Chapter 18 Officials don't get paid

Li Wanruo is a woman with a strong personality. When we first met, she directly attacked me.The reason is that in my two influential long reportage and famous books and magazines, there are glorious images about me. You are already an influential writer, but you always have a cigarette in your mouth in public, which is not good.I have also seen articles introducing these two works in the New York Times. I know that Chinese college students and middle school students like your two works very much, but the image of you smoking a cigarette is on the cover of the book. Very uncoordinated.I am most opposed to smoking, it does too much harm to the body, not to mention that smoking is no longer fashionable in the world, many young people are ashamed of smoking, you can't smoke when you are with me.When she saw that I hadn't smoked a single cigarette during the 20 days of interviewing her, she was surprised and praised me for being amazing.

You are a very strong-willed person, and you can do what you say. I admire you very much.She even hugged me with the caress of the elders and said: If I am still the mayor, I will grant you the title of honorary citizen, because when I was a councilor and mayor, I strongly advocated the prohibition of gambling, but the government has no control over smoking. Can tax heavily. Therefore, I know that Li Wanruo did a ground-breaking work for the city of Montenegro shortly after entering politics, that is, to ban the construction of casinos in this beautiful Southern California city.Don't think that this is just a trivial matter. It is not easy for a female mayor with an oriental face to stop such a bad habit that affects public security and the social environment in a Western country where the gambling industry is flourishing.

Monterey Park, known as the beautiful garden and Little Taipei, naturally, with the continuous influx of Chinese people, opening a casino has become a big dream of many big businessmen, and they are hanging on their hearts and mouths, and they are working hard to realize this dream. . Montgomery is close to Hollywood, and the traffic extends in all directions.It is a good place to run a casino with the right time, place and people, and it is a huge profit!If we want to do it, let's build a big casino comparable to Las Vegas!One day, several businessmen from Taiwan and Hong Kong were playing mahjong in high spirits while calculating a big deal with great interest.

Hey, please speak slowly, the timing and location of this Mengshi city sounds good to me, but where is Kerenhe?I heard that there are still more Mexicans than us Chinese!A new Chinese businessman asked. What's the use of having more people?Gotta be in power.The key is that we Chinese are the mayor of Montenegro... mayor?Our mayor?Are Chinese mayors in the United States?Haha, that's it.With the support of our mayor, there will be a lot of fun in building a casino! My God, the Chinese are so awesome, a woman came to the United States to become the mayor!Not simple not simple! When this group of happy Chinese businessmen who thought they had encountered good luck were preparing to raise huge sums of money to open a casino, someone came back with bad luck.Blow, who own people?He didn't even give a little help to the Chinese, and taught us a lesson...

That's right, and she also said that as long as she is in power, there is no need to build a casino or open a pornographic place in this city! The few Chinese businessmen who were still elated just now were discouraged.Some people regret it, others hate it, and more people are grateful to the mayor they elected. Since the killing of Li Wanruo (the later Chinese mayor Jiang Guoliang also made great efforts), Monterey Park City, which is in the center of the gambling industry, still does not have an open casino.More than ten years have passed, whether it is the old residents who have lived here for several generations or the new immigrants who have only a few years of life experience, when they see the huge casino land in the center of the city today changed to a green garden However, the citizens said that they still missed the wise leadership of their old mayor, Lily Lee Chen (Li Wanruo's English name).This is something.

Speaking of which, many Chinese in our country would not believe the following things—— In the United States, in fact, many officials do not get paid, and everyone knows that if you want to make a lot of money, you should never be an official. There are several kinds of official positions in the United States. Officials such as the president, governor, congressman, county sheriff, mayor, etc. are all elected by the people. Such officials have full-time officials, that is, they must devote all their time to their duties every day. Generally speaking, officials above the governor level need to work full-time. Therefore, the federal government stipulates that officials above the governor level should be paid.Both the president and congressmen are full-time elected officials. The annual salary of the president is more than 200,000 US dollars, and the annual salary of congressmen and governors is around 100,000 US dollars.Even if someone becomes a high-ranking official like the president or governor, he is actually very poor. With an annual salary of 200,000 US dollars, in American society, especially for big figures like the president and members of Congress, there are many social activities, and the life is at the level of the upper class aristocracy. Personal and household deficits are commonplace.

