Antanas Mockus
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Antanas Mockus Sivickas (Bogotá, March 25, 1952), a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician, the only son of Lithuanian imigrants, left his post as rector of the National University of Colombia in Bogotá in 1993, and later that year ran a successful campaign for mayor. He proceeded to preside over Bogotá as mayor for two terms, during which he became known for springing surprising and humorous initiatives upon the city's inhabitants. These tended to involve grand gestures, including local artists or personal appearances by the mayor himself -- taking a shower in a commercial about conserving water, or walking the streets dressed in spandex and a cape as Supercitizen.
Bogotá mayorship and presidential bid
Under Mockus's leadership, Bogotá saw many improvements in civil life -- water usage dropped 40%, 7000 community security groups were formed and the homicide rate fell 70%, traffic fatalities dropped by over 50%, drinking water was provided to all homes (up from 79% in 1993), and sewage was provided to 95% of homes (up from 71%). When he asked people to pay a voluntary extra 10% in taxes, over 60,000 people did so.
Famous initiatives included hiring 20 mimes to control traffic and make fun of traffic violators -- a program so successful that another 400 mimes were quickly trained. He also initiated a "Night for Women", on which the city's men were asked to stay home for an evening to look after the house and the children. The city sponsored free open-air concerts, bars offered women-only specials, Ciclovia and the city's women police were in charge of keeping the peace.
In between his two terms as mayor, Mockus ran an unsuccessful bid for the presidency, and Enrique Peñalosa replaced him as Mayor. Peñalosa worked in a similarly people-friendly spirit, instituting popular new bike paths and bus systems. When Mockus ran again for the 2001 mayorship, he held a ceremony in a public fountain "to ask forgiveness for leaving the mayor's office in an unsuccessful bid for the presidency."Template:Footnote
Recent work
In 2003 Mockus stepped down as mayor, to be replaced by Luis Eduardo Garzón, and took a year's sabbatical, travelling and speaking around the world. He planned to return to teaching at CNU the following year, although he said he was "considering the possibility of launching a presidential campaign".
After spending two weeks at the Kennedy School of Government as a visiting fellow in 2004, "to share lessons about civic engagement with students and faculty," Mockus returned to Harvard as a Visiting Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures to teach two Spanish classes during the Fall 2004-2005 semester.
External links
- Report on his mayorship and a 2004 speech (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/03.11/01-mockus.html)
- Two extraordinary Mayors of Bogota - Mockus and Peñalosa (http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2002/04/04/of/)
- Harvard faculty page (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~rll/people/faculty/mockus.html) in the Romance Languages and Literature departmentde:Antanas Mockus Sivickas