Being elected as Seoul Mayor came to me like God’s calling.
I sort of half read Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge.’ It was assigned in 10th grade, and I just couldn’t get into it. About seven years later, I rediscovered Hardy and consumed four of his novels in a row.
If I go into a restaurant there’s a very good chance that I’m going to spend my time being the mayor. If I want to have a good time, I’m happier having dinner here.
I want to make a city that can run smoothly with anyone in charge, even without a mayor in place.
Part of me would love to be mayor for the simple reason that I love my city.
Oh, when I was mayor of San Antonio, I pushed for expanding high-quality, full-day pre-K. We didn’t have the resources to make it universal, but you could clearly see that that was what I wanted to do.
If you’re mayor, it’s your duty to support all the groups within the city.
So far, I have not come to any of the positions that I have filled through wanting to be there. I was sought – people wanted me to come to those posts. I am talking about all my positions: mayor of Istanbul, chairman of the party, prime minister.
When the Chinese first came to San Francisco, they were actually welcomed by the mayor and they had special ceremonies for them-again this is when their colony was very small, only a few Chinese.
My brother is the former mayor of Baltimore.
The charge that liberal candidates don’t connect with or understand the values and beliefs of regular Americans is embedded in old epithets like ‘limousine liberal,’ which I first heard aimed at New York Mayor John Lindsay in 1969.
Most people have trouble pronouncing my name, so they just call me ‘Mayor Pete.’
I believe the best type of mayor is one who seeks to uplift people and make their quality of life better and sometimes that requires tough decisions.
I’ve probably saved more black lives as mayor of New York City than any mayor in New York City with the possible exception of Mike Bloomberg, who was there for 12 years.
I legitimately wanted to know if Mayor Bloomberg was going to ban large margaritas that I cry over while on a date alone at Dallas BBQ as a part of his controversial soda ban.
The whole point of corporate mascots is to be distinctive. No one in his right mind would ever confuse the Hamburglar with Mayor McCheese.
Listen, if the mayor wants to have a debate about education in this city, I got three words: bring it on.
The city fought a $300 million, 18-year war on graffiti. New York Mayor John Lindsay declared war in 1972, and the battle for the transit system came later.
My all-time favourite political promise – more a boast than a promise, really – came from former Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, who said in the lead-up to the 1976 Olympics, ‘The Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby.’
Being mayor is about offering a vision for the city, putting the right people in the right place, and executing that vision.
The most important thing a mayor does is hire talented people to run the city.
Whenever people say, ‘You should be president,’ I say, ‘I thought you liked me.’ Listen, I thought being mayor of Stamford was a wonderful job. Being governor of a state for a period of time is a wonderful job, and I’m not sure I’m at all attracted to Washington.
For the longest time, I was Scott Ruffalo’s brother. I mean, he was the mayor of Beverly Hills. He was just so beloved there.
New Yorkers have real issues, and they deserve to have a mayor that is prepared to work with them to solve the challenges they have, reduce the problems that they have, and they deserve to have a mayor’s race that is focused on them.
Happiness statistics may be most valuable in smaller, local discussions. Understanding how different sorts of programs affect the well-being of citizens would be enormously helpful to a mayor choosing between building a new bridge or offering a tax cut.
My dad worked for Nestle for 26 years and ended up being the mayor of our hometown. One of the lessons I learned from him was to never mistake kindness for weakness.
I love being the mayor. I want to be the mayor forever.
When a city says, ‘If you’re illegal, come here, we’re not going to prosecute you,’ the federal law should supersede the local mayor’s edict.
Most of the time when I receive a script, it says something like ‘Rosenberg is the fat, slovenly Mayor, who doesn’t want the kids to use the Skateboard Park’, or ‘Stein is a pompous, rotund attorney, imposing to all.’ It would be so freeing to get a script where my character is simply described as ‘A Man.’
The background of a mayor of a city of any size is a background of somebody who on one hand is an executive and on the other hand is very close to the ground.
