I’d have to say responsibility for this probably properly belongs more on the Police Chief who recommended this, and the staff that put together the clearly over-sized charges.
Mayor Goode’s mistake seems to have been believing the Police Chief’s description of what the charges would do. Is believing your Police Chief enough to make you the “worst Mayor?” Might be a lot of Mayors in that situation. Maybe the mistake was making this a police matter instead of just sending in a social worker with the appropriate forms & regs for starting an approved home school.
Personally, I’d look for more than a single incident like this in finding the “worst Mayor”. I’d rather see facts & figures covering more of the Mayor’s administration. Like this:
during Mayor X’s administration, unemployment in the city rose x%, while in other cities of similar size it only rose y%.
during Mayor X’s administration, city debt rose x%, while in other cities of similar size it only rose y%.
during Mayor X’s administration, crime statistice in the city rose x%, while in other cities of similar size it only rose y%.
during Mayor X’s administration, total city property values dropped x%, while in other cities of similar size it only dropped y%.
ding ding ding!!! we have a winner. Coleman Young is, more than any other individual, responsible for the state of Detroit today. Dennis Archer did his best to try to fix things, but I’m afraid our current mayor(Kwame Kilpatrick) may be cut from the same cloth as Mayor Young.
Another vote for Coleman Young. My goodness, but he was a piece of work.
For those who mention Daley the second, even though he has near absolute power, even tho politically connected folk have profitted, what makes him so bad? Please provide specifics of services, conditions, etc. that he has some control over that are worse because of his actions/inactions.
I mention this because I’ve lived and worked in or near Chi for 42 years, and right now it seems as nice if not better than ever in terms of “liveability.”
The one stat I know is way up is the crime rate, but I am not sure why the mayor is responsible for that. And one specific recent action I strongly disagree with is the closing of Meigs Field.
I’m not saying Daley is a saint or anything, but I would appreciate some specifics rather than general accusations of power and influence peddling before I accept his demonization.
Final observation re: the OP - largest big city mayor - pop greater that 75G? 75,000 is a BIG CITY? What cities of 100,000 have had mayors that anyone outside of that city would have even heard of?
Mel Lastman, current mayor of Toronto, long-time mayor of North York (which became part of Toronto, and Mel moved on up.) He may not be the worst but he certainly deserves a mention.
He breaks the ten-year rule but he has been mayor for so fucking long (“the longest serving mayor of any major city in the world”) that I feel he should count anyway.
It’s hard to use stats like unemployment or property taxes because of the way the provincial government has dumped on the city (eg ‘downloading’ social programs and forcing the abovementioned amalgamation without providing the city with funds to deal with it, and so on). although I can’t stand the man I can’t entirely blame him for the fiscal situation Toronto is in.
I don’t want to get into discussions of the Harris Tories, though, so I will provide a few hilights of Mel’s career:
Those of you who saw him on CNN last week need no further introduction. Yes, he is ailing, and very old, but he’s always been an idiot. While his illness may excuse this most recent performance, it does not excuse the last 25 years.
For those of you who didn’t have the pleasure, he is a furniture salesman by trade and was widely recognized for his appearance on TV commercials, wearing the striped suit of a felon and saying “Noooooooo-body!” Prime mayor material.
When mayor of North York he said “There are no homeless people in North York.” (Possibly because NY is kind of a suburb and those who would be “homeless” come downtown.) The following week (bad timing for mel, tragic but delicious irony for the rest of us) a homeless woman froze to death - yes, in North York.
When asked if he would be going to Kenya as part of Toronto’s Olympic bid, he said he didn’t want to because he pictured himself being boiled in a pot with natives dancing around him.
When there was a major snowstorm in Toronto, Mel called in the army. I guess he just didn’t know what else to do.
He pushed our cash-strapped transit system (see Harris Tories, above) to build a new subway line through his land of North York, which is not the best place in Toronto for a subway line, because (a) it’s not very dense and (b) the people there tend to have cars. The construction took much longer and cost much more than anyone expected, and although ridership is higher than they’d thought it’s still pretty low, so there won’t be a whole lot more subway lines built in Toronto any time soon.
His handlers have about given up on him. When I or my colleagues have seen him at official functions his handlers are trying their very best to keep him quiet, since they know that whatever comes out of his mouth will be embarassing at best, and offensive at worst.
Lately there has been an inquiry into all kinds of sleazy dealings
(most recent article) at City Hall and Mel has been invisible. Invisible! He should really either step down (the election is at the end of this year and he has said he won’t run again) or DO something.
