Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) won the highest ratings in a poll on the public’s satisfaction with the mayors of the six special municipalities published yesterday by the Chinese-language magazine Global Views Monthly, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) receiving the lowest score.
Surveying 14,392 respondents from March 14 to April 20, the annual poll divided the nation’s 22 cities and counties into three categories: the six special municipalities, the 13 cities and counties on Taiwan proper and the three outlying counties.
Respondents were asked to rate their levels of satisfaction with the general performances of their respective mayors or commissioners, as well as with the policies carried out by the leaders in eight areas, including education, environmental protection, social security, and economy and employment.
The magazine said it factored in the respondents’ answers and used a five-star system to rate the performance of each local leader.
Of the special municipality mayors, Chen and Lai earned the highest rating of five stars, followed by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) with 4.5 stars, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) with four stars each, and Ko with 3.5 stars.
Two of the other three mayors and commissioners who received the highest ratings are “regulars in the ‘five-star club,’” the magazine said, including Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) and Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭).
Lienchiang County Commissioner Liu Tseng-ying (劉增應) received five stars for the first time.
The survey results suggest that there are no “invincible political stars,” the magazine said, as evidenced by the decline in Ko’s ratings from 4.5 stars last year to 3.5 stars this year, the most significant drop among local government heads.
“In addition, compared with other local leaders, Ko experienced the greatest drop in the level of satisfaction his residents felt toward his performance, while seeing the most significant rise in public discontent,” the magazine said.
The magazine drew attention to three similarities shared by the three mayors who saw the most increase in their public satisfaction rates: Cheng, Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) and Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌).
“They are all in their first term, they are all members of the Democratic Progressive Party and they are under the age of 50,” the magazine said.
Their energy and relatively young ages apparently matched the expectations of younger people, it added.
Asked to comment on the poll, Lai said the results were particularly significant, with Tainan having endured a dengue fever outbreak last year as well as a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6, which killed 117 people and toppled several buildings in the city.
“I would like to dedicate this honor to Tainan residents. I will endeavor to do a better job and ensure successful implementation of my policies in the future to allow the public to feel at ease,” Lai said.
Chen said the five-star rating serves as a positive recognition of her government’s performance, thanked residents for their support and pledged to transform Kaohsiung into a better city for people to live in.
Ko said at a city council meeting in the afternoon that he was embarrassed by the survey’s results, which he said could be due to his unclear policies and failure to build an effective team.Additional reporting by Wang Jung-hsiang and Lu Heng-chien
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