Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Hsinchu City Councilor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), running as the party’s candidate for the Hsinchu mayoral election, has been described as an “incorrigible optimist” by one of his officer staffers.
In 2000, Lin launched his political career working at DPP Legislator Ker Chien-ming’s (柯建銘) office as an aide and has slowly built up his connections and ties with Hsinchu over the past 14 years.
In a recent interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper), Lin said he is certain that by doing his best and shouldering his responsibilities well, he can eventually shift the region’s predominantly Chinese Nationalist Party-supporting (KMT) voter base toward the DPP.
While pundits have called Lin’s decision to run for Hsinchu mayor risky, as he could run for re-election to the city council instead, which he would almost certainly win, Lin said he entered the mayoral race because “someone has to do the dirty work.”
Lin, 39, said he hopes that the Nov. 29 election will show Hsinchu City residents that the race is a clean one, devoid of political machinations and calculations.
Lin said that from when he first entered politics, he has exhibited the creativity of youth, promoting the restoration of the Hsinchu City Zoo, the Shihchieh-Datong Cultural Creative Market and the CHEESE Drama Mobile.
In the cultural creative market initiative, artists and other members of the cultural creative industry were invited to move to the intersection of Hsinchu City’s Datong and Shihchieh streets to form a small cultural creative zone. The drama mobile is a mobile platform that puts on theater shows for children.
Lin said his wide range of interests — from the quality of medical care and education, to culture and financial management — have put him in the spotlight during his time as city councilor.
Despite his busy schedule as city councilor, Lin said he nonetheless found the time to apply for and be admitted to National Taiwan University’s graduate institute of national development to pursue further studies on cross-strait politico-economic issues.
Lin said he is also extremely concerned with legal matters regarding women and children as he is father to a three year-old child and is expecting a second.
“I hope to ameliorate the issues with the city’s family policies and create a friendlier environment for families with young children,” he said.
Commenting on his rival, Hsinchu Mayor Hsu Ming-tsai (許明財) of the KMT, Lin said Hsu’s greatest mistakes were to cut subsidies for the elderly and insist on building the Taiwan Global Mall.
The project cost the city government NT$1.5 billion (US$51.13 million), but draws very few visits from local residents, Lin said.
Furthermore, Hsu has been putting city officials in a hard spot by not having the guts to own up to his mistake, Lin said, adding that Hsu’s political career is more tech-specific than his own, which may be what has decreased the mayor’s popularity.
“Hsu’s team is not using public resources adequately and that is something that I wish to change,” Lin said, adding he would show Hsinchu City residents that he is responsible and mature enough to take on city governance despite his relatively young age.
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