Grand Jury Report Accuses Stockton Of Neglecting 1 In 3 Residents
STOCKTON (CBS13) — Stockton is under fire following a grand jury report accusing the city of neglecting one-third of the people living in the city.
The report found
- South Stockton has been neglected and underserved by the city for years,
- The area is perceived as being unsafe to live or do business in, and
- City resources should be equally distributed based on the needs of each City Council district.
The grand jury report cites the area of South Stockton as south of the Cross Town Freeway, and you don't have to go far to see the blight the report is talking about.
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One-third of Stockton's residents live there, but drugs and gangs are also heavily concentrated in South Stockton.
Stocktonians Taking action to Neutralize Drugs told grand jury investigators what they call slum landlords are making it easy for criminals.
"Landlords are getting $1,200, $1,400 dollars, almost twice as much, renting to families that have a tarnished rental history and can't rent anywhere else. And they know their place is going to get torn up and they don't care," said spokesman Fred Sheil.
The report says 60 percent of South Stockton homes are rentals. STAND calculates close to 25 percent of those homes are run by so-called slum landlords.
"You got one slum landlord and it becomes a cancer," he said. "A lot of these guys, the worst of the worst that we're finding are the ones who rent out to dealers and drug users."
STAND tracks down those landlords and offers to buy their properties, something the report says code enforcement should be doing.
"In the city attorney's office they don't enforce and go after slumlords," Sheil said.
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Stockton City Councilman Michael Tubbs says he agrees with the report, but code enforcement is understaffed. He says the Marshall Plan is now tracking landlords.
"With what we have, how do we target the worst three? Or the worst one? How do we work with them to bring them up to code? Because people don't deserve to live in neighborhoods where there's constantly drug trafficking or constant violence," he said.
The grand jury recommends quarterly reports from the Marshall Plan and says the city should concentrate its resources into cleaning up South Stockton.
While the city must respond to the report within 90 days, the grand jury can't force the city to take any other action.
