Samara mayor. Elena Lapushkina became the seventh mayor of Samara: what do we know about the new head of the city. The long road to the mayor: how it was
Today the city council has elected the mayor of Samara. Of the three candidates selected by the competition commission, the deputies voted for the head of the Zheleznodorozhny intracity district, Elena Lapushkina. The decision came as no surprise to the establishment, analysts and local internet users. The officials knew about the future appointment since October. Why Acting Governor Dmitry Azarov secretly opted for an inconspicuous policy without much merit - Mrs. Lapushkina, and what are the real tasks of the new mayor - in the material "FederalPress".
All welcome
Since taking office as Acting Governor of the Samara Region, Dmitry Azarov tried his best to oppose himself to his predecessor Nikolai Merkushkin, including in personnel policy. Unlike Merkushkin, the new head of the region does not play secret games and is ready to work with anyone who is elected mayor. From now on there are no prepared candidates. Anyone can become the head of the municipality, and all contestants have equal chances. These theses have been conveyed to the residents of the region since the resignation of the city manager Oleg Fursov. And so diligently that, it seems, they overdid it.
About the desire to take part in the competition for the position of the Samara mayor - almost eight times more than two years ago. Among them are a 25-year-old engineer and a 65-year-old unemployed pensioner. As the secretary of the competition commission Vladimir Pronin said, some participants did not submit information about the income and expenses of the spouses, two did not have higher education. There was no talk of any program or experience in management matters. One of the potential mayors did not even know how many districts there were in Samara. Despite this, everyone was given a chance to lead the millionaire city and manage the 15 billion budget on the eve of the World Cup.
Alas, a fly in the ointment spoiled a barrel of honey called "the triumph of democracy" - the October leak of information from the White House about the appointment of Elena Lapushkina as city manager.
And he, rebellious, is looking for a chair
To political analysts, the option of appointing Elena Lapushkina seemed plausible. Four years earlier, as mayor, Dmitry Azarov had already promoted an official with 20 years of experience up the career ladder, making her the head of the Zheleznodorozhny district of Samara. However, with the promotion to the post of mayor, the situation was more complicated. According to the law of the Samara region, the head of the city district is elected by a competitive commission, whose members are approved by the governor and the city council. To carry out his plans, Azarov had to show directorial and acting skills.
The intrigue and a sense of the legitimacy of the process were preserved for as long as possible. Perhaps that is why Elena Lapushkina did not apply for the competition until the last day. During this time, a rumor was launched that Alexander Karpushkin would become the head of the city. The version sounded logical: after the departure of Dmitry Azarov in 2013 from the post of Samara mayor to the Federation Council, his protege Karpushkin acted as the mayor. He was better suited to the role of city manager than the head of the district. Moreover, the head of the region himself a month earlier voiced his wish to the candidate: the new mayor of Samara should be a person with experience in managing urban systems.
But on December 18, Karpushkin was not included in the final list of contestants. But together with Lapushkina, Vladimir Vasilenko and Alexander Terentyev, who did not want to declare before, got into it. It would seem that the deck was reshuffled again not in favor of the official - the acting interim head of the city and his deputy, in contrast to the head of the district scale, have the experience of city management. The audience appreciated the subtleties of the director's intention three days later, when both officials withdrew their candidacies.
“Initially, Vasilenko did not want to go to the competition, and he can be understood - he manages financial flows in the housing and public utilities sector and does not have the responsibility that is assigned to the mayor. When he was appointed acting head of the city, he did not have any bonuses, but increased responsibility, ”notes Dmitry Loboyko, a sociologist and head of the Regional Research Center. - I think his application for the competition came about as a result of doubts about the previous agreements. Perhaps, earlier he was promised a place as deputy head of the city, but at some point there was uncertainty about the observance of this agreement. Probably for the same reason Terentyev entered the competition. Subsequently, both withdrew the candidacies, probably because these agreements were somehow backed up.