Li Wanruo said that most of the families and ancestors who can become presidents and congressmen have savings, and they are not short of money at all, but there are also many whose economic income belongs to the poor or civilians, like Carter and Clinton, who belong to families who lack money of a class.After Carter became president, his life now depends on writing some memoirs and others asking him to be a consultant to increase his income.But one thing is true, for a district-level mayor and councilor like Li Wanruo, being an official is not only impossible to make a fortune, but also to lose a lot of money.Why does a mayor like Li Wanzhu, who is a mayor in a wealthy place in California, the United States, not take any money, and has to lose money?

Also in accordance with the laws of the US federal government, elected officials below the state level are all honorary officials, that is, officials who do not get paid.When Qian Wanruo was the mayor and city councilor for a few years, she only had a monthly transportation allowance of 300 yuan. How can the transportation expenses of two or three hundred yuan a month be possible?And when I am the mayor, I will inevitably have a lot of empty pay. If I come to a guest or meet an important person, I have to spend my own money.I am a grassroots person, my husband and I do not do business, and the salary is basically fixed.In the United States, being a mayor and many social positions are honorary positions that do not take money but serve the public.But this kind of honorary position has a special status in the United States. If you were once an elected official, you will have honors and so on in front of your name for the rest of your life.People know your identity at a glance, and they know that you are an official elected by the people. Although this may only be a symbolic meaning, it is widely respected by the society.Power but not money This may also reflect the uniqueness of the American political system and an important reason why officials are relatively clean.Being an official without money, for people with my background and background, there are many times when I feel extremely helpless.

When Li Wanruo said this, she laughed first.She told me about her predicament when she went to Washington for a meeting when she was an advisor to the Commerce Department's Industry Council in the Clinton administration.According to federal regulations, even elected officials can be reimbursed for travel expenses when attending government meetings.After Mayor Li Wanruo's business meeting, she still habitually took out a pile of travel receipts and asked the staff of the Ministry of Commerce to reimburse her.The blond girl didn't realize it for a long time, and finally said: I'm sorry, Lily, our... consultants in the ministry are all paid for their travel expenses.How about I ask Mr. Minister for instructions?

This time it was Li Wanruo's turn to stand there blankly, her face flushed.Later, she also understood that in the United States, to be appointed by the Ministry of Commerce as a consultant-level official is not a tycoon, but also the general manager and chairman of a certain consortium. It is impossible for a bare-handed commander to come to a meeting alone. There are often several personal assistants, and the place to live usually includes a suite in a big hotel.Li Wanruo thought about it, in the history of the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce in the United States, isn't she the first grassroots consultant like her.This time it was her turn to feel embarrassed.

