City Mayors: Mayor Monitor for Nikitas Kaklamanis- Mayor of Athens

Nikitas Kaklamanis, former Mayor of Athens

FRONT PAGE
SiteSearch
About us | Quiénes somos |
A propos de nous | Über uns |
Mayor Monitor
Directories
Events
Debate

City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world and questions them about their achievements, policies and aims. More

City Mayors provides a rolling assessment of mayors performance More

Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award. More

City Mayors ranks the world’s largest as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More

City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More

City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More

City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More

City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More

City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More

City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More

City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More

City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More

City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More

City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world’s greatest metro systems. More

City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More

City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More

City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More

City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More

City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More

City Mayors invites readers to write short stories about people in cities around the world. More

City Mayors questions those who govern the world’s cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More

City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More

City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More

City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More

How good was Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis?
Former Mayor of Athens, Greece

City Mayors invited readers to assess the performance in office of Nikitas Kaklamanis, Mayor of Athens, rating his overall performance by awarding him marks out of ten. '1' signified an extremely poor performance, while '10' would rate his performance as outstanding.

Over time, Mayor Monitor has provide a valuable track record of the mayor's successes and failures as well as his popularity among residents and a wider public. His approval rating dropped sharply during the 2010 election campaign, resulting in electoral defeat on 15 November 2010.

Update 15 November 2010: For the first time in 24 years Athens has elected a socialist as mayor. Giorgos Kaminis was declared the winner in a tight run-off election after conservative incumbent Nikitas Kaklamanis conceded. Kaminis was elected Mayor of Athens after the second round of the Greek local elections.

RESULTS FOR NIKITAS KAKLAMANIS:
Performance index:
November 2010: 5.78 points out of 10
August 2010: 6.44 point out of 10
July 2010: 6.31 points out of 10
May 2010: 6.51 points out of 10
April 2010: 6.48 points out of 10
March 2010: 6.32 points out of 10
January 2010: 6.30 points out of 10
December 2009: 6.25 points out of 10
October 2009: 6.21 points out of 10
August 2009: 6.33 points out of 10
July 2009: 6.02 points out of 10
June 2009: 6.19 points out of 10
April 2009: 6.23 points out of 10
January 2009: 6.03 points out of 10

COMMENTS:

Thumbs up:
• Pedro (Outside Greece): Kaklamanis has trasformed Athens into a green and clean city with beautifull parks and roads and he is helping the poor people by giving them food, medicines, clothes, etc.
• Dimitris (Athens): The mayor has taken a series of measures to enhance the life of socially vulnerable groups
• Gogo (Athens): Nikitas Kaklamanis is a very simple person who understands our problems in Athens and stands by us. He looks after poor people, minigrants, children and old people. every day and night poor people eat at a social "restaurant", can take clothes and shoes, and have medical care. He tries very hard to make Athens more "green", whith new parks,and open areas made by flowers, trees...Kaklamanis is a different mayor whith passion for Athens, for our city's culture, for all people, Greek or not.
• Mario (Outside Greece): Mayor Kaklamanis keeps the city clean and full of cultural events
• S A (Athens): He cares for the poor and distributes food to them.
• Andreas (Greece): The scars left behind the December riots were mostly closed quickly. The Mayor has a statesman like image that adds a lot to his credit. After years of face lifting, Athens looks more like a major South European city and less like a mediterranean urban medley.
• Evangelos P (Athens): He cares for the poor people of Athens.
• MB (Athens): To give up on turning Kypseli Park into a car park after residents occupied it and began planting trees to replace those torn up by city workers.
• Stavros V (Athens): Nikitas Kaklamanis is one of the best Majors the City of Athens had. At very difficult economic times and social unrest he managed to unite the people and help them focus in what unites them and not what divides them. In his Christmas/New Year 2009 speech he was very instrumental to uplift peoples spirits and give hope to all of us.
• Gerhard F (Athens): New parking system i the city centre.
• Katerina (Athens): Because of lack of trees in Athens I believe that mayors greatest achievmentare the "green roof tops" and stopping the cutting of trees from OSE.
• David T (Outside Greece): He always comes across as a highly educated man with a vision for Athens.

