A Message from Chamber CEO Douglass Wilhoit:

Do your part to help our community

FEBRUARY 2009 - I am sitting at my desk preparing this article for the February 2009 Port O Call at 5:45PM on Monday, January 19, 2009 (Martin Luther King’s Birthday) and the day before the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America. I am proud to be a resident of Stockton , live in the great State of California and most of all be a citizen of the greatest country in the world, the United States of America !

In my office hangs an original framed poster, handed down to me by my family, that hung on a wall of the U.S. Post Office in Stockton during World War I.  It is a poster that encouraged citizens to buy Liberty Bonds to help fund the “war to end all wars”! It has a bust of President Abraham Lincoln and his famous quote, “ That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth.”

I am also reminded of two statements made by Adlai Stevenson, first: “Government in a democracy cannot be stronger or more tough-minded than its people. It cannot be more inflexibly committed to the task than they. It cannot be wiser than the people.” Second, “As citizens of this democracy, you are the rulers and the ruled, the lawgivers and the law-abiding, the beginning and the end.”

It is the reoccurring theme of those three wise statements that I would like to share with you in this column. What I really mean is the YOU, WE, US in other words, ALL OF US TOGETHER, have a duty and sacred obligation to make our lives not selfish or self-centered but in the best interest of our families, our friends, our neighbors, our businesses and our entire community.

Unfortunately what goes on, or better put does not go on, in Sacramento and Washington D.C. day in and day out does little to help make our task of community any easier but we can and must work together to overcome the mediocrity and gridlock that takes place beyond our city’s borders and really focus on what is going on within our city boundaries. We can be a part of and can make a difference.

We now have a new dawn in city government with a new mayor, Ann Johnston and four new councilmember’s, Elbert Holman, Jr. ,Vice Mayor Katherine Miller, Diana Lowery and Dale Fritchen joining two veterans, Leslie Martin and Susan Talamantes Eggman to move this city forward at a time when there are real and extreme challenges to be faced and overcome.

Our past three Mayors, Joan Darrah, Gary Podesto and Ed Chavez and councils they served with poured every ounce of their beings into serving this city. They did their very best, with support from many of you and in spite of obstructionists and those with little or no vision, to make Stockton a place we can all be proud of. They nor the current mayor and council cannot control the failings of the folks who wander aimlessly and mindlessly the halls of the State and National Capitals but only what happens here in Stockton, California.

Nor can they be held responsible for the very few who do not conduct their lives in a law abiding and respectful manner who, while enjoying the freedoms of this country and the benefits of this state and city cause others to question the status of Stockton amongst the ranks of the other cities in this state and nation. The few bring a bad name to the many and it is up to the many to demand the few grow up, wake up, stand up and become good citizens or suffer the consequences.

Remember what President John F. Kennedy said 48 years ago on January 20, 19 61, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”   

Our new mayor, Ann Johnston, has put out the call to ALL OF US to work together to help this great city get through a difficult time in our history and in doing so make this a city and home we can all be proud of and look each other in the eye and say "we were part of the solution and not part of the problem."

The officers, board members and staff of your 108-year-old Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce are committed to work with both the city and county government to face and overcome the challenges we are presented with. We also ask our members to join us by working with us along with our city and county leaders to make this a better community and ask all citizens to support the businesses of this community so that when we get to the other side of this precipice we are now standing on, we can look back and say that we did it as family, friends, neighbors and as a community made of many but standing tall as one.

Sitting on the sidelines and just thinking, it’s not my job, let someone else do it, is a sure way to maintain the status quo and be mired in mindset that the problems we have in our community are too many to overcome. On the other hand, if you get off your duff and do as Mayor Johnston has asked; get involved, volunteer, serve on committees, work with the many wonderful non-profits providing services to those in our community with the most need and most of all have a vision of what can be and not just what is.

By becoming involved in your city in any way WE will move this city to be the best it can be for all of us now and into the future. Or how about flooding our LOCAL paper, The Record with a deluge of good happenings they can use in the new section, MyRecord (myrecord@recordnet.com), or be like the Thunder fans who welcomed the folks from Fresno who saw what a great arena we have, great citizens (fans) and a city on the move.  

That Saturday Joan and I were in a full Paragary’s Bar and Grill having a wonderful dinner, prior to a movie at the Centre City Cinema, as the three buses from Fresno rolled into town and we knew they were in for a wonderful evening and experience here in Stockton. I would venture a guess that they came away with a much different impression then what the media has given them about Stockton and its residents. Remember, perception is not always reality!

Author Thomas Wolfe wrote in one of his novels, “If a man has a talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded, and won the satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know.” Let’s all use our God given talents to work and strive together to help our elected leaders and fellow citizens resist complacency by joining hands, hearts and souls to make our home, Stockton and San Joaquin County better and better each day of our lives.

Take the time to watch the City Council on Tuesday nights so you know firsthand what is going on in the governance of your City of Stockton. Watch the tape delay on Thursdays of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting so you can learn about the complex responsibilities of County Government. Those meetings are so much more important to you and your family than Dancing with the Stars, Lost, Survivor, Deal or No Deal etc. etc. or any of the phony “reality” programs that are on the “boob tube !” Reality is your community and the people who reside within its boundaries.

I also ask you to check out www.visitstockton.org to see week to week and month to month what great opportunities this community and region has to offer each and every one of you.

Finally, to quote Adlai Stevenson again; “When an American says that he (she) loves his (her) country, he (she) means not only the he (she) loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He (she) means that he (she) loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man (woman) can draw the breath of self-respect.”  I hope all of you will join us in “drawing the breath of self and community respect” by being a full time participant in this entire community.