Correct program
On December 20 - the day before the departure of the two leading extras - the stage was left by the director: the competition committee conducted interviews with candidates for the post of mayor without a chairman. As the acting governor explained, he did not want to influence the objectivity of the process - let them choose themselves, and may the strongest win.
Meanwhile, the process went on. Two days of communication with the applicants almost made the members of the commission give up - the ideal mayor did not emerge. Until Elena Lapushkina appeared. At an individual interview, the official outlined the priority tasks of future work: organizing the presidential elections in Russia, preparing and holding the 2018 World Cup games, creating a workable team and eliminating conditions that create corruption on the ground. For 40 minutes of conversation, Lapushkina emphasized the importance of the "Comfortable Urban Environment" program, spoke in favor of municipal transport enterprises and answered questions from the commission. “This is the person we need,” the members of the commission thought loudly. And the Speaker of the Gubernia Duma Viktor Sazonov said aloud that this report is the first real program for the development of the city from everything the commission heard earlier.
Following the results of two days of work, three reached the final of the competition: advisor to the director of OEK Managing Company LLC, LDPR-vets Anton Alimov, ex-deputy and president of the Waste Management Association, General Director of EcoStroyResource JSC, communist Konstantin Ryadnov and United Russia Elena Lapushkina.
“Interestingly, all three candidates represent different political parties. This is an indicator that there is real competition, ”Dmitry Azarov could not resist commenting in one of his television interviews. In it, the acting governor said that the head of the city will have to solve the issues of preparation for the presidential elections in the country and participate in the preparation of the city for the 2018 World Cup. It remained only to guess who would win.
And ours and yours
“Outwardly, the procedure for the election of the Samara mayor looks as if any locksmith, pensioner or host of entertainment shows can become the head of the city. In fact, the surname of the person whom the governor has chosen long ago becomes known at the last moment. The head of the region should immediately name his candidate and talk openly with the population, and the named candidate should be given the opportunity to hold meetings with the townspeople and answer questions from Samara residents. Then the formal appointment of Lapushkina would have been supported by public opinion, ”says Mikhail Matveyev, a member of the local government committee of the Samara Provincial Duma, a candidate for the post of mayor.
According to Mikhail Matveev, Dmitry Azarov did not find the strength to reboot the model of regional administration, which was introduced by his predecessor Nikolai Merkushkin. “And although Azarov himself was elected to the mayor of Samara through popular elections, and he himself criticized the Merkushkin system of local self-government, being a senator, he nevertheless adopted it for himself. While it is ineffective under any governor, the deputy believes. “The main disadvantage of this model is that it does not initially imply the responsibility of the city manager to the population.”
“Today all over Russia there is a crisis of confidence in the authorities. This trust can be restored by people who have a state mindset and are ready to take responsibility for themselves. Therefore, the mayor should not be a business executive and an Azarov subordinate, but a leader who is subordinate to business executives. People need a head, not just hands. Azarov, as you can see, has enough hands. He has his own head, ”sums up Mikhail Matveev.
