SAME TWO JOBS, ONE WORLD APART: THE MAYOR OF MOSCOW AND THE MAYOR OF WASHINGTON, D.C
...it." The Mayor's office has demised a mafiaesque plan of doing this. Unlike the rest of Russia, Moscow is exempt to the privatization rules of Yeltsin's government . The city still controls property and the sale of it. Thus, you can still buy property, but the mayor's office decides how much it will cost you and where the proceeds will go. As communism collapsed, Luzhkov simply grabbed many of the best Moscow enterprises and properties for the city government. He has assembled a great business empire with more than half the working population of Moscow directly -- or indirectly -- on the municipal payroll.6 The City of Moscow owns and operates two big auto plants, an oil company, several big construction firms, part of the local phone and electric utilities, a TV network, two fast food chains (including part of the local McDonald's), dozens of food processing plants, several big hotels, and hundreds of shops and restaurants. This economic plan doesn't believe in price controls, but favors a highly interventionist government policy to spur Russia's industrial revival. He wants to use the government's position as monopoly supplier of electricity, gas, and rail transport to run those businesses -- at a loss, if necessary -- in order to bring down the basic costs of living and doing business. No free trader, he advocates tariffs to protect inefficient Russian industries as a means of spurring the generation of money. Additionally, the Mayor's office has gone out of its way to bring foreign capital into Moscow. The city has attracted $12 billion in direct investment and credits, the lion's share of all such funds invested in Russia. The city is home to some 5,000 foreign companies and joint ventures. Moscow's next, and most ambitious project is the new financial district, Siti, an 8 billion dollar project to be crowned by the 115 floor Russian Tower. The greatest extortion involves taxes. Most of the biggest Russian companies are registered and pay their taxes in Moscow . Most of the money never leaves the city. Consider Gazprom, the gigantic natural gas utility. It pumps its gas from Western Siberia, pipes it across the length of European Russia and sells it in Germany, Italy and France. Gazprom pays its taxes in Moscow and there most of the money stays. 7 But the municipality of Moscow reaches far beyond the ring. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has steeped his national power especially deeply with the beginning of his own political party. "Russia Homeland" is a nationalistic party founded by Luzhkov, giving him a basis of national support and a much more far reaching platform. Yet Fatherland politics have been inflammatory. In an interview with Novye Ivestiya on 25 September, Samara Governor Konstantin Titov blasted the Moscow city government for its policies vis-a-vis non- Muscovites, saying that Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov "is hunting down Caucasians, has turned Moscow into a screening camp, and is eliciting a chauvinistic wave in this multinational state." Titov, who is also head of the Voice of Russia bloc, which is aligned with Right Cause and New Force, said that Luzhkov's policy "threatens the stability of Russia no less than terrorism." Two days later, Saratov Governor Dmitrii Ayatskov, who is a member of Our Home Is Russia, told ITAR-TASS that his region will "not allow civil rights to be infringed upon or people divided on an ethnic basis." The governor added that he is planning to meet with members of the local Chechen diaspora to discuss their involvement in settling the North Caucasus conflict.8 This has gone on to affect Moscow politics, with a greater concern over anti-Semitic relations and the influx of Russians to the prosperous city. WASHINGTON, D.C. Washington, DC, The Federal City, has faced immense change in its short 200 years. In modern times, Washington has been plagued with the nation's highest murder rate, high poverty levels and poor education, Washington is still home to the US Federal Government. Behind the US Capitol is a slum. Down the road from the White House is the nation's crime capital. But it is still the center of American political power, the base of Congress, the Supreme Court, DOD, the President….the central nervous system of American government. But these are just guests in the city of Washington. The city itself, a non-state District has nonvoting representation in Congress and receives its budget from local taxes and federal monies. The city has been plagued by its last mayor, Marion Berry. Following years of simply foolish remarks and policies, plus incidents regarding prostitutes and a cocaine habit, the city has turned to a new mayor. Anthony Williams, a young democrat, defeated Berry to become mayor in 1998. Williams sees DC's greatest challenge is one of reinventing itself. Much like Rudolph Gullioni's new New York, mayor