Two “Lithuanian” mayors known for their stunts
By Jeremy Druker - August 4th, 2011

Vilnius Mayour Artura Zuokas crushing illegally parked cars with a ‘tank’.

It’s not so often a video from Lithuania goes viral or even semi-viral, so I can’t avoid calling more attention to a recent stunt pulled by the mayor of Lithuania to convince people not to park in bike lanes. The video has since been picked up by many media, including the Guardian, but I saw it first, of all places, on an environmental website in the U.S. called Grist. It’s now been viewed by almost 1.4 million people. 

The episode got me thinking about another mayor of Lithuanian origin known for his stunts, but this time on the other side of the world. Somehow, I only recently heard about Aurelijus Rutenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas — a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician — who is the son of Lithuanian immigrants.

Antanas Mockus, former Mayor of Bogota, Colombia.

Antanas Mockus, as he’s better known, is a real character, who actually mooned students when he was president of the National University of Columbia. While he eventually had to step down over the scandal, the publicity helped him in his subsequent mayoral campaign. He ended up serving two terms as Bogota’s mayor, leading a transformation of the city...

Read more at:
http://eastofcenter.tol.org/2011/08/two-lithuanian-mayors-known-for-their-stunts/