Michael Tubbs, 27

MAYOR, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

Few American cities have the same notoriety as Stockton, California. Fifty miles from the state capital of Sacramento, the city has long been plagued by gangs and violent crime (49 murders in 2016, down from a high of 71 in 2012). Native son Michael Tubbs, the city’s youngest-ever mayor and the first Africanamerican to hold that office, would very much like to change that.

First on his agenda: reducing violent crime. Tubbs, who served on the City Council before winning last year’s mayoral election, wants to replicate a program pioneered in the Bay Area that pays monthly stipends to young men determined to be likely to engage in gun violence to stay out of trouble and provides mentoring, internships and even travel opportunities. “In a city of 315,000 people, it’s less than 100 guys who commit 70% to 80% of our violent crime, meaning less than 100 people control the narrative and the image of our city,” Tubbs says. “As a community we have to do something about it.”

Tubbs came face-to-face with Stockton’s violent realities in 2010. He had left home two years earlier to attend Stanford University and had no plans to return. Then a cousin’s murder changed his priorities. “Made me really think about what was the point of going to a school like Stanford,” Tubbs says, “if it wasn’t for doing something to make my community better?” —Jeremy Bogaisky, Christopher Denhart, Derek Draplin and Avik Roy

MICHAEL TUBBS WEARS A CASHMERE SUIT ($11,460), COTTON SHIRT ($870), SILKAND-COTTON TIE ($290) AND COTTON POCKET SQUARE ($220) BY KITON. SOCKS BY POLO RALPH LAUREN ($23) AND LEATHER SHOES BY FRATELLI ROSSETTI ($640).