| The mayor of Vladivostok obliged city officials to learn the history of their native city Officials of the Vladivostok mayor's office have to learn a lot of new and interesting things about their hometown. By order of Mayor Vladimir Nikolaev, they must take courses to improve their “historical” qualifications by mid-summer. The mayor does not want his subordinates to lose face during the celebrations of the 145th anniversary of Vladivostok, when many foreigners, including Japanese, Chinese and American diplomats, will come to Primorye.
The mayor came up with the idea of increasing the level of historical knowledge among city administration employees after he himself found himself in an awkward position. At a meeting with local schoolchildren, a meticulous ten-year-old student inquired about the history of the bastions of coastal fortifications, putting Mr. Nikolaev at a dead end. He could not clearly answer the question of who designed this structure.
Officials have already visited the first bus tour of historical and memorable places in the seaside capital. We learned, for example, that exactly 119 years ago in Vladivostok the construction of the first steel floating crane with a lifting capacity of 50 tons was completed. “After a hard day at work, it was difficult for us to gather our strength, but we still did it and learned a lot of new things. This is wonderful,” says Victoria Sinitsina, deputy head of the municipal property department of the Vladivostok administration.
The elimination of historical illiteracy among employees of the Vladivostok mayor's office has been entrusted to the chief local historian of Primorye, Nelly Miz, who heads the Arsenyev Museum. According to her, officials are most interested in the history of urban planning policy and architecture. The local historian was somewhat offended by the fact that the tourists did not want to listen to the story about the political history of the Soviet period in the life of the city.
In the coming days, City Hall employees will attend three more lectures and two excursions around Vladivostok. However, the trials for officials will not end there. They will have to pass an exam on the history of the city - from the time of its founding to the present day. Those who fail the exam will face severe reprimands and will be recorded in their personal files. Dmitry CHERNOV, Vladivostok |
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