During the years of her work in the regional administration, Elena Lapushkina did not become a prominent political figure. She attracted the attention of political scientists to her person only by her probable connection with businessman Oleg Borisov, who is called the unofficial owner of the Zheleznodorozhny District. The ex-deputy of the gubernia Duma with a criminal past, in turn, represents a group of the old regional elite, which supposedly includes ex-governor Konstantin Titov and former mayor of Samara Georgy Limansky
“I think Azarov was offered Lapushkina's candidacy as the most compromise. Most likely - the people who stood behind the former city manager Oleg Fursov. The same Konstantin Titov. His man, Fursov, was removed from office amid changes in the new governor's team. The symbolic act has been completed and, on a legitimate basis, the post of mayor is occupied by another person from Titov and other representatives of the regional elite, Elena Lapushkina. By the way, Titov openly expressed his support, - says Dmitry Loboyko. - Azarov, together with Lapushkina, receives guarantees from the elite of a calm situation in the future elections of the President of Russia and the governor. In this regard, it is worth paying attention to Lapushkina's statement on holding presidential elections as the main task of the mayor. In fact, it is absurd, but these words made the commission happy. Thus, she confirmed her readiness and the readiness of her patrons to meet Azarov halfway. "
Political analyst Lev Pavlyuchkov believes that he saw a different benefit in the appointment of Elena Lapushkina as Acting Governor: “Perhaps by doing so Azarov demonstrated that he is an independent politician. Karpushkin was shaken off, since he was Azarov's henchman and gave rise to unnecessary talk about his and Azarov's affiliation with financial and industrial groups. Vasilenko was dismissed because he is a man from the past and gives the impression that Azarov has weak staffing opportunities. Lapushkina, although she has no known merits, looks like a new figure at the city level. And if she does not cope with the tasks facing the head of the city, the governor will strengthen the nominal mayor with experienced business executives such as Vasilenko, Karpushkin or Terentyev. "
“We do not yet know whether Elena Lapushkina will cope with this position,” adds Igor Ermolenko, a public figure, leader of the Samara regional branch of the Yabloko party. - But there is an interesting fact - the Zheleznodorozhny district of Samara, which she headed since 2013, has recently been famous for the fact that electoral legislation was not observed especially zealously there during several election campaigns of deputies. In this regard, Lapushkina's ascent seems strange. Especially considering that as a priority task as mayor, she designated the organization of presidential elections in the Russian Federation. "
In 1994-1997, Vladimir Andreevich Vasilenko worked in the administration of the city of Samara. Then the mayor was Oleg Sysuev.In 1997, with the arrival of the new head of the city, Georgy Limansky, he continued to work in the administration. Until 2006, Vasilenko was the head of the city department of economy and ecology.
Vladimir Andreevich also worked in the team of Viktor Tarkhov. He took the chair of the mayor of Samara in 2006.
In 2007, after his dismissal from the administration, Vladimir Vasilenko began to head the Samara Heating Networks branch of Volzhskaya Territorial Generating Company.
After winning the mayoral election, Dmitry Azarov, Vasilenko began to work in the mayor's office. There he was appointed head of the MP "Improvement". In November 2013, he wrote a letter of resignation of his own free will and became the head of Samaradorstroy OJSC.
In 2013, Vasilenko was appointed the first deputy head of the Samara administration. His powers included overseeing the housing and utilities sector, issues of the consumer market, the transport industry and the economic block.
From the post of the head of Samara. Instead, Vladimir Vasilenko, who previously held the post of one of Fursov's deputies, will become the mayor of the city. "Bolshaya Derevnya" has collected five facts about Vasilenko - we tell you what the new interim mayor is known for.
Long in power
Vladimir Vasilenko has a long track record: he has been working in the city administration since 1994. True, with interruptions: nevertheless, Vasilenko "survived" many city mayors - from Oleg Sysuev to his own predecessor, Oleg Fursov. In 2013, Vasilenko resigned from the mayor's office to return in 2015: since then, according to Kommersant, he became the first deputy mayor and oversaw the housing and communal services, transport industry and the economic block. In 2015, the salary of Vladimir Vasilenko amounted to 4.27 million rubles per year, in - 2.32 million.
Man-"business executive"
We have already said that Vasilenko worked intermittently in the city administration: for example, during one of them, in 2007, he headed the Samara Heating Networks company, in 2010, when Dmitry Azarov assumed the post of mayor, he became the head of the Beloostroystvo MP. In 2011, Vladimir gave the following comment to Samarskaya Gazeta: “This year alone, we received 224 orders from the traffic police and 11 submissions from the prosecutor’s office. Together with me, 17 employees of the MP were involved in penalties in the amount of 300 thousand rubles, another 600 thousand "Improvement" paid as a legal entity. It is clear that Samara roads are far from ideal. But for the last fifteen years we have not allocated money for their repair either from the federal or regional budgets. And now the critical moment for the wear of the top layer of the asphalt concrete pavement has arrived. "
After the third and last dismissal from the administration, Vasilenko took up the Samaradorstroy firm, which repaired city roads. Vladimir's departure from there is associated with talk about the bankruptcy of the company.
