ExclusiveStockton Mayor Explains Why Serving Your City Is Worth It | Kevin Lincoln

October of 2019, and I had this thought that I've been blessed to have a culmination of life experience over the years. I just thought to run for mayor because I saw this need in the city of Stockton to provide some leadership and some stability because we had poor representation for many years. So I went all in, but it was a complete journey of faith. My heart was in the right place, and ultimately the people decided that they wanted me to represent them as their mayor, and we won that race by nearly 13 points. Don't be afraid to take a step of faith. Don't be afraid to take risks because it could be that simple decision that can not only change the trajectory of your life, but ultimately influence others that are around you in a very positive and hopeful way. Kevin, it's great to have you on. Welcome. Thank you for having me. Here, we want to talk to you about your record in public service, and we want to know why you got into public service. I think my desire to get into public service started at a very young age. I come from humble beginnings, immigrant family. On my mother's side, my grandfather immigrated from Mexico. My dad grew up on the streets of Stockton between two projects in town, and there were seasons in my life as a young man where people provided help to us and encouragement and gave us a hand up, and so growing up, I always felt like I had a responsibility to give back to others. When I graduated high school, a couple of years afterwards, I decided to join the United States Marine Corps and actually serve our country as a military police officer from 2001 to 2005. Was there a moment that somebody helped you that really stands to you that you can remember that actually made a big impact for you? I would just say, as a kid growing up, like I said, my parents, my mom and my mom and father, they divorced when I was like three years old. My stepfather came into my life when I was five and provided a lot of guidance for me, a lot of mentorship and provided stability in that sense. But even having a two-parent household at that time, there's still a void that was missing in my life, and so there was friends, family, relatives growing up that helped fill that void for me. Now, after you got into the Marine, how was that, the service? When I joined the Marine Corps, I was 20 years old, and it was in April of 2001. And when I was graduating Military Police Academy, September 11th happened. And so I was actually recruited to go work for the White House Military Office under President George W. Bush, primarily to protect Marine One, which is the presidential asset. And I did that for three and a half years, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I did a lot of traveling, received a top-secret SEI, Yankee White clearance, and just really that experience helped propel the rest of my career, for that matter. I got out after serving four years and had been married three years at the time, and we moved back to California from Virginia and just started building a family and started our life, which ultimately leads to where I'm at today as the current mayor of the city of Stockton, California's 11th largest city. And now I'm running for United States Congress to represent California's 9th congressional district in San Joaquin County. And so I like to tell people I've lived a life of service, whether it's volunteering as a young man at the California Youth Authority, encouraging peers that were incarcerated and trying to give them hope to join in the United States Marine Corps, and even serving for nearly eight years with a local church in our community, and now being mayor. And I think as residents, as citizens, each and every one of us are called to serve. We're called to make a difference in the hearts and lives of those that are around us. That can be within the confines of our home. It could be in business, in our profession, our vocation, our occupation, or in public service at some capacity. But we all have an ability and a responsibility to make a difference in the hearts and lives of those that are around us. Now you got into, you ran for being the mayor and then you became the mayor. Can you tell us about that experience? Did something spark that? Absolutely. In fact, I was reading a book called The Power of Habit, Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business back in October of 2019. And I had this thought that I've been blessed to have a culmination of life experience over the years. And I saw, I just thought to run for mayor because I saw this need in the city of Stockton to provide some leadership and some stability, you know, out of the office of the mayor for the city of Stockton because we had poor representation for many years. And so I was up against a very young, popular incumbent, but I love my community and had a deep sense of what the community needed and had a pulse on the community because I had been serving as executive pastor in Stockton for nearly eight years at that time. So I went all in and nobody knew, we couldn't imagine or predict that COVID was going to hit in March of 2020 during that election cycle, but it was a complete journey of faith. My heart was in the right place and ultimately the people decided that they wanted me to represent them as their mayor and we won that race by nearly 13 points. And so what I tell people is don't be afraid to take a step of faith. Don't be afraid to take risk, good risk, calculated risk, but don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone because it could be that simple decision that can not only change the trajectory of your life, but ultimately, you know, influence others that are around you in a very positive and hopeful way. So when you got elected, what was it like? Well, what it takes to win an election is different from what it takes to effectively govern and effectively lead. People are looking for a couple of things from their elected officials. We may not necessarily have the same political background or subscribe to the same political ideology, but if people view you as a leader and they see you as an individual with integrity and you're doing it with authenticity, then we can sit at a table, we can have a conversation and we can arrive at a decision that we both feel is ultimately in the best interest of the community. And I think that's one of the things that, you know, we're missing in society and in politics right now is discourse. We're missing that ability to have a courageous conversation, but ultimately in the best interest of the people. And that's what I've tried to model as a leader. And so I've been able to reach across party lines within the city of Stockton, we're a city of a little over 320,000 people. But I think what politicians need to realize is that when you run on a platform and the majority of the people vote you into office, you know, that means the majority of people support, you know, the platform that you ran on in your viewpoints. And so you should have the political will to stay true to that message and to stay true to yourself. And that's where we get into the authenticity, because I believe the general public is tired of the bait and switch. They're tired of a politician electing a politician, and then when that politician takes office, now the roles are kind of reversed, right? Because at the end of the day, it's about serving the people. And the only way that we serve the people is when we understand what their needs are. And the only way that we understand their needs is if we are engaged, you know, with the people and we stay connected with them. Now, did you face any challenges when you that you didn't anticipate when when you were in the position of mayor? Oh, I faced several challenges. In Stockton, we had a serial killer over the last four years. I lost him within my first two years. I lost two public safety personnel. I lost Officer Jimmy in in the line of duty. And I lost Captain Max Fortuna, Fire Captain Max Fortuna, in