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Michael Sessions, 18, a senior
at Hillsdale high school and the mayor-elect of the city
of Hillsdale, Michigan. |
The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of
the people, ready to listen to their every concern, but only until 6pm.
Then he has to do his homework.
The local elections on Tuesday may have been dismal for George Bush's
Republican party, but they were a triumph for Michael Sessions, an
independent who emerged as the country's youngest mayor at the age of 18.
Mr Sessions, who is too young to drink in his own town, won by just two
votes after a recount. By 670 votes to 668, he beat the sitting mayor, who is 51.
He was too young to stand by the spring deadline for registration, so
after he turned 18 he entered as a write-in candidate - meaning voters had
to remember his name and add it to the ballot by hand in order to support
him.
He started by winning the support of a powerful
interest group, the Hillsdale firefighters' union, who had fallen out
with the town council.
The union has a membership of three, but in post-September 11 America
it wields symbolic clout. Before endorsing Mr Sessions, its president,
Kevin Pauken, called his teachers to check on his credentials.
"The guys were a little leery at first because of his age, but he
really impressed us with his openness and his energy," Mr Pauken told
reporters
To help get his name known, Mr Sessions raised $700 selling toffee
apples over the summer and spent it on posters and placards which were
sprinkled around Hillsdale's lawns by election day.
His month-long campaign involved going door to door, explaining his
vision of the town's future in the kitchens of his initially sceptical
neighbours.
"They'd look
at me, and say 'How old are you again? How
much experience do you have?' And I say 'I'm still in high school',"
he recalled.
(Agencies) |
美國密歇根州希爾斯代爾市新市長是位名副其實的來自人民的市長，他隨時準備傾聽市民的心聲，但是每天的辦公時間只能到下午六點，因為晚上他還要做作業呢。
對于美國總統布什領導的共和黨來說，當地本周二進行的市長選舉令人沮喪，但是對于邁克爾·塞申斯，這是一個巨大的勝利。這位18歲的無黨派人士脫穎而出，成為美國最年輕的市長。
塞申斯太年輕了，他還不到自己所在市規定的合法飲酒年齡。重新計算選票后，他以兩票優勢獲得了勝利，以670票對668票，擊敗51歲的現任市長，成功入主市政府。
今年春天的候選人報名日期結束之前，他還太年輕，不能去登記，所以他一滿18周歲就馬上去登記成為寫入候選人，這就意味著如果選民們要支持他的話不得不記住他的名字，還要手工在選票上添加他的名字。
贏得希爾斯代爾市消防員聯盟的支持是他勝利的起點，那是一個強大的利益集團，曾經和該市議會鬧翻過。
這個聯盟只有三個人，但是在美國9·11恐怖襲擊事件后，有著象征性的影響力。在支持塞申斯競選市長之前，該聯盟主席凱文·保肯特地致電塞申斯的老師核實他的學歷背景。
“最初，因為他年齡太小，聯盟的成員們有點不太相信，但是他的坦率和活力確實給我們留下了深刻的印象。”?？舷壬嬖V記者說。
為了讓大家都知道他的名字，夏天，塞申斯通過賣太妃糖蘋果籌集了700美元，這些錢他都用在了海報和廣告上。市長競選那天，希爾斯代爾市的草坪上到處都是他的競選海報。
他進行了長達一個月的競選活動，包括挨家挨戶敲門游說，在最初不信任他的鄰居家的廚房闡述自己對于城市發展前景的想法。
“他們看著我說，‘再問一遍你多大了？你有多少執政經驗？’我回答他們說‘我還在讀高中。’”他回憶說。
(中國日報網站薛曉文編譯) |
Updated: 2005-11-15 09:05
