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One year of town administration under communist mayor: Okayama's Konko Town

One year has passed since a Japanese Communist Party member was elected as the mayor of a small town in western Japan. What changes did he bring to the town? Akataha on April 27 reported as follows:

JCP member Katayama Hitoshi, 66, is a town assembly member-turned mayor. Last April, he beat the former mayor, who was notorious for cozy ties with public works contractors, in the mayoral election in Konko Town, famous for the garden tree industry in Okayama Prefecture.

Mayor Katayama has made the usage of town community centers free, offered free-medical services for children under the age of ten, cut his monthly salary by 30 percent, and introduced a system to ease the nursing care insurance premiums for people in difficulty.

What are the town people saying about his policy decisions? One said, "It's amazing he fulfilled what he had promised during the election campaign," and another, "Here, medical care is free for children under ten while neighboring Kurashiki City provides it only for children under five. He's done good job." A wife of a farmer said, "I want to start a cooking club in a community center because we don't have to pay to use the facility."

"Clean and fair" is Katayama's motto. He said, "I want the town people to see my attitude in trying to establish a clean administration. If not, there's no point being the mayor as a JCP member."

Katayama made bidding process for public works projects transparent by giving a chance to all public works contractors in the town to place a bid and letting the contractors know the estimated cost in advance of the bid.

A construction company owner said, "It has become much better. The former mayor only allowed companies that had connections with him to submit a bid for a contract, and the contract price always turned out to be 98 or 99 percent of the estimated price. It was obvious that the bidding had been prearranged. Now everyone is happy about Katayama's fairness."

The state government cut 200 million yen or 12 percent of its tax subsidies to Konko Town in this fiscal year. While having financial difficulties, the town hired a new social worker for its social welfare council. To meet a volunteer group's request, it established a volunteer center using a unit that had been used as a kindergarten.

The new mayor also decided to provide the Gardeners' Cooperative Union with 900,000 yen a year, the full amount that the union needs to rent a place for its wholesale market. The union had received only 400,000 yen from the former mayor.

Town atmosphere changing

Residents feel that the atmosphere of their town has been gradually changing. Sano Goro, representative of Katayama's support group, "The Association for a Clean and Fair Konko Town," said that some residents who had voted for the former mayor told him that they were glad to have Katayama as their new mayor.

A shop owner said, "I feel our town became more peaceful. Katayama speaks as a JCP member, but he also creates harmony." (end)