any doubt? God's latest dumping ground takes another hit, and just as they gained a false sense of security after the Cantu case! We assume Tracy resident and one time fill-in poster BaconBabe is devastated by this news. Mostly because she hates media overkill as much as we do. Not to mention everybody hates uppity parents bitching about the safety of their children. Hey, speaking of...

This all makes a lot more sense when you realized the SUSD board of trustees is actually the student government

Ok, well at least they're acting like they have the maturity level of the students they have power over. We'd tackle each of these stories individually but frankly, we don't care. We don't have kids and it looks like all of this is just petty, political posturing. There's the guy (Anthony Silva) who's bitter that he lost reelection by one vote, and he just happened to show up the day another guy presents his case to recall the trustee that beat him out. Yeah, Silva's not bitter/petty at all. Then there's other board members bitching about one guy's vote on a seven person board, which makes total sense. And then there's my favorite story, "Tony Amato shouldn't use the rarely used district SUV that he pays the lease for, so let's pick up the tab for that and pay Amato $650 more a month." Confused? Yeah, so was the dumb broad who brought it up, now the district's out another $7,600 plus $650 a month to Amato. But it's ok, it's not like we're in a recession or anything. It's not like retarded populist sentiment is to crucify any sort of avoidable, non-essential spending, even with private money.

How do you know when your article/column is biased?

When the subject calls you to thank you for its fairness and accuracy when it was anything but fair and accurate. Apparently Randy does great business when the biggest festival of the year is in town, imagine that. He also has 3 potential buyers going through the motions with his broker. So soon, affordable food will be available in that space. But until then, you can continue paying twice the price for half the food! But really, this is all about some petty subsidy boycott. Not affordability, at all.

We're #19! We're #19!

In what can only be described as the most obvious example of link-baiting this side of Politico (a practice we encourage by the way), Christian Burkin has complied 2007's violent crime stats into national rankings in a response to Forbes' most recent list declaring us the 5th most dangerous metropolitan statistical area.

He used the crime stats for actual cities as opposed to the previously mentioned MSAs and lowered the population threshold for list inclusion to 100,000. Basically he used the stats and rules normally used when violent crime rates rankings are made instead of Forbes' lazy way of doing things. The result? Well, Detroit's not even the most dangerous city in it's state. Flint, Mich. beats by a whole extra violent crime per 1,000 people. Oakland is actually 5th behind those 2, St. Louis, and Memphis. And Stockton ranks a low, but still impressive 19th (take that Buffalo!).

Suspicious by their absence is Las Vegas, which is kind of funny considering there's not really a metropolitan area around Vegas, just more desert. But hey, math was never our strong suit so we'll trust CB on this one. But we may have to rethink our wager with Sin City now.

Quick Links for April 14th

It's time for everybody's favorite lazy space filler, Quick Links!

Isn't this how movie supervillians start?

Well, it finally happened. Alan Pettet's most credible supporter, his lawyer/friend Ron Stein admitted that his involvement in the Stockton Armed Gang Militia was meant to be satirical. Because, you know, the Record's basically an unfunny version of the Onion at this point. Yes, in a move that seems to indicate backlash from his employer/clients (or somebody just smacking him on the back of the head and saying "what the matter with you?"), Stein called the proposed militia ridiculous and is "off the ship". Which we can imagine his pal Pettet loved.

There's no way to know how this truly went down, but I like to imagine a meek Stein walking into a dark, cavernous room and saying "Al, I can't do this anymore. It's too risky." While an already corrupted by power Pettet slowly turns around in his electric wheelchair while petting the cat in his lap and says "Too risky? It's too late for too risky! You've seen the attention this thing's gotten! I'm gonna be on Limbaugh! We have hundreds of followers! Hundreds! We can't turn our backs on them now!" Then a cowering Stein says, "But, but Alan, I thought we agreed this was just a joke. It's getting out of hand. Nobody takes me seriously as a lawyer anymore." Which would naturally be followed by an enraged Pettet saying "Joke? This is no joke. It's bigger than the both of us now. You want to leave? Fine. You disgust me." Then he would turn back around and gaze longingly into the fireplace while descending further into madness.

Yes, I have too much free time on my hands.

Why must you crush my dreams Record!?

Well, after cleaning up the awards last week, this week crime statistics continue to decline. While auto theft isn't a violent crime, it does show that crime in general is on the decline. Plus, the article later states that, just in the first 3 months of 2009, violent crimes are down 11%.

This was a big list though. This isn't just auto theft rate in California, this is a nationwide list. And we let fucking Modesto beat us. Modesto. It's hard to see such a promising ex-champion fall from grace like this. Especially on such a grand stage. But we'll be back, I have faith.