It is best not to talk about money when you are with Americans, but it is different with Li Wanruo. When we were talking about money that day, her wife Chen Baohe was also there. I know that in this female mayor’s house, the husband is the economic pillar. Li Wanruo has always been a civil servant of the government. Even in the years when she was mayor, her source of income was her salary from the Social Welfare Department.But being a member of parliament and mayor is different from ordinary civil servants. There are frequent visits and visits, although the mayor also has a certain amount of official entertainment expenses.In the United States, if you want to reimburse more private accounts, then you'd better not think about becoming an official.As an official, you don't want to take a penny more. This is the law of the United States. Speaking of this, Li Wanruo, who has been in the American political arena for decades, has a look of embarrassment on her face.So, in the United States, it is easier said than done for you to pursue a career in politics.You have great political ambitions, and you can’t take a step forward without economic strength; I am a Chinese from the grassroots class, I have no social background in politics, and there is no political group that supports me economically. It's me and my family.But I am very proud of it, even if I failed because I had no money, I never felt any regrets.After decades of ups and downs in the political arena, Li Wan's heart is as calm as a mirror. When she was in the city, because it was an honorary position, she couldn't give up her job in the Social Welfare Department, which was her main source of income to maintain her life.Others have no way of knowing how many matters need to be decided by the mayor every day in managing a modern city, how many foundation laying activities and ceremonies you need to attend, how many citizens who voted for you back then have children baptized, children’s weddings, old people’s medical treatment, etc. Things need you to go.Not long after, Li Wanruo had to temporarily suspend her job at the Ministry of Social Welfare, that is to say, she became the mayor without any money. Some people say that Li Wanruo is really stupid to be the mayor, but Li Wanruo calculates another account, that is, a person's social value and her value as a Chinese mayor.Secondly, in the words of our Chinese people, it is to serve the people 100%. I'm a social work major.What is the essence and ultimate goal of the social work profession?It is to coordinate those unbalanced things in the society, and it is to use my enthusiasm, enthusiasm and love to care for those who need to solve difficulties.Why in the Western world, some people are willing to give up the good things of huge wealth or annual income of hundreds of millions, and run for a full-time elected official of the governor who only earns hundreds of thousands or two hundred thousand?For example, the former mayor of Los Angeles only accepted a symbolic salary of one dollar a year.Why did you ask him to do this?That is, you can carry out your own political ambitions, and you can't use money to measure the great glory that the whole society cheers and smiles at you!Chinese people pay attention to honoring their ancestors, while Western society is more willing to honor their own life.You just need to pay attention to that almost none of the incumbent presidents had a personal financial situation that was not in deficit during their tenure.But why does the president still attract so many people to compete?This is glory, lifelong glory and generational glory.This is true for the president, and the same is true for the governors and mayors below.When I was running for the mayor, the post of deputy director of the Social Welfare Department could become mine immediately. In terms of income, I would not only get no extra money when I was mayor, but also at least tens of thousands from my family income every year. Yuan.The annual salary of the Minister of Social Welfare is close to that of a full-time governor.In terms of salary, having been mayor and council member for a few years is much less...but I have no regrets.Because the work of being a director of the social welfare department is absolutely incomparable with the role of a mayor of a city, and it is definitely not measurable by money.And I am an immigrant with a Chinese background. Now that I am the mayor, a decision, or even a sentence, will bring benefits to the people that cannot be calculated with numbers!Isn't it worth it?Li Wanruo answered our doubts with the great mind and foresight of a statesman. This is what her husband Chen Baohe told me—— In order to facilitate the naturalization procedures for new Chinese immigrants, she specially hired a staff member at her own salary in the Montreal community to set up a service station for new immigrants.The service station has been established for several years and has solved the problem of citizenship for many new immigrants. Some students from mainland China couldn't find any job opportunities when they came to California, and their lives were in trouble. They went to the mayor Li Wanruo and cried, hoping that the mayor's aunt could help.The mayor's aunt had no choice but to donate generously.Every year, she regularly sponsors several international students with excellent academic performance. Those old people who settled in Montenegro with their children from Taiwan were abandoned by their children because their lives and habits could not adapt to Americanization, and they sought help from the mayor's sister.Amei, the mayor, tearfully arranged for the elderly to live well, and then helped them take up legal weapons to regain respect and rights. Immigrants from Vietnam, Korea, and Cambodia are a new source of immigrants in recent years. In order to make these latecomers accepted by American society and not be bullied, she used her home countless times and helped them at the dinner table of her home Planning and establishing organizations and groups... I laughed and asked Li Wanruo how many things like this could happen?She smiled and replied that such a thing could only be regarded as a trivial matter when she was the mayor, and it was not worth mentioning. It’s no wonder that when the authoritative textbooks of American universities today write about the development of contemporary American history, they all cite the development model of the city of Huntley Park in Southern California, and when introducing the development of this city, they always mention a Chinese Outstanding stewardship by a female mayor.Perhaps without her outstanding leadership and dedicated work, this city might not have what it is now..."USA Today" and "World Journal" have made such comments more than once.