The dynasties of the country’s mayors. The mayors who resigned their mandates, after 24 years, to let their children run

Angela Toma and Ioan Toma, mayors of Botosani George Enescu and Brăeşti communes respectively, are among the longest-serving mayors in Romania. Each one has 6 mandates, that is, they have more than 24 years in office. Since 1996 until now they have never lost the elections, and the opponents have been in better shape, both mayors winning with overwhelming percentages.

After really getting old in City Hall, the two mayors, both from PNL, who have the same last name, without any family ties, decided to retire. Not without first designating their children as successors to the mayor’s office.

More precisely, the children of Toma mayors are the new candidates, instead of their parents, for the position of mayor in the communes of George Enescu and Brăeşti, respectively, in the local elections on September 27.

The elders hope that the young will follow in their footsteps and have at least the same longevity in the office of mayor. That is why they are involved body and soul in the campaign to make them winners, as they were before.

“I would be happy to be my first child, because I know what he can do. First of all, I would continue with my work, my projects, not everything would be in vain”, Angela Toma, mayor of George Enescu, is convinced.

“It’s your turn now”

Angela Toma was the first mayor in Botosani’s history. She won the elections in her hometown, George Enescu, the place where the great composer was born, in 1996. Since then she has won every election, effectively crushing her opponents.

Angela Toma was chosen mainly because she gave work to the villagers, before Romania joined the European Union. More precisely, through a partnership with the Spanish and the Germans, she sent most of the locals to work in agriculture. “That mattered a lot, especially since then, in the 90s, after Ceausescu, he was starving here in the country. He got rid of hunger and many voted for it,” says a villager.

Angela Toma, Mayor of George Enescu PHOTO Cosmin Zamfirache

Angela Toma spent more than 16 years as mayor, always in opposition. “Being a member of the PNL, and Botosani always with a majority of PSD, I had difficult moments. Especially when dividing the budget, when allocating government funds. Difficult and frustrating. I’m still in shape, but this whole story seems to upset me. I had to focus a lot on European funds to do something. Furthermore, it is difficult with decentralized institutions, everything is too difficult, too much bureaucracy. Honestly, I can’t swallow it anymore. So I decided to end it. I am almost 70 years old and I said take care of my old age now, ”Angela Toma says, prompting the fact that she will not run for the seventh quarter.

Instead, his son, Daniel Grădinaru Toma, will. He is 40 years old and is a veterinarian. In recent years, he has also managed to become a successful farmer, accessing European funds for a goat and pig farm in the near future.

Daniel Toma Grădinaru Facebook Source Daniel Toma

Ángela Toma promises to put all her experience in the electoral battles to help her son follow them in the mayor’s office. “It is his turn now. He is young, capable and has already specialized in accessing European funds. This is the future now. We are from another generation. He agreed to large projects of 200-300,000 euros. I support him with all my experience and I hope be mayor. People know him, they know me. He knows who we are and what we can do. There are others who say that we give each other the “crown” of mayor, but this is about elections, I don’t I give nothing. If the world chooses him, he will be mayor. I advised him to trample on all those who were not human. That I was too young, “says Angela Toma.

“I was born and raised with the mayor”

The same situation is found in the commune of Brăeşti. Ioan Toma, who is not related to Mayor George Enescu, only coincidentally by name, has been Mayor of Brăieşti since 1996. He has run this commune for approximately 24 years, located approximately 20 kilometers from Botoşani.

As the mayor of George Enescu, Ioan Toma is a member of the PNL and has always run on behalf of liberals. He never had a counter candidate capable of causing him problems. The peak, in a county dominated at the rural level by Social Democrats.

“The people knew him, and in the country you have to know that the man is voted more than the party. That is why those who are at the party seek to recruit those who change people. Also our Thomas. People voted for him once, they got along with him and then, as always, they always voted for him, ”says nea Dumitru, a 70-year-old villager, stopped for a beer in the center of the commune.

Like his George Enescu counterpart, Mayor Ioan Toma, who has reached the venerable age of 70, has decided to resign his candidacy for a new term. Instead, he let his son follow in his footsteps. Constantin Toma is 32 years old, has experience in the field of European funds and wants to continue his father’s work.

“After 18 years of schooling and 7 years of work in the field of European Funds, I consider that I am ready to continue what my father started and I want to leave a mark on the development of the community to which I belong”, confesses Toma . The young man.

The son of the mayor of Brăeşti says that the elections are based on the experience and notoriety of his father. “His experience mattered and is very important. Being mayor for 24 years, I was born and raised with the” mayor “in the same house. I know what an investment project means, what are the steps to follow, I know what has been done until now, what to do from now on, I know what a budget is, how it is structured, I know almost everything related to the activity. I have not left the mayor’s office from 0 “, adds the son of the mayor of Brăeşti.

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