Thumbs down:
• LB (Athens): Mayor Kaklamanis has been unable to keep the city clean. Athens has never been so dirty. He takes decisions without any disscusions with the citizens and offers things which are not within our priorities.He does not dare to appear in any disscussions with the public, he always sents somebody else to defend him.He is known for cutting the few trees left in Athens and now -just before the elections- he is doing one third of what he had to be doing all the years he was a Mayor.I could write a book about him being the worst Mayor ever in Athens.
• Kostis A (Athens): Nikitas Kaklamanis is a bad mayor.Being a mayor is about thinking the people in your town as well as the tourists..Athens has the worst ratio between green (plants and trees) ratio and the population per sq metre and he still cuts down several trees in Athens from parks because he wants public garages to be built in order to gain money.One can understand that he does illegal act when he send his crew to chop down trees at 04.00 am (!!!) so no one citizen could react at this late time cause he will be asleep.When citizen react for this enviromental concern he brings the police beating people as if they are criminals (although the only thing that people want is some parks for their kids to play).
• Aria (Athens): The city is full of trash and unbelievably ugly graffiti, every park, square and playground serves as lodgings for homeless immigrants, and is in a state of utter abandon. Playgrounds are even dangerous to little children because they are so derelict and open day and night. We don't receive basic services that we are paying for such as: having someone sweeping the pavement, let alone repair it + the pavements are full of motorcycles and various obstacles: quite simply, in Athens we do not have a basic human/pedestrian right which is to safely circulate as we please. Let's not start with handicapped or older people: getting out of one's house may lead you to the hospital because of the state the pavement is in, it is not only unpleasant to walk around Athens, it is dangerous!
• Marina V (Athens): Kaklamanis mayorship is by far the worst Athens has ever had. Nothing remotely worthwhile has been implemented, Athens is probably the dirtiest city in Europe, the wishes of the Athenians have been systematically ignored or laughed at to the benefit of a few cafe and club owners. on top of that, as the electoral base for local elections consists of people who do not live in the centre of the city for the past 3 decades at least but who have chosen to retain their voting rights so as to be able to give supposedle a political message to government through local elections- another twist in the system- he may get elected by New Democracy staunch believers who cast a protest vote while hapily living in clean and green in Psyhico, Filothei, Ekali and Kavouri...
• Nikos (Athens): Extremely poor performance. We have nothing good to remember, a great work or a huge change. Actually he didn't do much to deal with major problems that some specific neigbourhoods have such as the conditions under which some groups of immigrants live and work that cause troubles to the rest of the residents/shopkeepers, the low level of infrastructure in the city, his willingness to build parking areas in some squares/parks. His main concern while being in office was to push for the construction of a club's stadium mainly to serve the purposes of bussiness giants. Really pathetic!
• Costas C (Athens): He failed to keep equality for all according to human rights, didn't manage to take under his shield (aegis) the 6th march -protest of Athens Pride, for 6 years the lgbt(lesbians,gays,bisexual,transgender) citizens of the town asking to be under the aegis of magor the Athens Pride day. He didn't even visited it, not even once for 6 years. He didn't support it through the municipal radio 984, failed to create an lgbt place of meetings, movies,discussions, exibitions,library e.t.c., failed to support the nomination of the city for Europride of 2014 and so on...
• Sophia M (Athens): Mayor Kaklamanis has turned Athens into an ugly, dirty, decadent city we barely recognise. Both petty and serious crime have increased to a unforeseen level, with drug dealing taking place in every corner.
• E Zacharia (Outside Greece): Athens has never been more dirty, dangerouse and hostile to anything other than motorcycles. Motorcycles are everywhere, green is nowhere, municipal employees are corrupt, inneficient and rude. And this is how he turned the city the past 4 years, 2-3 out of which the economic crisis had not hit Athens. Now that the crisis is hiting the city hard ... ouu ou its too scary to think what s gonna happen
• Philip B (Athens): Mr K, without exploring his sexual orientation (which we all know) is anti-gay. A city needs someone more open minded. Further to that, we need someone younger and more aware of how a city should be like. He needs to travel a bit as well, out of greece. Maybe like Madrid!!!!
cheers
• Katerina (Athens): Athens has not been more polluted and dirty ever before. Gazi area was supposed to be the new big thing but instead it has ended to be a big night club, with no pavements, architecture, green, style. Athens is the only EU capital that has an under valued, dirty, full of drug addicts, scary center.
There is no green, the playgrounds are full of rubbish. There is no punishment for anything wrong happening in this city. It is an achievement living at the center of Athens.
Additionally, giving food to poor people and offering jobs when needed, is every mayor's a duty and the least thing he can do but not an achievement.
• Vassilis M (Athens): The planned real estate development at Votanikos which will create inter alia a huge and unnecessary mall.
• Elena (Athens): The misuse and demoralisation of the Municipal Police, who are untrained and could not care less about the city of Athens.
