Dateline: Mar 27

While March for Our Lives attracts stunning crowds in the US, Dateline reporter Dean Cornish meets a new generation of ‘millennial mayors’ who are snatching the political torch at the local level.

In Stockton, California, Dateline gets access to a rising star of the Democratic party: 27 year old mayor Michael Tubbs. The youngest mayor in the city’s history and its first African-American mayor, he’s been endorsed by Barack Obama and his campaign funded by Oprah.

“I think millennials are innovative, forward-thinking, pretty progressive and generally, even if we disagree about how, we want to see the world be a better place,” explains Tubbs.

On the other side of America in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Dateline meets another young mayor – millennial Alex Morse.

Elected when he was just 22 years old, he replaced a 67 year old incumbent and political veteran at city hall. He’s now been mayor for six years.

“We’re seeing a revolution of sorts, young people flipping districts and running for office – and this whole idea of waiting your turn has sort of been thrown by the wayside,” explains Morse.

In Stockton and Holyoke, Dateline follows each mayor’s radical attempts to overhaul their cities.

Tubbs is trying to rescue his city from poverty and violence with a controversial idea – paying criminals to turn their backs on crime.

His cousin was murdered while he was interning at the White House and his father is currently serving a life sentence for kidnapping, robbery and drug possession.

“It’s personal for me because I lived there; I knew what it was like to go to sleep listening to gun shots, for example or not being allowed outside to play because it wasn’t safe,” says Tubbs.

In Holyoke, Dateline follows Mayor Morse’s attempt to save a city hit hard by the financial crisis – by making it the hub of the medical marijuana industry.

But not everyone is happy with these young mayors and their initiatives.

In Holyoke the city council is pushing back – former council president Kevin Jourdain says the town is becoming a “mecca for marijuana” and questions the mayor’s experience.

In Stockton, community activists are pushing to recall Mayor Michael Tubbs. Will it cut his grand plans for the city short?

While the young leaders bring new energy and optimism, does the generation often criticised for narcissism and a crappy work ethic have the chops to really change America?

Tuesday 27 March at 9.30pm on SBS.