We’ll all suffer if Mike the Mayor catches mayor-itis

How long before Mike Cubbard catches mayor-itis? Mike insists he won’t be fazed by high office, and that his working-class background will insulate him from contracting the illness associated with becoming First Citizen. He’s six months into the term of office, and he seems not to have been afflicted, but doubts prevail. Other city councillors who have worn the chains before him, regardless of their backgrounds, have succumbed to mayor-itis, an affliction that enlarges egos and gives an enhanced sense of entitlement, for up to 12 months. It also turns them into ‘yes men’ (women don’t get mayor-itis); they get so used to the red carpet and to being treated differently – reverentially – that they lose the critical faculties that made them good councillors and candidates to be mayor in the first place. Mayors work closely with the Chief Executive of the City Council during their term in office, and that familiarity, far from breeding contempt, can often lead to mayors being less questioning of Council management, whom they are supposed to – and paid to – hold to account. Mayors also chair Council meetings, and so they’re often more occupied with keeping order, and sticking to standing orders than they are about asking probing questions of the executive. Hopefully Mike, an Ordinary Joe, doesn’t get infected with mayor-itis and become a ‘yes man’ before he hands over the chains – because if that happens, we’ll all suffer the side-effects.

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