Nevertheless, among his colleagues, Vladimir is called an expert in the field of housing and communal services. In a 2015 article by Kommersant devoted to Vasilenko's return to the administration, political scientist Oleg Kazachek said about Vladimir: “Whoever says anything about him, we must give him his due, we have few professionals of this level in the field of housing and communal services. I think Oleg Fursov was guided by this, and did not proceed from any political considerations. Yes, and I consider Vasilenko not a politician, but a business executive "
Considers the main city pain of the road
In 2011, Vladimir Vasilenko published an interview under the heading "In 5 years there will be good roads in Samara". At the same time, being the director of the MP "Improvement", Vladimir said that "the weather and the previous government" were to blame for the bad roads of the city. At that time, the wear rate of the Samara transport routes was estimated at 80%.
Five years later, in 2016, already at the post of vice-mayor, Vasilenko was again forced to talk about Samara roads. This time, he said that transport routes were "killed by water and underfunding." According to him, the current state of the roads is still the fruit of the rash actions of the administrations in the past, when from 1998 to 2007 no road works were carried out in the city: why the administration did not take into account its mistakes remains open to question.
On Tuesday, July 17, the mayor of the regional capital, Elena Lapushkina, has a birthday. The editors of the site sincerely congratulate Elena Vladimirovna on her anniversary and wish her health, energy, happiness and love!
We have collected some of the most striking quotes of the first woman mayor, which she pronounced at official events and which are directly related to the life of Samara.
Elena Lapushkina was born on July 17, 1968 in Kuibyshev. Graduated from the Kuibyshev Polytechnic Institute. From April 1991 to September 1992 she worked in the Kuibyshev machine-building production association "Metallist" as a process engineer in the galvanic shop. In October 1992, Elena Lapushkina was invited to work as the chairman of the Committee on Youth Affairs of the Zheleznodorozhny District Administration. In 2000 she was appointed head of the organizational work department. From September 2007 to July 2013, she was the deputy head of the Zheleznodorozhny district administration. In July 2013, she became the head of the Zheleznodorozhny District Administration.
"I can bring questions to the federal level"
Elena Lapushkina took over as mayor on December 26 last year. Most of the City Duma deputies voted for her. One of the weighty arguments in her favor was the program that she voiced before the people's representatives:
I am aware of the entire burden of responsibility that I am ready to take upon myself if you support me. I can bring questions to the federal level. Bring the best practices for city development from other regions.
"I dreamed of becoming the head of the city"
After the official ceremony in the City Duma, the new mayor talked a little with reporters. She briefly spoke about the tasks that she considers the most important as the mistress of the city:
I understand the extent of my responsibility to the townspeople and to the city. I want Samara to develop and improve itself. The tasks that I have set for myself, I have outlined in my program. This is preparation for the presidential elections and the World Cup, the creation of a management team. But first of all, we have a few days left until the New Year, and I want to put things in order, clear the city of snow, so that people have a wonderful New Year mood. I dreamed of becoming the head of the city.
"Happy New Year!"
On December 31, part of Samara residents received SMS with personal congratulations from the head of the city on the New Year.
I wish you health and good luck in the new year! - Elena Lapushkina turned to the townspeople.
"I'm on Twitter with you"
Following the example of Acting Governor Dmitry Azarov, the head of Samara registered on Twitter.
As promised, I'm on Twitter with you.
Now Elena Lapushkina has 5,434 readers.
The city department together with the SamaraAvtoGaz company, to which the property of the MP Passazhiravtotrans was leased, increased the number of municipal buses on route 50 to 20 vehicles.
Our specialists are monitoring the situation on a daily basis. There are no serious delays from the schedule now, - Elena Lapushkina reported to the acting governor Dmitry Azarov.
