“Ordinary times call for standard measures. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures,” Thatcher said in support of a second term-extension for Rush. “The council certainly didn’t want to do this again. But, in the midst of this toxic economic environment, the city needs a leader with a proven track-record of making a lot of money for himself.”
Yet again, Rush secured another four years as mayor. By the close of Rush’s 15th year, the fatigue of the mayor’s decade-and-a-half-long reign manifested itself among Macrappers.
A 2012 Macrapolis University poll found that 65 percent of Macrappers wouldn’t vote for Rush again if given the opportunity. Although, a majority of the poll respondents actually approved of the job that Rush did during his fourth term.
Polling numbers aside, Rush has undoubtedly been a polarizing figure during his reign as mayor.
Those who approve of the job that the mayor has done while in office say he’s helped clean up Macrapolis by revitalizing downtrodden neighborhoods and by making the city a safer place to live.
Some Macrappers despise the mayor for instituting what they perceive to be overreaching regulations — such as his ban on buttered popcorn at movie theaters, sharp pencils in public schools, regular-fat yogurt in grocery stores, and his failed attempt to criminalize fedoras.
Working class and low-wage workers likely resent Rush for cultivating an economic atmosphere, where only highly-paid residents can afford to live comfortably in Macrapolis.
“We built the culture of this city. We made it cool to be from Found Heights, Clarkelyn. We made it hot to be from Herulum, U.S.A,” Marcus Reid, a 42-year-old Clarkelyn-native, tells BluffRo. “For damn-near two decades this guy has done everything in his power to try and throw us out like trash.”
Along with real estate, education will go down as the hallmark of Rush’s time in office.
Perhaps no mayor, at least in recent history, has had a greater impact on a city’s school system than Rush has. His educational policies have made Macrapolis an epicenter of the educational reform movement that’s sweeping the nation.
Despite all of the work he did to begin overhauling the city’s public school system, Rush still felt he had unfinished business left. So, with the future of education at stake, Rush made a move last fall to seek a fifth term in office.
“It was with great reluctance that the council decided to approve Mayor Rush’s bid for a fifth term. But, the bottom line is that the future of our city’s children is in flux,” said Council Speaker Thatcher, who has put her own mayoral aspirations on the back burner for the past 16 years.
“We need someone in office with a proven track-record of making a lot of money for himself in order to see this educational revolution to its completion.”
After pouring more than $200 million into his campaign for the third straight election cycle, Rush shockingly won his fifth straight Macrapolis mayoral election. Apparently voters believe that he is the right man to transform education.
The old model for public schools wasn’t working. Under the old system, many parents were forced to send their kids to woefully under-funded zone schools that offered curriculums which were irrelevant to the lives of most of the kids attending those schools.
What did Rush Do?
Did he attempt to properly fund the underserved schools? No.
Did he attempt to model poor-performing schools after other schools who managed to achieve success under similar circumstances? No.
Did he revamp the curriculum to truly meet the cultural needs of the many students of color who attend public schools? No
Rush did something far greater, according to Rush. He brought choice back to the equation. He showed Macrappers that public-private partnerships are the new model for the future of education.
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