Today in electoral politics: the reality of what its like having an anarcho-surrealist mayor who is genuinely an awesome person in power. Once in power, Gnarr had to do what every mayor before him has done — try to balance the budget. Under his administration, taxes have been raised, schools have been controversially merged, and people have been laid off... A sleep-deprived Gnarr once publicly broke down in tears after realizing the budget he was crafting would potentially cut a youth program — one that had helped him when he was a troubled teen. As it turned out, the program was safe — but Gnarr says he still would have eliminated it if necessary. As long as I can explain it and rationalize it, he says. We have had to execute a lot of very difficult decisions. The most difficult one, he says, was saving the utility company Reykjavik Energy, which was near-bankrupt when Gnarr came into power. City council loaned the company 12 billion kronur (about $114 million), raised energy bills by nearly 30 per cent and laid off more than 60 people. These were unpopular moves — and perhaps Gnarr, as an outsider, was the only one who could have made them... But serious problems continue to bedevil Reykjavik. And for David Jonsson, a 29-year-old with knuckle tattoos and an AC/DC shirt, Gnarr’s pronouncements on human rights in China have done little to help people survive in Reykjavik, an increasingly expensive city to live in. Kristinsson, the political scientist, says Gnarr has been more interested in what he considers soft, postmodern issues — bike lanes, public spaces and gay rights. For casual observers of Iceland, Gnarr’s most memorable decisions as mayor have been his drag costumes for Pride parade. ...Eggertsson agrees that Reykjavik’s anarcho-surrealist mayor fundamentally changed politics. When asked how, exactly, Eggertsson pauses. We start every day with a big warm hug, he says with a perfectly straight face. That’s not very usual in politics at all.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:47:50 +0000
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