Anthony Williams is reinventing a new Washington. This expansive plan is authored and enforced through the mayor's office. Mayor Williams asks the people of D.C. to come together and work together to improve the quality of life in the District for both its citizens and the local business community. The mission is simple: giving the citizens of DC the best city in America.9 What at first seems like political rhetoric actually has a multifaceted plan and vision of making Washington the city it wants to be. In a TQM style, the mayors office has approached Washington's problems in a wide to narrow scope approach. This begins with the Mayor's Vision for Washington. This Vision, making Washington the 'best' city in America, has tiers of goals established by the Mayor's Office: • Strong schools, safe streets, clean communities, affordable housing, and reliable transportation; • Access for all people to health care where our senior citizens and children at risk receive quality services; • A wealth of social and cultural growth opportunities; • Vibrant economies downtown and in the neighborhoods; • True inclusion, a seat at the table for all; • Taking advantage of the District's truly unique assets-tourism that is second to none, unique partnerships with federal agencies, a strong regional economy that lacks only a vital urban center; and • Empowering men, women, and children of all communities to solve problems together. Coming together, working together, succeeding together. 10 In a few years, Washington has made real progress towards the more tangible goals established by the mayor's office. The following chart depicts some vital statistics in Washington's continued progress: CRIME City Stats Natl. Avg. Rank Violent crime(per 100K population) 526.6 506 190 Property crime(per 100K population) 3,990 4,329 136 EDUCATION City Stats Natl. Avg. Rank Spending per pupil $6,825 $5,387 36 Student/teacher ratio 18.1 16.95 227 Number of 4-year colleges 25 4.03 6 Number of 2-year colleges 8 2.77 22 ECONOMY City Stats Natl. Avg. Rank Cost of Living Index 124 104 300 State and local taxes% 21.25% 10.35 % 328 Recent job growth(past 12 months) 3.29% 1.68% 70 Projected job growth(10 years) 16.54% 15.09% 121 Unemployment rate % 2.4% 4.24% 30 Auto insurance rates ($ per year) $1,100 $829 285 Hospital beds 12,709 2,602 10 MDs per capita 17.1 12.02 22 Air quality index(higher is better) 62 65.9 211 Water quality index(higher is better) 48 52.0 176 Number of teaching hospitals 20 3.88 7 QUALITY OF LIFE City Stats Natl. Avg. Rank Leisure Index (100 is best; 0 is worst) 59 19.42 17 Arts Index (100 is best; 0 is worst) 56 11.48 4 TRANSPORTATION City Stats Natl. Avg. Rank Commute time 28.8 19.23 326 Mass transit availability 24.43 8.03 18 Number of airline flights 578 139 19 Amtrak service 22 2.57 8 Regardless, there still seems to be a bubbling revolt in Washington. Williams noted that the only people in the U.S. denied voting representation are, "minors, convicted criminals and DC residents." This stems from federal control of the federal city, equaling Congressional oversight of all spending, taxation, and use of funds. The people of DC are infuriated that Congress maintains this control while the residents of DC have no Congressional vote. 10 This has led to the city actually filing suit. There are two suits on the table. One challenges the Court to allow the District to become a state, or for its residents to become part of an existing state, such as Maryland. The other suite demands that Congress provide the DC representative with a vote in the House. Efforts from within Washington groups include giving DC two members in the House and two members in the Senate. An additional option, not officially supported, would be to remove Federal taxation from DC residents. They would still not have representation, but they wouldn't be taxed, either.11 The city and residents of Washington, DC are making their point on this issue known in a unique way. On the morning of November 4, 2000, thousands lined up outside the District's DMV office to get the new, official plates for their vehicles. The old plates have been in use since 1997 and bear the slogan Celebrate and Discover. The new plates look the same, but the slogan across the bottom of the plate reads, Taxation Without Representation. Mayor Williams, Delegate Norton and several city officials were on hand November 4 with city vehicles being the first to sport the new plate. MOSCOW VS WASHINGTON Two capital cities. Two centers of world power….two worlds apart. Moscow and Washington are two very different cities with different leadership structures, especially with regards to municipal leadership. In Washington, the mayor is what the west would consider 'just a mayor', truly the political leader and manager of the city, but nothing like Moscow's mayor. In Moscow, the mayor runs a near dictatorship, ruling almost every detail of the city. NATIONAL CLOUT By virtue of being the Mayor...