![]() He's the only elected official in the area-there's no sign of a town council or any sort of state or federal government-and yet has time to interact with all of the other characters on a daily basis. A lighthearted example occurs in LazyTown with Mayor Milford Meanswell.Although, following a Zombie Apocalypse, it is likely that some decentralization of power occurred during the collapse of society. The show In the Flesh depicts UK MPs and Parish Councils as having far more power and day-to-day involvement in their districts than they actually do in reality.Since Karlsville itself is a supernatural environment controlled by Karl, he's a full-blown Reality Warper while inside of it. Justified in the Goosebumps multi-part episode "Chillogy", whose Monster of the Week, known only as Karl, is the mayor of a miniature town that sucks kids into it so he can torment and kill them.On The Dukes of Hazzard, Boss Hogg's title was County Commissioner and was apparently the highest authority to cheat and steal from everyone.He has been making Sunnydale a haven for demonic activity for a century. Affably Evil Mayor Richard Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.In this case, because they are the commanding officers of the space station, which is an Earth military base despite also functioning as a commerce hub and meeting place for the various major powers, and because during the Shadow War they declare independence from the fascist regime that's taken over Earth. Sinclair, Sheridan and Lochley in Babylon 5. ![]() He only ran because all the other candidates where either blatantly evil villains, murdered during their campaign or both and he's been under suspicion or indictment nearly his entire term. He makes unilateral decisions for the city that would realistically have to be put to voter referendum and intentionally undercuts the city council when he doesn't like their decisions. His mayoral staff is full of his family and friends, most of whom have criminal records, have been kicked out of other branches of local and federal service, and have no political experience whatsoever. that is, a Mayberry citizen or someone he knows to have a meager income might only have to pay very little (Andy explains the standard fine is $5, which is sizable for a violator but not enough to break them), as he knows Danny is very wealthy, he bumped the fine to $100, which Danny can easily afford and can serve as an effective punishment for breaking a traffic law. ![]() Andy explains that this is scaled justice. In the pilot only, he serves not only as sheriff, but mayor, justice of the peace and even newspaper editor, which (to Danny's dismay) he learns as he tries to get out of paying a large fine for failure to stop at a stop sign. The Andy Griffith Show: The pilot episode from its parent show, Make Room For Daddy, has the earlier show's main character, Danny Williams (played by comedian and nightclub singer Danny Thomas) arrested by the town's sheriff, Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith).Pretty much the raison d'etre of the show. ![]() Sherriff Lucas Buck from American Gothic (1995).Often overlaps with Permanent Elected Official. Other settings may use other authority figures the principal in a school setting, or the base commander in a military setting, for example. ![]() Expect such a mayor to be around forever, heedless of minor details like elections or competence. Whether they have a brilliant scheme that needs a powerful backer or they're trying to deal with the mayor's latest crackpot scheme to revitalize the town, they'll be able to (and, in fact, be forced to) go straight to the mayor himself instead of dealing with bureaucracy or procedure. This allows the characters to interact directly with the person in charge, without having to deal with annoyances like referendums or town councils. If such lofty figures show up at all, it will probably be in the form of an Obstructive Bureaucrat who buzzes around for a while before being subdued, allowing things to return to normal. They never have to worry about overstepping their authority, or having their decisions overruled by the county, state, or - God forbid - federal government. In these cases, the highest authority appearing in the work - often the local mayor - is treated as if he has absolute authority over his domain. Fiction often focuses on a local setting the action may rarely, if ever, move beyond the borders of the town where the main characters live. ![]()
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