line of duty as well. Those are very tough moments and those are very challenging moments for for a community. And, you know, it's not typical that an elected official actually has to navigate a season like that, in addition to assuming office at the height of a global pandemic. So there were challenges. But again, those are those are opportunities to really hone and focus in on on leadership and providing stability and serving the people, right? Letting our public safety personnel know that I'm here for you. Your community is here for you. You know, we were able to apprehend the serial killer suspect within a couple of weeks. And so, you know, we we're going to do everything we can to protect the residents of Stockton, to also grow our economy. Stockton is the 16th most fiscally solvent city in the nation right now, even after navigating COVID, where the state of California has tens of billions of dollars of deficit. The city of Stockton has continuously, over the last four years, ended our fiscal year with a 40 to 60 million dollar surplus where we're able to, you know, make sure that we maintain fiscal solvency, but also, you know, invest one time capital expenditures back into into community and work through partners to improve the quality of life for everybody in our city. Kevin, was there moments where you might have thought this might not be worth it because it takes a lot of toll, right? You just mentioned losing officers and you seem responsible for everything that's happening there, right? Well, what we realize is that you're not alone. You're not alone. You know, for for us and for me, the goal and the focus is to make sure that we have strong partnerships, whether that's in the private sector or the nonprofit sector. But we have strong partnerships, public, private, nonprofit partnerships in the community. And it's because of those partnerships we've been able to navigate some of our very most difficult and challenging times, even when it came to the apprehension of of the serial killer. We really leaned into the public and the private sector, you know, to fund a reward for leads and information that led to the apprehension of that suspect. And there's joint task force and, you know, multi-agency partnerships as well. We can't operate on an island if we want to be effective in serving others. You know, if we look back over every single one of our lives, there's probably we could probably point to several times where where people have come alongside us. Right. And we partner to achieve a certain level of success. That has that has to be the focus has to continue to be the focus moving forward, especially for our communities. Was there a moment that made it worth it for you? For me, it's when I visit the schools and I engage with the next generation and I share with them that, you know, my story growing up is not much different than your story. In fact, I'm not much different than you are. And if I can overcome adversity and if I can achieve a certain level of success in my life, you can do the same thing, too. It's when when I'm in the community and I'm an ambassador of hope and I see the countenance on somebody's face change or I see attend a ribbon cutting for a new business that has been supported by the community or a new housing development that we're cutting a ribbon on and they speak positively about the planning permitting process for our community that to me that's that's making progress in the right way. And and that always makes it worth it. When we open up a new park in our community and we reinvest in in areas that families can tangibly experience in their life, that that brings a smile to my face. And for me to personally, you know, both of my children have experienced their high school years while I've been mayor. And so, you know, my greatest responsibility is to my family, to my kids and my wife. And I think we all do a lot of what we do to leave a legacy and to provide a brighter future for the next generation. And that's why we make the sacrifices. That's why we endure and persevere through those difficult and challenging times, because somebody else is going to be better off as a result of it. Now, how was it for your kids when you decided to run for mayor? I wouldn't have made the decision to run for mayor if they if my wife and my two children weren't supportive. And I apply that to what I'm doing now running for United States Congress is I wouldn't have made that decision if if they weren't supportive as well. And the joy is that, you know, that they witnessed it, that they understand governance and they've had governing and they they have a positive role model, you know, in that area and can create some sort of level of expectation of what, you know, what it means to be a local elected official. Now, do they have policy ideas for you? I would tell you, I lean in to my children and I have conversations with them because I want to understand their perspective. I really do. When I think about the city of Stockton, nearly a third of our population is under the age of 18. Over half of the residents in Stockton are 35 years of age and the average age of a Stocktonian is 39 years. So we're a relatively young, family oriented city and the demographics of of our congressional district are very, very similar as well. And so I really do lean into that next generation because I want to understand the perspective. And quite frankly, I'm very hopeful. I really am. They understand a lot. They really do. Do you have any recommendations for the young people that want to get into the public service? Do you have any recommendations for them? Start volunteering in your community. Start to discover and pursue what you may think you're passionate about and find organizations that operate, nonprofit organizations that operate in that space and gain that level of experience. Look for ways to serve others. And that's where that service aspect of things comes into play. You don't have to have a title. You don't have to have a position, a certain dollar amount that you achieve financially in life to make a difference. There are there are many opportunities every single day as a young person, as a as a constituent, as a resident, as a citizen of our great, great country to really make a difference. And sometimes it's saying a word of encouragement to to your peer, your classmate. It's you're walking down the hallway at school and there's a water bottle, empty water bottle on the floor. Maybe just pick it up and throw it in the trash. Your classmate drops a pencil. It's picking up and giving the pencil. Right. You start with the little things and because it's the little things that that make a difference in life. Kevin, do you have any other thoughts for our audience? Don't underestimate the impact of of service and sacrifice, hard work, grit and perseverance that will look different to everybody. But make sure that you don't lose sight of of those characteristics because it's those characteristics that are going to help sustain you in every season of your life and ultimately put you in the best possible position to continue to make a difference in the hearts and lives of of those that are around you. Whether you're an elected official, whether you're a corporate leader, whether you're a nonprofit leader or a resident of the city, we are called to serve and make a difference in the hearts and lives of those that are around us. In business, we have two types of customers. We have our internal customers and we have our external customers. Our external customers are beneficiaries of the products and services that that we provide and we serve them. Our internal customers are employees that we serve because if they're served well, they're going to make sure our customers are served well. As elected officials, we are elected to serve, not to be served. And we can't lose sight of that fundamental responsibility to serve others. Kevin Lincoln, mayor of Stockton, it was great to have you on California Insider. Thank you. It's an honor. Thank you for having me.