. >> i michael tubbs do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: at 22 years old, michael tubbs is making history. stockton's youngest city council member ever is a hometown kid from rough and tumble streets. >> people died sometimes or gunshots, sometimes i couldn't go outside. >> reporter: born to a 16-year-old mother and a father who's in prison, tubbs grew up poor, determined not to repeat the mistakes his parents made. >> so i'm really thankful to this area, because it really grounded us and humbled us. >> reporter: tubbs was raised by his mother, grandmother, and aunt. the first in his family to go to college, stanford. >> during the commencement ceremony. >> reporter: their proudest moment -- >> seeing my baby graduate. >> reporter: after graduation, tubbs could have done anything and gone just about anywhere, but instead, he turned down high-paying jobs to return to this bankrupt city. with an unemployment rate at nearly 14%, a record number 71 homicides last year, and one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, stockton is crumbling. >> you fix the problems in stockton, you fix