Taipei’s new Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday on his first day in office at Taipei City Hall encouraged his staff to “just go ahead and do it” as long as their actions are beneficial.
Chiang, who was sworn in on Sunday and turned 44 yesterday, was speaking after a morning meeting with the city government’s top officials.
He said he would through this week continue the 7:30am daily meetings established by former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
Photo: Tien Su-hua, Taipei Times
After the meeting, Chiang encouraged Taipei City Hall staff to work together, consider the feelings of city residents when implementing policies, and build a warm and service-oriented government.
“As long as the government stands with the people, the people will stand with the government,” he said. “My expectation for you all is this: Just go ahead and do it, as long as it is beneficial for the city residents. Just do it. I will be your strong supporter.”
During the morning meeting, the staff exchanged ideas on several issues mentioned in his election campaign, including the Taipei Dome project and improving traffic issues in Neihu District (內湖), as well as plans for the city’s New Year’s Eve event and the Taipei Lantern Festival in February, Chiang said.
He said that after cross-departmental coordination is established, the meetings might be changed to meet particular policy objectives or to operate more effectively.
Chiang’s decision to wait until February for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) to take office as deputy mayor apparently to avoid a by-election for her legislative seat, sparked a mixed response.
Some said he was “starting a race with only one shoe on,” and others said he was taking away the legislative seat from the district, while KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) defended it as not wasting government funding on a by-election.
Regarding the delay, he said that Chu has expressed his stance, and he respects the party’s position.
Asked why he did not keep his campaign promise to ensure that one-third of his top officials and department heads would be women, Chiang said he recruited his team based on their specialties and qualifications.
Although gender is an important factor, other aspects had to be considered, Chiang said.
The goal would be reached gradually in time, he added.
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