Kian Tajbakhsh | Tales of My Two Cities | August 11, 2021
In my last post I looked at the June 2021 local elections in both Tehran and in New York City. The cities are now both anticipating a new mayor. In New York City, mayoral elections will take place in November. In Tehran, the newly elected 21-member city council nominated a new mayor this week, and he is awaiting confirmation by the minister of interior. As of this writing, there are reports of mobilization of opponents, so confirmation, while likely, might possibly be rejected, in which case the city council would have to select another candidate.
There are enormous differences in the mayor’s responsibilities in each city. NYC covers a much wider range of services than Tehran. For instance, NYC manages over 1,800 schools with over 1 million school children and also controls the local police force. These two services directly touch residents’ everyday lives and shape their perceptions of their local government. By contrast, Tehran does not manage schools or policing but is responsible for public transportation, buses, and subways. (NYC does not control local transit, which is under NY State government.) Despite these differences, there are also some interesting parallels.
Originally published by Kian Tajbakhsh on his blog, “Tales of My Two Cities”. Read the full article here.