Essential Qualities of a City Mayor

張貼日期：Dec 27, 2018 12:54:53 PM

Shelly Chen

Through the election on November 17, we have chosen a city mayor who can represent us to get more benefits. What are some characteristics of a good head of a city? I think a city mayor must have the essential qualities such as being efficient to carry out his or her politics, adhering

to the correct thing, admitting his or her faults, and taking his or her voters to heart.

First of all, being efficient to carry out their politics is not a piece of cake. A good mayor should not propose the politics and not comply with them. That is, the politics must be realized to benefit citizens. I think the Taipei mayor, Ko Wen-je, is a good example of a good city

mayor. Mayor Ko had great political achievements and proposed a wide variety of political ideas that he took actions to carry out. For example, Zhong-xiao Bridge was torn down in only six days. In the past, Zhong-xiao Bridge caused traffic jams and blocked the view of the

monument Beimen. With his decisiveness, Mayor Ko has reconstructed the skyline of Taipei. Another successful example is Taipei Circle. Taipei Circle was a building with glass curtains before and the previous Taipei government put the building in mothballs. In order to make

a better environment of Taipei City, Mayor Ko tore the building down and added the works of art to rebuild Taipei Circle. Now, Taipei Circle

is the one of artistic Taipei buildings and becomes a green plaza.

Secondly, a good city mayor must adhere to the correct thing and admit his or her faults. If a mayor works in the correct way, he or she should not be influenced by the public or social media. He or she should insist on doing the right thing. Take Mayor Ko as an instance. He

insists on rebuilding Zhong-xiao Bridge and Taipei Circle. No matter how difficult the tasks would be, he still believes that he can make a better Taipei City than before. On the other hand, a good city mayor should admit his or her faults, if there is any. Even if Mayor Ko is a role

model, he still makes mistakes. Once, he showed his ambitions on a TV show. However, he gave an inappropriate talk by saying “People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are all of one family.” In this sensitive period, he was immediately called into question by the public. After

the TV show, he ran the press conference to apologize for his talk and explained he didn’t mean what he said; it’s just a slip of tongue. Although a politician’s admitting his mistakes is not a difficult thing, Mayor Ko has rarely made a serious mistake.

Most importantly, a good city mayor must take his or her voters and citizens to heart and mind the urgent needs of them. A good city mayor not only works efficiently but also responds to the public opinions. For example, Mayor Ko, who truly knows the demands of his

citizens, is diligent in his work. He always goes out early and comes back at dusk and works overtime. Owing to comprehending the demands of his citizens, he reconstructed lots of aged and impractical buildings such as Zhong-xiao Bridge and Taipei Circle. In addition,

he also increases the amount of Elderly Card. The government put 480 dollars per month inside these cards, which can be used in transportation and sightseeing. This subsidy is more useful than the previous 1500 dollars. Mayor Ko realizes by putting himself into the

lives of his citizens, he could know what they really need.

In sum, to be a good city mayor is not easy, and so he or she should possess the essential qualities. They are working efficiently, adhering to the correct thing, admitting his or her mistakes, and understanding his or her citizens. Of course, the essential qualities are not sufficient,

but I think those factors are the most important.