Mayors and Road Works

It's mass mayoral election time. On June 5th, every township in the country will elect a new mayor. This has almost the same amount of coverage in the capital as a presidential race. Same poster expenditure. Same rhetoric. Except the Commy party has nicked off with an advertising scheme last used by one of the liberal parties in the last presidential race.

It's a brilliant scheme. Buy half the billboards and three months out, make statements like: "want better roads" or "we want more doing and less talking." Then, one month from election day, put up the answer to such demands: A headshot of the candidate saying "I'll make better roads" or "I do, I don't talk."

Brilliant. And thought of by a liberal. So, the communist party likes them enough to steal their ideas, and tact. I don't know enough about the new seeming approach though, to say whether or not this represents real change in the party (which is clearly disliked by a good deal of the voting public) or if it's just a glossy sheen to keep up with the competitors.

But that's the capital. Out here in the sticks we have a slightly more direct approach. There are 6 contenders for the seat of mayor here. One saw fit not to promise roads, but to buy enough tons of sandy gravel to fill in the pot holes of the 10 main offshoot roads from the one tarmac road in town. Out of his own pocket.

So, questions raised by me: Why now do we need to elect you? Mighty purse makes mighty right? Why don't we pay in-town road taxes? Will we now, to reimburse you be you elected? Why push this gravelly sand over the whole road--rises as well as troughs--and if you can afford this, could you possibly afford a heavy roller to pack it? I mean, the pot holes are already unfilling out again!

I took pictures. One day I'll do the right thing and attach pictures to blogs. Once I get a better thinking about it system in place in my head and my habits.

Sidenote: Habits are amazing things. My life in Moldova improved ten fold as soon as I consciously made up some habits. At least now one of them does not have to be clean shoes twice a day. Though, that may be half due to the gorgeous May weather we are experiencing as much as to the road works.