On a side note, with violent crime down 11%, property crime down 21.4%, and auto thefts down 27% do we really need a group of vigilantes patrolling the streets? Crime's not exactly on the rise and throwing a bunch of dudes on the street with guns can really only raise the crime rate...wait a minute. That might just be the thing to salvage our title chances! Militias for everybody! 200+ homicides has to bring the title home. It just has to.

This might just save newspapers

Sometimes, in pursuit of an angle to a story or a gimmick, we forget things. Since we started our crusade to end the string of Lori Gilbert penned stories about old people, we forgot that in the right light old people can be downright adorable. Stories about how old people are still useful aren't adorable and are frankly kind of insulting to our county's elderly. What is adorable? Old playing video games. Serious, go look at the main picture attached to this story and tell me that old lady with her tongue sticking out in deep concentration isn't the cutest thing you've seen since myRecord.

I'm deeply disappointed there wasn't a video to compliment this story as watching two old dudes engage in a friendly bout of video game fisticuffs would have been the best thing Recordnet's ever produced. Seriously, tell Tara Cuslidge to stop acting as the word's most expensive tape recorder for reporters and have her start videotaping these bowling matches. Speed them up to double speed in post and add the Benny Hill theme, post it to the Online Blog and you've got yourself a bona fide viral video. It'll be the funniest thing on that blog since Cuslidge's "Sandra Cantu happened to me!" post, only this time it'll be intentional!

Three-peat?

If it works once, try it again.  Twice? Why stop now, you know it works, so lets see if these guys go for the three-peat.  

I find this gold because these guys ripped this bank twice in the same parking lot as the popular underpaid civil servant/PD favorite hangout Da Vinci's.  

Folks, this is the kind of forward thinking that gets Stockton its title back.  You would expect that a bank, after being ripped off, would heighten security.  Normal people think like that.  But I'm assuming the fact that this happened again, the Bank Manager probably said to himself, "You know, these guys are not dumb enough to hit this place twice in a row.  We're in the safest place in Stockton."  Wrong.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Well, two days, two robberies, same bank, same getaway.  

Im really hoping these guys have rocks the size of small asteroids and make it a three-peat.

The return of the Rube of the Month and why I love this city.

After taking a break for the month of December, the Rube of the Month award is back! There's no real reason we didn't pass out this award last month. We just kinda forgot. Plenty of rubeish things happened I'm sure. But that was that month. Now it's 2009. So let's get this shit rolling.

You rube of the month for January is Record Managing Editor Don Blount for this piece of journalistic gold that appeared on Page 2 of the Record last week.

Honestly, we're not entirely sure where to begin. The entire thing is fucking hilarious. It starts out promising enough with the sentence "What comes to mind when thinking of Stockton?" Which is probably the most loaded question ever presented in the Record. Lots of things come to mind when we think of Stockton. None of them appear in this column.

But before we get to what we think of Stockton, let's see what Blount thinks of when he thinks of Stockton.

"...perhaps it's University of the Pacific and its Brubeck Jazz Institute."

Yeah, I don't think of UOP when I think Stockton. Mostly because UOP is only barely in Stockton. Which is an impressive feat considering is smack dab in the middle of the city. One time when trolling the recordnet.com message boards I saw somebody refer to UOP as "the island" and I can't think of a better name for it. UOP doesn't represent Stockton at all. Next!

"Some would argue that crime should be synonymous with a city that traditionally ranks near the top of cities its size for crime, according to FBI crime statistics."

This one at least makes a little sense. And to be honest it probably is what most people think of when they think of Stockton. That doesn't make them right, every city has crime problems. Ours is just bigger. Plus that's kind of a depressing way to think of Stockton. Crime shouldn't define any city. Because, again, every city has it. Same with his claim that foreclosures may define Stockton. Although, foreclosures are at least closer to home. (rimshot) But the foreclosures alone aren't what defines this city, but more on that later.

Let's get to what Don Blount thinks of specifically when he thinks of Stockton, and the main reason he's getting the rube distinction this month. We have to warn you though, we don't suggest reading this next part while eating or drinking anything. Hell, if you're chewing gum you might want to take it out and set it on a napkin for a second. The next couple sentences are a severe choking hazard. You've been warned.

"However, let's put some other words to Stockton. Words like: theater, symphony and opera."

Glad I warned you? Yeah, you're welcome.

It's at this point I thought I was reading a satirical column. There's no way somebody is this disconnected from reality. Especially someone who's job is, you know, the fucking news. Sadly, he was dead serious.

