carbon-neutral power generation to 85%, with an
aim to be totally carbon-neutral by 2020. Mayor
Michael Tubbs, 27, recently convinced Amazon to
build a 600,000-sq.-ft. facility in Stockton, Calif. And
Matt Gentry, the 28-year-old Republican mayor of
Lebanon, Ind., has a version of a “swear bucket” in
his office: if you explain a decision with “That’s how
it’s always been done,” you have to put in 25¢.
It’s not just the vigor of youth. “Millennials work
in a very different way,” says Daniel Lopez, who
worked for older politicians in Sacramento before
joining Tubbs’ staff. “These young people don’t want
to wait for a year to go by before tackling challenges.
They want to try it now.”
In government, that attitude can have unin-
tended consequences. “You have no management
experience when you’re just entering your profes-
sional career,” says Erin Stewart, the 30-year-old
Republican mayor of New Britain, Conn. When she
was elected at 26, she tried to reorganize city gov-
ernment, but admits she didn’t get it right at first.
“I had very high expectations,” Stewart says, adding
that she was asking too much of longtime staffers
and initiating too many new projects. She realized
she had to listen to more experienced city employ-
ees before making changes.
That can be frustrating for a generation raised to
believe that anything from taxis to dating could be
hacked. “Government is not designed to move fast,”
says Tubbs, the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with
more than 100,000 people. “If you prototype some-
thing and it fails, it’s just an internal conversation in
your office. If I prototype water delivery or trash, it
touches everyone, especially the most vulnerable.”
That doesn’t mean these mayors are leaving their
phones at home. Young leaders insist on making
government as wired and social-media-savvy as its
citizens. An hour before each city-council meeting
in New Britain, Stewart sits down in front of her
computer and launches a Facebook Live to update
residents on the agenda—new plans for paving
roads, hiring police officers and building bridges—
and answer their questions in real time. “Let’s not
spend money on a bridge!” one resident comments.
“When it collapses,” the mayor replies, “you’ll wish
we spent it, lol.”
The videos can get hundreds of comments and
more than 3,000 views, not bad in a city of 73,000.
“We’re averaging all these views, but we can’t get two
people to show up to city hall,” says Stewart.“That’s
fine, I’ll bring government to you.”
On the other side of the country, in Compton,
Brown hosts virtual town halls on her official
Facebook page and posts photos of her husband’s▲
STOCKTON,
CALIF.MICHAEL
TUBBS
The 27-year-old’s
office is adorned
with lyrics by hip-
hop artist J. Cole.
He sorts his interns
into Hogwarts
houses: he is a
Gryffindor