The line of mayoral succession in the village of Vardaghbyur, Shirak Marz, stretches back awhile. First there was Mayor Karlen Baloyan, then Mayor Sargis Baloyan, and now the banner of succession has been in the hands of Hrach Baloyan, village mayor since 2005. The village has 105 residents. Seven of the twenty-two homes that stretch on either side of the Gyumri-Bavra Highway belong to the Baloyan extended family. We asked around in the village – is it the last name that gets them elected or has it just become a tradition to elect a member of the same family? We were told that the Baloyan family was quite large and that even though there are other candidates that run come election time they never stand a chance. Unfortunately, in small communities, the signs of feudalism are more pronounced,” commented Deputy Regional Administrator Mikayel Vardanyan. “Even if the most intelligent and literate individual in a given village were to run for mayor, it’s impossible that he would ever get elected if he didn’t have relatives.” The Deputy Regional Administrator gave the example of the village of Pokr Mantash where the Hakobyan brothers put forth the candidacy of their younger brother Artur for mayor. “Believe me when I say that Artur couldn’t even tell you what four times four was. But he got elected. Later on we presented a vote of no confidence in him and proposed that he hand in his resignation. He wrote out his resignation letter but would you believe it, he warned us that he would run again during the next election,” Mr. Vardanyan recounted. Presently, Artur’s other brother Jirayr Hakobyan, runs the village of Pokr Mantash. We just can’t dismiss bad mayors Loopholes in the law and the lack of restrictions afford the possibility to the Baloyans, the mayor of Tsoghamarg and others like them to wind up in the local self-government system. Karlen Abrahamyan, who heads the Territorial Division at the Shirak Regional Administration, explains that, “The worst part of all is that we can’t claim a vote of no confidence regarding Hrach Baloyan. The law doesn’t allow us to do it. He hasn’t hoarded nor has he spent. In other words, his only sin is his inactivity. It would be quite difficult to take him to court for that.” Employees at the Regional Administration’s Department of Finance and Economics shrugged their shoulders when they heard the name Vardaghbyur. “What figure do you want? That guy doesn’t work. The numbers are zero.” In 2008, a mere 38.4% of projected revenues were collected; 2.8 million drams out of a projected 7.4 million. The figures for the first five months of 2009 are even more disappointing. Private revenues 4% of private revenues were collected, land tax 3%, property tax 0% and general revenues 14.4%. During these past five months the mayor hasn’t even made any expenditures. Only 10,500 drams in payment slips were signed and those by the municipality’s accountant. Vardaghbyur’s accounts frozen The current account of Vardaghbyur has been frozen as of August, 2008. This year, the municipality has yet to make a transaction with the cashier’s office. “The uncollected land tax liability stands at 12 million drams as of 1996. There was 6 million in salaries owed when I took over the job. We also owe 3 million in pensions. That’s why the Compulsory Enforcement Service seized our account,” stated Vardaghbyur mayor, Hrach Baloyan. The staff at the municipality is quite modest; just three employees. In 2005, when Baloyan was elected for the first time, the staff was twice as large. He said that there were two janitors; one for the municipality and another for the library. We never saw a library in the village and the municipal offices were housed in 1 nine meter mobile hut. After the 2008 elections, three of the municipal workers were fired, including the two janitors. It takes 150,000 drams monthly to pay the wages of the three remaining employees. As of June 1, the municipality has run up a current debt of 750,000 drams. During our conversation the Vardaghbyur mayor assured us that things would be different this year; that the taxes would be collected. “That’s the end of that. I’ll no longer cave in,” said Hrach Baloyan. “If they don’t pay their taxes I won’t allow them to harvest the grass.” The mayor didn’t elaborate how he would carry out his threat. “They are at fault and so am I. At the very least we should pay off the debts by year’s end so that we can get free of those fines.” Vardaghbyur has no land-line telephone service and the school is bare-bones. The school goes up to the fourth grade, after which pupils transfer over to the high school in the village of Musayelyan some four kilometers away. In the village’s four year-old development project, the mayor had written about building a club house and expects 25 million drams from the government for it. The municipality requires 10 million drams for every 1 kilometer of roadway repair. Overall, according to the mayor, the village needs 35 million drams to solve its most pressing issues. He was at a loss to say where the money might come from. On June 23, the Regional Administration started to make administrative inspections in Vardaghbyur. In the view of Territorial Division Director Karlen Abrahamyan, Hrach Baloyan faces imminent dismissal. “Let’s not kid ourselves. What will change if we remove Hrach? The other Baloyan brother will get elected. We also showed no confidence in the last mayor of Musayelyan but it turned out that his substitute was even worse. And what happened in the village of Voghj? We also issued a no confidence vote and even a criminal case was launched but in the end that guy again became mayor of Voghj,” Mr. Abrahamyan complained. Deputy Regional Administrator also has his doubts about the merit of presenting a no confidence vote when it comes to mayors who either do nothing or do it badly. Talking about the incidents that occurred in Voghj in 2005, when the village split into two camps, he noted that nothing was ever proven. Those village mayors, who become political party apparatchiks, especially for the ruling party, are the most irresponsible and the hardest to get along with.