See superb blog post by Elizabeth Barner under the heading "What a difference a mayor makes". Note in particular: 'Campaigning can feel so bleak when it’s all about "No"'. On that note, although in a different context, this is one of the main reasons why I'm still so enthusiastic about my pro-renewables and in particular pro-wind campaigning activities after more than 20 years. See 'blast from the past' here and more recent Pro Wind Alliance website.
Coming back to the mayor theme, based on my experience from Germany I'm very much in favour of the concept of elected mayors, and I fully agreed with the editorial on the subject that was published in the Leicester Mercury opinion piece back in November 2010 under the heading "Election for mayor will beat apathy" [article no longer available, unfortunately].
