Talk about kicking a city when it’s down!

Fist off who did we piss off in the world of business? By we I mean the City of Stockton, and by the world of business I mean those like Forbes who in their February’s, America’s most miserable cities post, handed Stockton the honored spot of first on its list, then proceeded to spend the entire article on the number two city of Chicago. Even in defeat, we get no respect…

And today I get a tweet pointing me to this blog post that makes mention to another list in which Stockton has the distinct honor of dwelling at the bottom.

It seems that according to Market Watch, an extension of the Wall Street Journal’s digital network, my hometown and the place I love to live, ranks 98th of 101 on it’s list of best cities for business. Our score on their magic formula was a 280. To give you a point of reference, the winning city, De Moines, Iowa, scored a resounding 851. That is the sports equivalent of watching the Harlem Globetrotters wipe the floor with the Washington Generals

But it’s not all bad news, I mean we narrowly beat out Scanton, PA, put a 47 point hurtin’ on 100th placed Fresno, and looked like the prom queen compared to last place Youngstown, OH. A complete list of all 101 cities on the list and their ranking by points can be found here.

I wonder though, why in the name of everything holy do these high end business entities continue to feel it necessary to a) make these lists and b) make a point to berate the low end of the scale. Is it so that their Wheaties taste better in the morning. Is it a way for the rest of the country not in the San Joaquin Valley to say to themselves…”wow, it’s a good thing I don’t live there!” I don’t know.

One thing I do know is that I as a Stocktonian have had enough of the finger pointing labeling and name calling. I am sick of people who have never set foot in Stockton, let alone California in most cases, calling our city the worst of everything. And more than that, where are the city officials who are supposed to have our back…why is my blog post the first voice standing up for this ridiculous label? There should have been a press release out 10 minutes after that article hit the web, defending our city and the citizens that are successful in it.

Stockton is bad for business you say? Ask the Spanos family, the Grupes, or the Pinascos, whose family has made Stockton their place of business for over 52 years. More than that, ask each and every small business owner whose shingle is hung, and has been hung in the port city, I believe they will all tell you the same thing. They may tell you that business is slow right, but then again, what city doesn’t have it’s problems in these harsh economic times. But they will tell you that Stockton is just as good a place to conduct business as any.

What I truly believe is happening here, is Stockton has been cast as the kid in school that all the bullies love to harass and stuff into lockers while throwing their books into the garbage, and what’s worse is we as citizens have been buying the hype.

Well I have had enough of that part of the movie, it is time for us to fulfill the second part of that Hollywood destiny…to grow up, figure out that we can be far more successful than the bullies that used to make us sniff their crotches, and come back at the 10 year reunion with the most beautiful supermodel of the week and enough money to buy and sell each one of their pathetic lives 100 times over.

I would like to help put an end to Stockton’s identity crisis, no we are not “the Bay” and no we are not “the Capitol,” but the problem is that we live too close to both of them to realize we have our own culture.

In 2010, I WILL be launching my contribution to the cause. Myself, along with several other talented broadcasters and motivated individuals, will be producing an Internet television network with the sole intent on serving the greater San Joaquin area, including Lodi, Manteca, Tracy and Gault. It will consist of a nightly half-hour newscast as well as an entertainment magazine program following the events and happenings around the town.

Enough is enough, I am tired of the “powers that be” condemning our city time and time again, and you should be too. Let’s work together to take back Stockton…The only thing separating us from De Moines is a few silly numbers in some bloggers formula.

Next year, if we don’t at least pass #90 El Paso, Texas (a place where I have lived and can tell you first hand is MUCH worse than Stockton), I have not done my job…