Of course all of these are arguable. I just believe that, overall, he’s been incompetent and destructive. I’m no Mel scholar so there are many things I don’t know about him, and would appreciate (kind-hearted) criticism. But I have been ashamed of him and passionately upset by him so often that I think any thinking, feeling human would at least consider him in a discussion of Worst. Mayor. Ever.
I used 75,000 off the top of my head. I’m not really expecting Mayors of cities with a population of under a quarter of a million or so to get votes.
Lastman, in addition to being a current mayor, is also ineligible because he’s not a Mayor in the U.S.
I’d agree with the selection of Young, but I’d also like to propose the teams of John Lindsay/Abe Beame of New York (nice job bankrupting the city, guys), Ralph Perk/Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland (same charge as with Lindsay/Beame, and it didn’t help to have a buffoon (Perk) and a flake (Kucinich) in short order), and Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia (he screwed up race relations, his city had corruption problems that exploded in Abscam near the end of his term, and the population collasped during his term).
I’ll chime in with Wilson Goode, reluctantly (he is, after all, a Democrat ). Fortunately he was followed up by the amazing Ed Rendell. Then we got John Street - my vote (although disqualified because he’s currently servnig). While on City Council, he roughed up reporters, constantly grandstanded, and did everything he could to fight anything the major wanted. Grade-A jackass.
Let’s not forget that he pandered to the unions so heavily to wint he election that he basicly rolled over and did anything they want. Keep in mind that Philly is a heavily Democratic town, and Street barely squeaked by against a businessman Republican.
Oh, and let’s not forget Frank Rizzo - amazingly corrupt, and, like Eva Peron, is still revered as a demigod by some Philadelphians. And now his son is following in his crooked footsteps…
FI:For sheer volume of corruption, Vincent “Buddy” Cianci of Providence, Rhode Island would have it sewed up.
Now currently incarcerated. And don’t forget his earlier criminal record involving assault! He was kept out of office for five years on the strength of that, but got back in.
Esprix has a point that some of these stinking-pile-of-corruption mayors nonetheless attract a weirdly devoted following. I still see “Free Buddy” t-shirts around the place, though I think most people must mean it as a joke.
Well, I was living in the Philadelphia area at the time, but I did not live within the city limits to be able to vote for him. But I thought about it. A lot.
I second the mention of Mel Lastman. Canada doesn’t compare with the States for corruption, but by most standards he is a clueless, corrupt and incompetent boob. By virtue of these qualities has done much to tarnish the reputation of a fine city.
I desire to see him broken and driven before me, Conan-style.
He spent millions successfully defeating the San Fernando Valley’s secession effort, claiming how LA is better off and stronger united, and how he would work to improve services in the valley without ever coming out and admitting the valley wasn’t getting it’s share of services. And used a lot scare tactics that were out and out lies.
After the election, in the wake of Governor Davis’s financial boondoggle, and a very expensive trip to China said to be for “LA business interests”, Hahn said “Sorry, we can’t afford to make good on those improvements I promised”. He actually announced that he would not fullfill those promises. The timing coincided with Davis running scared, that way he could blame it on the state.
Once again, another that violates the 10 year rule, but for sheer incompetence and mismanagement, Bill Campbell of Atlanta has to earn a mention. Among his many wonderful achievements:
-Turned the 1996 Olympics into the biggest flea market ever. If there was a square of sidwalk he could sell to a vendor of homemade loincloths or knock off Olympic pins, it was sold. Including, multiple locations so far off the beaten path of Olympic related foot traffic, that a large portion closed up shop in the first week.
-Horrible infrastructure. The roads, sewers, and buildings continue to fall apart.
-Held a press conference to announce that he would not accept a job offer in the Clinton administration. This announcement of loyalty to Atlanta boosted his poll standings enough to win him re-election. It might have mattered more if he had ever actually been offered a job.
-Atlanta has a rapid transit system named Marta. Bill Campbell thought that since many riders of Marta were low-income, it would make sense to appoint a welfare recipient to the board. So, he added a woman straight from the rolls of welfare to the board. Later, he aided in successfully pushing for her to be the head of the Marta board.
-While in office, he faced constant accusations of deceit, giving favorable contracts to friends, payoffs, etc. Perhaps his greatest skill has been avoiding prosecution while countless people in his administration, including a few of his top aides, have all been convicted of various illegal acts.
). Fortunately he was followed up by the amazing Ed Rendell. Then we got John Street - my vote (although disqualified because he’s currently servnig). While on City Council, he roughed up reporters, constantly grandstanded, and did everything he could to fight anything the major wanted. Grade-A jackass.