I would also criticise the fact that every time he is approached by the citizens for problems relating to the city (safety issues, drug problems, crime etc.) he is sarcastic and aggressive as if we were his enemies. Eventually, many of us do wish that he steps down. He is one of the worst (if not the worst) mayors of Athens.
• Rayman (Athens): Kaklamanis has been the worst mayor this poor cit has ever had. He and his entourage have never actually proposed any single measure or any strategy or any plan to battle any of the cities problems, from bumpy roads and inaccessible side-pavements to open prostitution outsiede the town hall under Acropolis to name just a few...
• Anna Andreou Z (Athens): He doesnt care for Athens big stray dog and cat problem. He removed water tanks from Athens that were placed specialy to water the thirsty animals during the hot season. He refuses to re-install them and laughs on anything related to animal life...He lies with advertisements that Athens is very beautiful and pleasing city to live when in fact its difficult ,the most poluted air in European soil (by european barometer) and a city developing the fastest growing immigrant ghettos in Europe at the moment.. But he never aknowledges any of these problems, for him Athens is perfect, perhaps cause he lives in the most posh and rich suburbs? Could be an explanation...
• Jane R (outside Greece): Removing the water bowls from the city of Athens so street dogs are dying of heatstroke. A sinister and callous thing to do and one which tens of thousands of future tourists are now seeing and wondering why they should visit such a country.
• Panos P (Athens): Has Kaklamanis done something Athenians can be proud of? He consistently makes empty promises. Lots of hype and no action. His office has made some of the dumbest decisions a Mayor could make. When good things do happen, like the refurbishment of a park, it is never managed properly after the fact. The fact that some people call him a Green Mayor is laughable. What happened with the campaign to rid the city of plastic bags. Why cut down the orange trees in Kolonaki. Why redo Monistraki Square and then allow it to be vandalized every night. The list goes on and on. Have you visited the Olympic Complex, it's a disgrace. The only square that it cared for properly is the one outside his office window. Omonia, Syntagma, Plaka, Klathmonos, Koria etc, all graffitied and filled with trash. Walk down Panepstimou Street and tell me why the most beautiful building in Athens are vandalized on a daily basis. Where was the mayor during the riots? Where is the Mayor promoting Athens as a tourist destination? Where is the Mayor cleaning the center so tourists don't need to look at trash and graffiti? Where are the city police stopping people from driving on pedestrianized streets? Time to take off the rose colored glasses and do something productive for your city.
• J L (Athens): Destruction of green areas and the mayor has done nothing about the insane automobile problem. He actually built more parking instead of addressing the issue!. One of the worst cities in the world for green space. Full of sick strays, garbage, urine and feces everywhere. On my street, there has been a dead animal turned into mush rotting for over a week! He once announced "Athens is one of the cleanest cities in Europe"!
• Mireille (Athens): He has not been able to keep Athens a clean city, terrible state of the roads, pavements,nothing to improve access the public offices,for disabled people..Pollution getting worse,not enough Parks and trees...and many more promises made when he was elected, not been made..!
• Stergios (Greece): Kaklamanis messes with national politics although he is the mayor of a city and not the Prime Minister, Athens has never been dirtier, its social and racial problems have never been worse.
• S A (Athens): The mayor hasn't managed to keep city clean or make it more "green".
• Andreas (Greece): Athens still suffers from dirt, in spite of year long promises. Street sweeping is tatty and ineffective. Abandoned vehicles take up useful parking space in the congested city centre. Sidewalks are in a deplorable state almost all across the city centre. The Mayor lacks pro-activity and initiative even at simple tasks that could make Athens a better place to live, work and visit.
• Anon, Athens: The mayor was not prepared for the December 2008 protests and did not know how to react and to handle them.
MB (Athens): Allowing junkies to take over the neighborhood behind City Hall.
• Stavros V (Athens): His worst Mistake was to leave the post as a Minister of Health. He could bring change to the Healthcare system especially the Public healthcare system but he wanted to leave the post as he wanted to become a major. As he is by training a doctor his priority had to be the reform of the Healthcare System and not the City of Athens.
• Gerhard F (Athens): Hardly any appearances in public. I fear for his reelection.
• Despo (Athens): Instead of providing a proper refuse collection service Kaklamanis has allowed gypsy rag-and-bone men to run around Athens all day long, every day of the week making extremely loud and annoying announcements. It's not the fact that they're gypsies we mind - in fact, we think they should be given much better employment and enterprise opportunities - but the fact that all day long all one hears are their loud blaring calls announcing that they are here. They should have licences, 95% do not, yet Kaklamanis still lets them run around Athens in their pick-up trucks, blocking roads and creating an unbearable environment to live in with their loud, continuous recorded messages being pumped through the megaphones of their pick-up trucks.

How good are OTHER mayors?

The best Mayors for Stronger | Fairer | Greener cities. Elect your candidate for the 20/21 World Mayor Prize and Honours. The Prize has been awarded since 2004

How good was Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis? Former Mayor of Athens, Greece

How good was Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis?
Former Mayor of Athens, Greece