I think that taxes have to exist. They should exist at the lowest possible level, and to the extent that we can, we shouldn’t invent more. Maybe that’s my experience being mayor of New York City, where we had so many taxes.
I am a lawyer and 22 years the mayor of Davao City. I served as congressman of the first district for one term, and I was vice mayor to my daughter, Inday.
Magic Johnson, former basketball player, may run for mayor of L.A. in the next election. Remember the good ‘ol days when only qualified people ran for office like actors and professional wrestlers.
The world’s greatest city – New York City – deserves a government that works for all New Yorkers. That starts with a mayor who is independent from party bosses and special interests, who isn’t afraid to be honest with the people, and who is focused on the issues New Yorkers care about most.
By the way, conversely, one thing I’ve learned in my career, beginning when I ran for mayor, is that a lot of older voters are among the most excited about a younger candidate. So, you know, I think somebody of any age can deliver a compelling message.
There’s no secret about my ambition, I do not want to go into the House of Commons. My only real political interest is in London and if one day I’m in a position to run for mayor, then terrific.
From my very first day in the Mayor’s office, I have worked closely with the Council members who share our vision of a city hall that really protects taxpayers and cares… yes… about the little things that make a big difference in people’s lives.
When I’m in charge, you will never have to question whether anyone is listening, whether the mayor even wants the job. You will never have to ask yourself whether you matter. You will never have to wonder whether I’m in Iowa.
I will say that walking down the street, getting on the subway, taking the elevator, if there’s one or two people and they say, ‘Great job, Mayor,’ that is a real turn-on. I mean, anybody that wouldn’t find that satisfying, rewarding, exciting, thrilling – I think they should see the doctor.
I want to be known as the mayor who happens to be Latino who made a difference. I ran to make a difference.
I was born and grew up in Fitzgerald, way down in south Georgia. It was a mill town and my family ran the cotton mill. My grandfather was mayor many times and my family felt deeply rooted to that spot.
I hope Paper Boi runs for president. I hope he does. Governor, mayor, senator, I hope he does it all. You better believe it.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also happens to be the 10th richest person in America, with a personal fortune of some $18 billion, likes to pick a fight – especially fights where the line between good and evil is particularly stark.
For better or worse, when you’re running for mayor, there’s a little bit of a spotlight on you.
I lost my first mayor’s race. I lost the primary. But we came back and won that. So I know you’ve got to play to win, but you can’t be afraid to lose.
Pete Buttigieg is one of my closest friends as a mayor.
If a large city can, after intense intellectual efforts, choose for its mayor a man who merely will not steal from it, we consider it a triumph of the suffrage.
I think New York is destined to have a Democratic mayor, and I want Freddy Ferrer to be that mayor.
My dad was a theatrical guy. He wore a scuba suit one time because he said so-and-so was in the tank with the mayor. He didn’t really care what people thought, so he was able to put himself out there. He didn’t have a lot of shame, in a good way.
When you’re mayor, not every project is going to go well.
As mayor, I used to always feel the important thing is that people respect me, not love me – but it is really much nicer when they love you, too. I’m going to try to keep it that way.
As mayor of Jerusalem, I wanted the government to invest the necessary funds in order to unite the city in an effective manner with full rights for the Palestinians living in Jerusalem, so the world would say, ‘Okay, it can work.’
There was an exhibition in Munich in 1937, ‘Degenerate Art,’ which included work by Klee, Kandinsky, Beckmann and many others. The work was called ‘sick’ and put in the trash heap. The sentiments expressed toward contemporary art by Jesse Helms, Pat Robertson and Mayor Giuliani recall the language used by the Nazis.
People tell me, ‘You better lose weight if you want to run for mayor.’ I said, ‘I got the Chris Christie look.’
The one thing politicians will always vote for is more politics, so in 2000 they invented the post of mayor of London without ever really thinking what it was a mayor would do.
