REPORT CARD: A running start to this administration's first three months in office is reflected in popular support among the public. But style over substance will only get you so far. Vice Mayor Ainars Slesers' (left) heavy hand in joint ventures with private businessmen leave some to wonder his real motives. The two leaders, however, enjoy continued support.
RIGA - October 8 marked the first 100 days of Riga City Council's new leadership, led by Mayor Nils Usakovs (Harmony Center). The Latvian capital's official government Web site reports that Usakovs and his team have a 28 percent approval rating from Rigans, which is about twice as much as his predecessor Janis Birks received.
Director of social research agency SKDS Arnis Kaktins attributes this support to a considerable change in management style. Unlike previous mayors, Usakovs and the governing coalition have not fallen into latent complacency after the elections, but have been seen as more active.
Vice-mayor Ainars Slesers's efforts in establishing a new brand concept for Riga, in partnership with airBaltic's Bertolt Flick, is seen as one such activity. This has noticeably polarized society, leading many to question Flick's motives behind entering into such a project in the first place. Discourse arises demurring for the need of the president of Latvia's national airline to enter such an undertaking, becoming manager of a staff of five, under the heading of the Riga Tourism Development Bureau. The close links between airBaltic, albeit the official carrier of Latvia 's and still a company with financial troubles 's and Riga City Council, represented in this marriage by Slesers, an ex-Minister of Transport, raise eyebrows.
This suggests taking the new concept of engaging private investment for the building of Riga's new image a bit too literally. There should be nothing wrong with state institutions collaborating with experienced partners, especially at a time of economic crisis, in order to overcome the difficulties together. However, Slesers's choice of partners leaves something to be desired.
In last week's program '100. pants' on LTV, Slesers admitted he had been planning to begin cooperation with the president of Lido, Gunars Kirsons. Kirsons is well known in Latvia as the owner of a chain of traditional Latvian cuisine themed eateries, as well as an entertainment complex. His most recent business venture was in the real estate market, and the production of wooden family houses. Slesers and Kirsons' common project would have involved renovating parts of the Central Market in Riga, but the latter has found the post-credit-crunch climate to be not so favorable to the newest branch of the business.
Naturally, questions immediately arise about what Slesers' real motives are. He still confirms that he sees Kirsons as a valuable business partner, despite his recent economic shortcomings. Some journalists viewed such a statement as irresponsible to the Riga taxpayer, since entering into a financial partnership with a company in economic trouble, however popular and well-loved, is dubious under the current situation.
It is clear that one would be hard pressed to find a large, local enterprise doing wonderfully these days. Slesers argues that it is his strategic partners' expertise that makes them valuable associates, such as Flick and Kirsons, but since he is not acting as a private businessman, but as a representative of Riga, it is clear that all such interactions will be, and are, scrupulously and cautiously analyzed by the public.
Nevertheless, 28 percent of Rigans like the tandem of Usakovs and Slesers. As in all state institutions, there have been considerable budget cuts in the City Council, including a 30 percent decrease in salaries and a reduction in employees by 22 percent. However, the first 100 days have not seen a decrease in Riga's social budget; on the contrary 's it is the only field that has received an increase in funding, of 1.5 million lats (2.1 million euros). Mechanisms are in place to help disadvantaged and unemployed individuals, from aid with utility payments to stipends.
Sociologist Ainars Freimanis said to Latvijas Reitingi that choosing social issues as central for the season seems a wise decision, since it is always a priority, even in a comparatively wealthy municipality like Riga. Certainly, this boosts Usakovs' popularity and scales down public confusion about other parallel projects, such as Slesers' tourism development initiative.
The positive aura of social priorities also shines on issues Usakovs has inherited from previous mayors, such as the infamous Dienvidu tilts (Southern bridge) over the river Daugava. Being one of the most expensive bridges built in Europe, it has become almost legendarily linked to the inefficiency of the Riga City Council in the past. Riga municipality suffered major losses during the construction and officials are now looking at who can be held legally liable for up to 27 million lats of waste.
This all sets the bar that much lower for the municipality's new management. Given their active and head-on policies, Usakovs and Slesers experience a comparatively high approval rating; however time will tell if this precipitate nature will not turn from virtue into vice.
Somewhat hastily and arbitrarily made campaign promises, like Slesers' populist assurances of creating 3,000 new jobs by the end of the year, might see the tandem dropping in approval ratings as the toughest season in Riga's economy approaches.
