vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #154 / Opinion / Reading article...

As the Vladivostok News went to press, Victor Cherepkov had announced his resignation, but still hadn’t made the act official with a letter.
It still isn’t clear what he intended to accomplish. Is he truly weary of the situation? Who could blame him, after endless battles with a hostile duma and governor. Or is this mere grandstanding? Perhaps he thinks his legions of babushka supporters will take to the streets chanting for his return.

If he does go, Cherepkov leaves a miserable legacy. He made his name as a fighter for democracy, defying a federal attempt to oust him. But he proved incapable of governing. He handed out money to a soccer team and champion body builders while cutting off funding to the city’s maternity wards and children’s and psychiatric hospitals. In a fit of pique, he let the city suffer through a six-week garbage strike rather than work out funding with the collection agency. His reorganization of city services resulted in the double billing of many residents, and never convincingly responded to accusations that he spirited away millions of rubles for his reelection campaign.

Despite all that, Cherepkov did do one thing admirably: He stood in the path of Gov. Yevgeny Nazdratenko. With Cherepkov on the sidelines, who will check the krai government, whom the Federal Security Bureau suggests is tainted with corruption? It’s almost enough to make you nostalgic for the rule of Victor Cherepkov.