Three things: First, we have a fucking opera? Like fat lady in a Viking helmet singing in Italian? Where the fuck is that? Second, symphony? Really? How many Stocktonians have actually been to a Stockton Symphony concert? I'd really like to know the percentage. I've been but that was solely for a music class at Delta. And it was like pulling teeth. It's quite possibly the stuffiest place in Stockton. Oh no! Someone sneezed during the concerto! Time to write a letter to the Record about nobody respecting the symphony! And third, is he just listing shit he goes to in Stockton? Should my list read "bars, strip clubs, and Food 4 Less"?

But hey, let's continue.

"Most of all, the word that applies to Stockton is home."

Awww, how touching. Of course "home" applies to Stockton. So do the words "city" and "area". But please, be more vague.

Finally he kind of sputters out at the end by saying he likes Stockton despite the myriad of problems that afflict the city. Well gee, thanks.

Only a rube would think any of those things actually represent Stockton. Like I've said, I love Stockton. It's a city that grows on you. Sure, initially you see the crime, the foreclosures, the inexplicable spending of tax dollars and think if it wasn't for those things Stockton might be an OK town. Blount said it himself, he likes the city in spite of all the problems that it has. Well you know what? Fuck that. I love this city because of all the problems it has.

Stockton wouldn't be Stockton without all the weird shit that goes on here. Only in Stockton could escape from jail be as easy as switching uniforms and jumping in another line. Only in Stockton would somebody, after successfully escaping from jail, choose to stay in Stockton instead of fleeing to Mexico. Eric Hu's seen Shawshank, right? Apparently Kelly Drive was his Zihuatenejo.

Only in Stockton could a city be so embarrassed of it's residents. It's really Stockton's biggest problem. The city (and when I say "the city" I mean city government, the decision makers) desperately wants to be something it's not. Just look at Blount's column. Opera, theater and, symphony? Is he talking about Stockton or fucking San Francisco? We're never going to be that kind of city. Stockton leaders are like the awkward nerd in high school who, after years of pining, finally worked up the testicular fortitude to ask the head cheerleader out on a date. Only they're getting unmercifully shut down. It's both hilarious and cringeworthy at the same time. We're like every Michael Cera role ever. We're the George Michael Bluth of cities. And I love that about us.

We love that Stockton's the foreclosure capital of the world? Why? Because it shows we're constantly reaching for a better quality of life. And that's what we think of when we think of Stockton. We're the American fucking dream (Not Dusty Rhodes, and yes, we're aware the cheese-o-meter is pegging right about now). We're a patchwork city of people from every corner of the world. Asians, Latinos, African-Americans, white folk all working hard to provide a better future for the next generation. And sometimes that means buying a house you can't afford. It means doing what you can to be able to afford a better quality of life, even if it means signing a mortgage with a ridiculous interest rate that you don't understand and have to work 12 hours a day to afford (Although if you can find a job/jobs with those kinds of hours you're doing better than most Stocktonians). We're a town of scrappy motherfuckers who have to fight for every opportunity.

Hmmm, when I think of Stockton I think of fighters. Where have I heard that before? Oh wait, I said that 6 months ago. And it still rings true today. Sure, foreclosures mean somebody lost their fight for a better quality of life. But I'd much rather have fought and lost than not fought at all.

When people think of Stockton, they're probably going to think negative things. And you know what? If they want to, that's fine. It's understandable. It's easy to think that way. And while this city seems to find new ways to frustrate me every week, I love it so much that I fight through it. Why? Because as a famous Stocktonian once said, "Real fighters are from Stockton."

Breaking! Crime rate goes up another small notch

Just drove by the corner of Rosemarie and Pershing. There were 2 cop cars (they have enough of them to spare 2?), 2 ambulances, and a fire truck (ditto with the enough to spare thingy) at the 7-11 over there. Saw someone covered in a white sheet get loaded up into the back of the amublance while another paramedic poured some of that white abosorbant powder ont he ground. What does it all add up to? A(nother) probable senseless shooting in Stockton. Gotta love this town.

I'll see if I can get the dirt on what went down when I go get my post-work Slurpee. My guess? Someone robbed the 7-11 then shot someone for their car to make the getaway. That or meth deal gone bad.

Disappointing update:

According to the two people who usually beg for change out in front of the 7-11, it was actually a fairly vicious beating as a result of a case of mistaken identity. Apparently it involved one of the guys who usually asks people to buy beer for him even though he looks like he's 45 at the youngest. Regardless, no shooting, no meth (at least it wasn't mentioned), but booze did play a factor. But aggrevated assault is still a violent crime, so the violent crime rate still goes up a tiny notch.

