For far too many decades, Sacramento has hitched its identity and economic fortunes to two main drivers – government employment and real estate development.
The former is a usually reliable but rarely innovative employer. The latter is dangerously speculative. Neither serves as an incubator for industrious, high-paying jobs that would allow this city to thrive the 21st century.
That reality should prompt voters to ask Sacramento's two mayoral candidates a crucial question: What would you do to diversify the city's economy?
Even with the limited powers of the job, the mayor can shape what kinds of jobs and investments come to Sacramento. He or she is the public face of the city and can make a strong impression – or an unfavorable one – on businesses that may want to come here.
Beyond serving as civic cheerleader, the mayor also must be a force in sustaining a healthy community. Safe streets, attractive neighborhoods, reasonable housing and efficient transportation – topics of previous editorials in this series – are all part of these building blocks. The employers who are driving the 21st century economy want a high quality of life for themselves and their workers.
Education can't be overemphasized. Employers want an educated work force, so candidates for mayor need to be conversant about how they would work to improve K-12 education, even with the limitations of the mayor's job. But beyond that, they also need to have an agenda for higher education. This would include strengthening the city's ties with the University of California, Davis; California State University, Sacramento; community colleges and private colleges that may take root in this region.
Consider the possibilities: Sacramento has a downtown railyard and waterfront, ripe for redevelopment. It could end up being just a retail and entertainment district, adding more service jobs to the economy. Or, with the addition of a design school or a culinary academy, the Railyards could be a spot where creative young people would want to live and start new businesses. The next mayor could be a force in seizing the possibilities.
How should Sacramento position itself for the future? Flexibility should be the watchword. A decade or so ago, the cities of this region were competing among themselves to capture the high-tech spillover from the Silicon Valley. That spillover quickly turned to a trickle. Then the rage became biotech, and now it's "clean-tech" – companies that are responding to the demand for alternative energies and pollution control.
The lesson is that, with changes in technology and the expansion of world trade, no one can predict what "the next big thing" will be. The next mayor can't be a soothsayer. But he or she can and should have a vision for moving the city's economy beyond the limited possibilities of the last century.
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