Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)

In today's Contra Costa Times, there's an editorial that says what we've been saying.

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CYNICAL PLOYS OF MAYOR

In the nearly five years since Irma Anderson became mayor of Richmond, there hasn't been a lot to celebrate in the "city of pride and purpose."

In 2004, years of financial mismanagement brought on a crumbling $35 million budget crisis that forced city officials to cut back or cut out services that most county residents take for granted.

And, of course, there is the crime issue. Street killings are out of control.

In the shadow of these, Anderson, who is running for re-election in November, is casting about for a campaign issue. She wants to portray herself to voters as a strong leader willing to take the bull by the horns -- she and the City Council do deserve credit for hiring City Manager Bill Lindsay. Overall, however, the Anderson we have come to know is a disappointingly ineffective, divisive gavel-banger.

Last week, Anderson did what she does best. She called a news conference -- this time, on the steps of the police department -- to announce that she had drafted a $6.5 million anti-violence initiative.

Anderson's anti-crime initiative wouldn't raise taxes. Rather, it would foolishly divert a big chunk of money from other strapped city departments to a police department that hasn't even been able to spend what it was already given to hire new officers.

That's because, despite Police Chief Chris Magnus' best efforts, few recruits want to risk life and limb in Richmond when they can go elsewhere for more pay and better working conditions.

Anderson's council colleagues wisely recognized her initiative for the financially reckless, shameless example of political grandstanding that it is. They voted it down.

But Anderson is determined to take the measure to the voters.

"I am here to take a stand against violence in our city," Anderson said. "From now on, I will not engage in anymore political rhetoric."

But using the tragic situation in Richmond to score political points is precisely what Anderson is doing.

For the longest time, Anderson insisted that crime in Richmond was not that bad. Despite the mounting body count, it was all a figment of the media's imagination.

Then, when it became clear that the problem wasn't going away, she tried to jump on the anti-crime bandwagon.

Yet the anti-violence conference that Anderson organized last year, on the heels of the Richmond Improvement Association-sponsored black-on-black crime summit, was long on pronouncements and short on follow-up.

It is a sad commentary that Anderson would now seek to capitalize upon a city's heartache when countless young lives have been lost.

Anderson needs to get 6,000 signatures in 180 days for her initiative to qualify for a special election, which incidentally would cost Richmond thousands of dollars.

Richmondites are understandably frustrated with the violence in their city. They're tired of the killing. They want results. But nothing that the mayor is proposing will make things better.

Shame on you, Madame Mayor. And shame on any other city politicians who are cynical enough to exploit Richmond's tragedy for their own political gain.

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Amen.