Trying to make sense of the search for a new police chief

The Record's blogs have been on the ball with some great posts on the search for a new Police Chief. The verdict? It's not going to be easy to get someone good.

David Siders brought great shame to Christian Burkin by giving us some background on previous searches and ultimatly comes to the conclusion that the city will probably conduct a nationwide search for a replacement.

Christian comes back with a great post about just how difficult that search will be because of the city's budget problems. In the end, we can't recruit "the best and the brightest" as Ann Johnston suggests we should because the best and the brightest make $100,000 more than Stockton could afford even before the budget cuts. And even if we could afford a top flight police chief, it's not like he'd be roaming the streets himself makng us safer, we'd still need more cops.

To us the solution is clear, we know of a man who is not only the best and brightest, but can make an impact on the streets. A man with a machine-like work ethic. Someone who won't look at his sweetass pension plan and decide to retire to spend more time with his wife and kids because he doesn't have any. You want big city experience? He cleaned up the mean streets of Detroit when noone else wanted to or could. The choice is clear, Robocop for Police Chief.

Time to check in on the reclamation efforts

A couple of days ago we saw this update on recordnet.com. We read it and came up with one pressing question. The same question we ask when we see an article about the NBA and don't see a Kings mention (which is often). "That's nice and all, but how are we doing?" Yes, we're horribly vain.

Considering the FBI isn't going to even compile that information for a while, we won't find out until next year. But what that article did do was give us the itch. That kind of itch you get when it's April and the NFL draft rolls around. It's not actual football, but it's something. And I'll be damned if we weren't all holed up at Chitivas watching the draft coverage while the rest of the city enjoyed the Asparagus Festival. (The dollar beers helped)

So without any real new information coming out, we have to make due with what we got. This site helped for a bit. Right up until crime stopped cold on August 19th. (Who runs that site? El Duké?)

Fortunatly, the man that drove a grand total of 7 unique hits (as of last night) to us, Christian Burkin comes to the rescue. While we're amazed the Record has to figure out the violent crime rate rankings themselves (Note: Journalism degrees and math don't mix. Or so all our degree having friends say), we're also amazed at how fucking glorious this spreadsheet is. (Note: Glorious to nerds like us. [Note: How many notes is one sentence allowed?])

Never before has someone so easily visualized our violent crime rate title reclamation efforts. We're working on bringing in Ron Jaworski to break it down for us. But until then, let's hit the basics.

The defending champion Oakland averaged a little bit more than 19 violent crimes per 1,000 people. While Stockton averaged just a skosh more than 14 per 1,000.

Fuck. That's a bit of a difference. I guess I now know how Raider fans feel after they read training camp reports. (Sorry, couldn't help myself. Although to be honest, we knew that feeling the second we saw "J.T. O'Sullivan named first week starter" scroll across the news feed.)

So if our math is correct (which it isn't), we need 5,000 more violent crimes in order to have a shot at reclaiming our title. Cue the Rocky theme.

This is how you handle rejection

Kid gets denied a date, so he steals her smokes. I knew I was doing it all wrong in high school.

Celebrate Stockton, Celebrate (percieved) Crime

The front page of the Record yesterday was a story about Roger Brooks' latest powerpoint presentaion. Brooks is the consultant out of Seattle Stockton spends our tax dollars on to tell us how to help "brand" Stockton. You may remember him from his previous jobs in helping out the cities of Turlock and Angels Camp. Hell of a job Brooksy.

You probably remember him from that time he suggested that Stockton be a tourist destination branded "The Event City".

Yeah, now he admits that probably wasn't the best idea. His the solution? An even shittier idea. How shittier? Let's look at his list of suggestions, shall we? (List via the previously linked Record article)

-Make downtown look festive by installing colorful light-pole banners and displaying art in empty storefronts.

Festive banners? "Oh my, there can't be crime here, they have fancy banners up." "You know, I was gonna gonna go buy some pot downtown, but I decided not too after I saw those festive banners." See how ridiculous that sounds? My friend was recently in a downtown area that had festive looking banners. Unfortunatly it was downtown Salt Lake City. He said it was still boring as shit. And I don't think there's nearly enough art in the world to fill all those empty storefronts.

-Build a covered, permanent farmers market at Weber Point Events Center. (From here on referred to as WPEC)

Actually there's nothing really wrong with this idea. Except for when the Asparagus Festival rolls around. Then it might get in the way. Plus the huge fences surrounding the WPEC will help keep the bad element out.

-Remove fences around WPEC, the Sheraton Hotel and elsewhere downtown. The fences, Brooks said, reinforce the inaccurate perception that downtown is unsafe. "It drives us nuts, the lockdown mentality you have in your downtown," he said.