"Thank you for your patience"
And finally, of course, the world championship. During the World Cup matches in Samara, Elena Lapushkina had very few public appearances. However, she used her Twitter account to reach out to residents of the city:
Many thanks to all residents of Samara! For your patience, for your hospitality, for your open souls and benevolent smiles!
Samara has officially announced the name of the new mayor. The City Duma deputies made their choice among the three candidates recommended by the commission. Elena Lapushkina, head of the Zheleznodorozhny district administration, became the head of Samara, and this is indeed a new chapter in the history of Samara: for the first time a woman became the mayor of the city. Recall that in 2015, the lady first took the post of head of the Duma of Mr. Samara.
Workaholic in touch
Little is known about the new head of Samara. Born on July 17, 1968 in Kuibyshev. She studied to be a chemist, worked as an engineer at the machine-building association "Metallist" and in 1992 she came to work in the administration of the Zheleznodorozhny district, heading the committee for youth affairs. In the depths of the administration, Elena Lapushkina worked for all Samara mayors, and when the head of the district, Yevgeny Kiselev, resigned in May 2013, it was she who became his deputy in this post. Then the appointment caused a lot of talk. Commentators paid tribute to the experience of a person who has been associated with the administration for 21 years, but they wondered why Elena Vladimirovna did without career growth for so long. By the way, her appointment to this post took place under Dmitry Azarov, who was dissatisfied with the work of the former head of the district.
In July, Elena Lapushkina became the head of the district and, apparently, did not disappoint the residents. The journalists of "Komsomolskaya Pravda - Samara" talked with the heads of the housing association of the region, and were even a little surprised: apparently, bright times are coming in the life of the city.
Elena Lapushkina was elected to the post of the head of Samara at a meeting of the City Council Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
We regret that she leaves, but on the other hand - the best candidate for the city and cannot be found - the social activist Galina Deriy makes a helpless gesture. - This is a person in his place, a hard worker, a reliable person. We will yearn for her. Here she comes, hugs everyone, regrets, advises. She knew about the problem of every court: it is worth saying, but it turns out that everything is already being decided. Well, we need not only the district, we also need to raise the city.
Valentina Ten, the chairman of the HOA on Agibalova, talks about specific cases: for example, under Elena Lapushkina, kindergarten №225 was restored. Before that, they just liquidated it.
She is very politically literate, not like this Ksenia Sobchak, a mature person, - our interlocutor worries.
The chairman of the homeowners association "Raduga" says that the new Samara mayor is a workaholic, which ones to look for.
She was open, always in touch, when she became the head, established work with all the managers, we began the program "The yard in which we live" to develop, - lists Lyudmila Moiseeva. And Svetlana Maksimova, the chairman of the Nikitinskaya HOA, 75 recalls how the new head of the district helped to install meters in the house under the co-financing program, she herself consulted until the end, until the budget funds were allocated.
On the eve of May 9, I was asked to remove the board of honorary citizen on Agibalov. There lived a pilot, a war veteran, an honorable citizen. I was asked to clean up. Elena also came to clean. The head of the district helped wash the board, clean up the garbage, - says Svetlana Maksimova. - Or here's another case: they planted rowan in our yard. Reported and left. I am texting her: they say, no one is watering. A sprinkler machine arrives in a couple of days.
Elena Lapushkina presented her project for the development of Samara Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
Of course, Samara residents have yet to find out how true this information is. Judging by the comments on social networks, the townspeople have complaints against the district administration. Mention was made, for example, of the absence of a normal parking lot at the district administration.
On the whole, it should be admitted that the new mayor has the necessary experience in local self-government. And she has been in the leadership of the district for a long time, this spring she became a member of the Presidential Council on Local Self-Government. By the way, Dmitry Azarov was also there. After the first meeting of the Council, the current mayor greatly praised such methods of work of local self-government in other regions as the "people's budget" - when the residents themselves decide where to send money from the local treasury. The experience of Tatarstan seemed interesting to the future head of the city, when residents participate in solving the problems of the territory not only by business, but also by the ruble, receiving money from the budget on terms of co-financing from their own pockets.
