With the resignation of Spiros Danellis as Hersonissos Mayor in order to run for parliament in the Euro elections, Yiorgos N. Danelakis, a vice mayor, announced his desire to fill the slot.

The election was held at the town council, and Mr. Danelakis was voted in office by secret ballot of the 10-member majority party. He received eight votes in favour and two abstentions.  

A native of Hersonissos, Mr. Danelakis, a second cousin to the outgoing mayor, has been serving the government since 1998, when the Demos began as Kapodistrian, first as a councilman, afterwards as council to the mayor, and, from 2004 to the present as vice mayor.

As vice mayor he was responsible for everything except economic matters and city planning. He covered social policy, education, technical services, sanitation, and environment. As mayor, he will choose a new vice mayor to fill his vacated slot.

Literally days after taking office as head of one of Crete's most important townships, this reporting team was invited to his office for an in-depth interview.  All his remarks were forthcoming and punctuated with expressive hand movement for emphasis. Following is a summary of that interview.

Well, let's start with a personal question: how does it feel to be mayor of such an important township?

"The day that I undertook the duties as mayor, my youngest grandson, with precisely the same name, Yiorgos N. Danelakis, celebrated his first birthday so the day had an extra special meaning for me."

What are your priorities?  

City planning, reforming and upgrading our waterfront and hinterland, the protection of environment, the management of liquid and solid waste, and also the further improvement of the everyday routine for our visitors and our residents. One I have already begun is the issue of urban planning. The rest are types of infrastructure already in place, like the upgrading of the eastern front and inner villages. For example, as soon as the season ends we are ready to proceed with the paving and lighting.

For the management of the liquid and solid waste, do you have a certain plan of action?

What we have done until now is already a big accomplishment. We have an area, where everyone decided collectively on its geographic appointment, and where bulky solid waste and wastewater sludge can be brought for further management.  At this point, I also want to announce that in the near future we will acquire two ripping machines which can pulp all bulky timber from around the municipality and all other bulky waste that unfortunately people still throw out without any environmental conscience. This acquisition will be discussed at my next meeting with the district. We as demos offer a lot to the environment and the district owes us.

Tourism, especially this year, has many problems. What is your plan for addressing this situation?

We are also going through the most intensely difficult time for enterprises that I have seen in the last 25 years. The trick will be, not to lose what we already have because of the crisis. That is to say we mustn't adopt any infringing behaviour which will only serve to turn back the clock and leave wreckage behind when the crisis is over. If prices, service and infrastructures move harmoniously towards the common good, we will have won. The first two, unfortunately at the moment, are in danger because many people are trying to survive at any cost. But of course, if they hold on righteously, they and those around them will win.  Three basic things must exist for a good infrastructure in a tourist destination: water-sewerage, roads and lighting. Therefore, with our infrastructure we give a motive for the other two to correctly exist.

With sewerage, there was some technical problem, and it was intense, especially around the area of the biological cleaning plant, but with enough money, time and effort it was eliminated. Now, in certain cases some machines can still cause some small problems with regard to odour. And, of course, I will say that the only area where there should have not been a biological cleaning plant built is the area where the plant was built. But it was done, it was very expensive, and we have to move on.

Do you believe that "green" tourism is important to the area?

I would be a fool to be negative. But living in our reality I can only say that it's a very slow process. But Greek people have pride. I see how people are finally coming around with the recycling. We figure 65 percent here recycle. We have approximately 16 tons of recyclables daily with 350 bins on our streets. I believe that the green conscience will enter slowly.

How do you feel about the tour companies that promote the pub crawls, some of which are said to be looking towards Hersonissos in expanding from Malia?

You must see this problem from all sides. It is a chain, the misfortune of a crisis, the economic collapse of local economy, and in general the bad use of the tourism product by persons absolutely clueless about tourism who by sheer luck found themselves smack in the middle of it. In numbers it roughly translates to 35 percent. The first contributor to that is the Ministry of Tourism Growth, which is an absentee, in the whole tourism process. Simply non-existent. But, the Hellenic Tourist Organization does exist on a local level so why is it impossible for Hersonissos, with 70,000 beds, to have an EOT information kiosk? We have been fed a fairy tale and believed it, that the municipality is responsible and must do all and what it cannot do, the police must achieve. Everybody else hides behind their finger.

Now, about those pub crawls, they are here for two months and then it's calm. But take the quads. In 2005 Mr. Danellis took the Secretary-General of Tourist Development for a stroll down to the waterfront. The man freaked over the quads. But one week later the state voted to legalise the quads because the owners had spent money to buy them. The only thing you heard then and now is, the mayor does nothing. I thought personally about putting signs in various streets prohibiting the quads but then I would be the outlaw, and subject to legal punishment. In Greece we have solutions of the absurd and the laws are made by irrelevant people. When the central power is indifferent to everything, a simple vice-mayor/mayor cannot achieve much.

Back to pub crawls. First I stress that there is no similarity between Hersonissos and what goes on in Malia. Hersonisos has never reached such a point and without wanting to offend any one, Hersonissos reaches a better quality tourist and from a different social level than Malia. The Hersonissos tourist is not the naked Englishman or the naked woman nor the orgies that haunt Malia.  Our coastal area does not only have bars. It is roughly 50-50 with the other shops, like restaurants, jewellery, clothing and other commercial shops. Hersonissos can have some youthful rowdiness from 15 July to 15 August but police control exists. And with my personal cooperation with the police we make sure not to have the Malia phenomena.

I want to stress something that I wanted noted: everyone must figure out and resist that which only now appears as profit but which will harm all of us in the long run.

Do you plan to run for mayor in 2010?

My health first so I can achieve what I think I should and then god will provide.

Amen

Editor's Note:

It was announced by Mayor Danelakis that, Mr. Alekos Tsapakis took over his duties as vice mayor and Mr. Yiannis Sengos was sworn in as the new member of the municipal council.