Young California Mayor Sees Value in Paying Poor to Rise Up
“A $500 monthly check for low-income residents, cash stipends for men most likely to commit violent crimes and $1,000 college scholarships for public high school graduates. These are the bold initiatives 27-year-old Mayor Michael Tubbs is launching in Stockton, California, one of the state’s most financially strapped and crime-ridden cities. The Stanford-educated son of a mother who relied in part on public food assistance programs and an incarcerated father, Tubbs thinks that giving people even a small leg up can make a radical change.”