Medellin Mayor Alonso Salazar, widely criticized over his administration’s failure to curb violence, fix potholes, and properly finish public works, is highly popular among his personal friends and political allies, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Medellin government.
The poll, conducted among the middle and higher management of the mayor’s office and public works company EPM, showed Salazar’s approval is at a staggering 98%.
The flattering numbers were released on the same day as a poll that showed that Medellin is the 4th best place in the world to live.
The poll, held only among people with broadband Internet, shows that 77% of respondents consider Medellin a good place to live. By excluding the poor who live in neighborhoods where gang warfare has displaced 2,500 and killed 1,250 this year alone, Medellin is the best city in the world to live after locations in the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia.
The Medellin government considers the positive results a confirmation that it is doing a “spectacular job, not just in changing the lightbulbs of the artwork across the street from the mayor’s office”