By the way, the new mayor of Samara is an extremely non-public person. On the entire Internet, you cannot find out about her personal life, hobbies. From the anti-corruption reports published on the administration's website, it is only clear that Elena Vladimirovna has not had an official spouse for the last two years. In 2016, for the year she received a little more than 1.8 million rubles, and in her possession she only has an apartment of 30 square meters. Samara political scientists, speaking about the new mayor, call her a person affiliated with Oleg Borisov, a businessman and ex-deputy of the provincial duma (just in the Zheleznodorozhny District).
In her new position, Elena Lapushkina intends to create a workable team, eliminate conditions leading to corruption, support municipal transport companies and develop the Comfortable Urban Environment program. This is what she talked about at an interview with the commission.
Dmitry Azarov congratulated Elena Lapushkina on her election to the post of mayor Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
The long road to the mayor: how it was
The people of Samara have been waiting for a change of power in the city from the moment Dmitry Azarov was appointed to the post of interim governor of the region. On September 25, he replaced the retired Nikolai Merkushkin in this post. True, it took a month to wait. And on October 26, the mayor of Samara, Oleg Fursov, goes to work in the government, back to the Ministry of Labor. A and.about. the head becomes the business executive Vladimir Vasilenko. Almost a month later, the City Duma announces the start of the competition for the post of mayor of Samara. For this, the members of the local parliament were even extended their powers, excluding the rotation of members of the city council.
From November 20 to December 18, a record number of applications were submitted for the post of mayor. The desire to become the chief administrator of the city was expressed by 46 people, much inspired by the speech of the Acting Governor, who guaranteed each candidate attention to his initiatives and abilities.
The intrigue arose from the first days. Vladimir Vasilenko said that he would not submit documents to the competition himself. And the first insider information appeared on the network: a woman can become the mayor. Against the background of Ksenia Sobchak's presidential nomination, it seemed very logical and fashionable. Dmitry Azarov himself commented on the rumors, saying that "a woman may not be like that." And a week later, the ephemeral woman turned into a more specific Elena Lapushkina, the head of the Zheleznodorozhny district. The intrigue was warmed up to the last, Elena Vladimirovna herself submitted the documents on the penultimate day. True, the lists also included ... Vladimir Vasilenko and Deputy Head Vladimir Terentyev. However, there was no competition. On the second day of interviews, the two characters peacefully withdrew their candidacies. And from the lips of the members of the commission, Samara residents heard admiration for Elena Lapushkina's program and understood almost everything.
On Thursday, three finalists of the mayor's race were announced: the communist Konstantin Ryadnov, the representative of business and the Liberal Democratic Party Anton Alimov and Elena Lapushkina. And already on Tuesday, the deputies of the City Duma, having thought carefully, voted for a woman to become the seventh mayor of Samara.
Elena Lapushkina took the oath at the inauguration Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
There is an opinion
Sociologist, head of the Center for Regional Studies Dmitry Loboyko:
It is not so important what name the new head of the city will bear. Samara will be driven by a team led by Dmitry Azarov, these will be centralized decisions. So it is obvious that a person who was not agreed with the acting governor could not be appointed to the post of mayor. On the other hand, this figure is a kind of nod towards the local elites.
Only facts
There have already been six mayors in the history of Samara (not counting two acting mayors). The first city from 1992 to 1997 was ruled by Oleg Sysuev, who later moved to work in the Government of the Russian Federation. In this post, he was replaced by Georgy Limansky, who led the city until October 2006. Viktor Tarkhov sat in the mayor's chair for four years, until 2010. Another four years, until 2014, the city was headed by Dmitry Azarov. The new edition of the charter elevated Alexander to the rank of the head of the city Fetisova Photo: Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
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Inauguration: Elena Lapushkina took office as mayor of Samara.Svetlana MAKOVEEVA
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