Wait what? Has this guy been downtown? Or did the city just e-mail a bunch of pictures to his offices in Seattle? I've made my thoughts about this "perception problem" that city officials think we have pretty clear. It's bullshit. Hell, I served jury duty late last year and I felt unsafe. And I was walking around the place where the laws are freaking upheld. Those fences are the only thing keeping the Sheraton from being covered head to toe in graffiti.

-Pump music into WPEC, Dean De Carli Waterfront Square and other places downtown. The music selection could change depending on the time of day, season or event.

Are we talking about downtown or a mall? Considering who'd be in charge of the playlist, I don't really feel like listening to smooth jazz when I'm headed to Bradley's. Of course the other side of the spectrum is pumping in the dulcet tones of Tizzle and Okwerdz. Which would be hilarious. I take it back, great idea.

-Install a free Wi-Fi network throughout downtown to allow people to work outdoors and linger at sidewalk coffee shops and cafes

He wants us to bring our computers downtown? I don't feel safe walking around with my $50 cell phone, let alone a $1,000 laptop. But I just pervieved my cell phone getting jacked when I was downtown last year. Didn't actually happen.

-Install an iconic water feature, such as a geyser, in the Stockton Deep Water Channel. "It's doesn't have to be the Bellagio, but something out there," he said

Man, that sounds really familiar. Maybe it's because we already have one of those at the WPEC.

Of course I saved the best suggestion for last. (In my words, not The Record's)

-Festivly decorate the police cars by painting the white and pink to give people a softer view of the police department.

I'll let that one sink in for a second.

...

Done laughing yet? No? It's ok, I got time.

...

Now? No? No worries

...

I'd say how terrible of an idea this is, but Chief Tom Morris (I'm assuming chief of police, but the article doesn't say, so he could be the indian chief from the Village People for all we know) puts it way more eloquently than I can. (Via the same article)

"I think the people in our community don't want a softer image of the Police Department," Chief Tom Morris said. "They want a professional and visible police force that will impact our violent crime rate." He said "the expense of painting police cars white and pink" would do nothing for that.

Well put. Speaking of expenses, I wonder how much it cost to pay this guy to come up with these brilliant ideas. Luckily it tells us later in the article that we're paying him $125,000. At least $50,000 of it coming from our tax dollars. Is it too late to get a refund?

Stockton: Fighting "imaginary" crime since the mid-2000s

So a lot's happened in the last couple days Stockton-wise. Forgive me for slacking, I'm still having computer issues. Not to mention I'm one person who's trying to hold down a full time job and blog on the sly. Like I said before, this place is going to be janky for a couple weeks while we do some initial legwork.

Part of that legwork is explaining the name of this place. Reclaiming the Title is our subtle reference to the violent crime rate title this city held for a couple years before we were unceremoniously ousted by Oakland. Since then our city leaders (and that damn Record) have been trying to tell us the city is safer, and that the unsafe feelings Stockton residents have about this place is just a stigma that we place upon ourselves.

Bullshit.

We may not have the violent crime rate title anymore, but we are the number one contenders. Saying Stockton's safer because we're "only" number two in REPORTED violent crimes is like saying Iraq's safer after we killed Saddam. Sure, it's safer, but not by much. (Here's where I'd say "don't start a political flame war, we support the troops", but nobody reads us yet anyway.)

I wonder is 14 year old middle schooler Mayra Lopez thinks Stockton's image problem is all just in our heads. Oh wait, she's dead. For walking down the street.

I wonder what the handyman at my apartment complex thinks about this issue. I'd ask him but he quit his job and moved after he kindly asked a fellow Stockton resident to straighten out his parked car that was over the line and got the reply "I know where you live motherfucker" and had his and his kids' lives threatened. Over a parking job.

I wonder what the former patrons of Da Candy Shop think.

I'd go on, but I think you get my point. It's not a perception problem, it's a real problem. Instead of talking about how to "brand" Stockton (more on that later), they should continue tackling the problem at hand. Instead the city's acting like Jim Carrey in the beginning of Liar Liar. ("The color of the pen I hold in my hand...")

And it's not even just our negative view, residents of other towns know how it is here too. When I meet new people in Sacramento and tell them I'm from Stockton, I get immediate street cred. I can see the reaction in their eyes. I'm not a very imposing looking man, so I'll take all the cred I can take. Which is why we need to reclaim that title. I'm tired of Oakland looking down at us as if we got it easy.

Oakland: Hey, we just had another gang shooting, and we sent some suckas over to taunt SF's tigers, what'd you guys do?

Stockton: We had a middle school student shot for no real reason.

The (future) champ is here.