# Reena Varghese Kannimala
There was small news in the Malayalam newspapers on May 23, 1981. It was the news that Kurumulloor Elackatt Eliyamma Philip, a nurse at Kottayam Medical College, had won the first Best Nurse Award. At that time, her husband Philip was in the military service for the security of India.
Now, beyond the times, the son of the then best nurse mother-Mayor Robin Elackatt has created a new love story in America.
Recently, he put aside his entire busy schedule and flew from Missouri to his home in Kurumulloor, Kottayam, to spend ten days with his father. He, who stays away from the media, however, opened his heart to Metro News.
From a boy who wanted to be the CEO of a good hospital since childhood, to a young man who changed his path and entered American politics, to growing as a councilor, then deputy mayor, and popular leader, to currently serving twice as mayor of Missouri unopposed...
"I never thought I would enter politics. We all have a life ambition. Ever since I was very young, when I was studying at St. Ann's School in Kottayam, my goal was to become the CEO of a hospital. I studied at St. Ann's School in Kottayam until the third grade. Then I went to America," he said.
When the mayor said that his higher education in healthcare administration and business was to fulfill his greatest dream in life, I saw in the eyes of America's most popular mayor a child eager to fulfill that dream.
Robin Elackatt, a popular leader, rose through the ranks of the Chicago Catholic League in his twenties. Later, since moving to Missouri in 2005, the boy named Robin has become the heartbeat of that country.
He was first elected to the Missouri City Council in 2009. Then, this popular leadership proved successful in 2011 and 2013. In 2013, Elackatt was elected unopposed to the post of Deputy Mayor. The mayor explained his populist political style:
"I didn't come here pre-planned. I came into politics by accident. But, after coming, I went down to the people who elected me. That's when I noticed that people's problems were slow to solve. So I put a timeline for everything.
A timeline for everything
Maybe this timeline even came from my medical field, because patient, physician, and employee satisfaction are what are needed there. When I came to politics from there, I saw that there was no customer satisfaction, no employee satisfaction. I came up with a timeline to create it, implemented it, and it's still going successfully. Today, Missouri City is a business-friendly city. This timeline is the reason for that. Not only the timeline, but I also set up a toll-free number called 311. With that, anyone coming to Missouri City for business could call and tell them about the obstacles they were facing. Not only that, this has put pressure on the officials to complete all the paperwork as quickly as possible for any businessperson or citizen who wants to do business in Missouri without any hassle or delay, such as inspections. Since there was a timeline for everything, as the mayor, I would ask for it, so the officials had to do their duties properly. Texas is a state that is hit by natural disasters every year. Hurricane Beryl is their villain. Missouri City is an area that is destroyed by this hurricane every year by 95 percent.
A city where nature does not allow one to live in any way. That is why people were not interested in living there earlier. But when Mayor Robin Elackatt became the mayor of Missouri City, the situation changed. The popularity of this city rose to 77th place in America.
The mayor says about the activities that led to it:
I left my house during the hurricane and returned home only after six days. Even my wife asked me, how many other mayors are there? None of them work like you... Aren't there collectors, police and others there to stand with the volunteers, work with them and get them to come and help them?
I told her: "That's right. As a policymaker, I don't need to work as one of them. But when the people need it, a political leader should listen to them. I should stand with them.
They elected me. When they were devastated by the Beryl disaster, I owed it to them to be with them and lead the way to rebuild everything as quickly as possible. That's what I do. And there is a place to rest and freshen up in the office. That's enough for me."
He paused and continued: "I did this not to be a boss, but to comfort my people. It was not to make a name for myself or attract media attention. I have never been one to make a fuss about anything to get media attention.
Most of the people there are just ordinary people. During the Beryl, 95 percent of the area became uninhabitable. So I went out during those days. I worked with volunteers. Usually, the collector, police, local body systems have to coordinate and run the day-to-day activities in such situations. But when a mayor comes in person, the story changes, the city system cannot help but work properly.
When I started working with them in the office and outside without going home, things were restored very quickly. Big trees were uprooted and electricity lines were cut. It is the responsibility of Central Point Power to fix all that. I called them directly. This is not the job of policymakers. But, in response to my call, things were restored very quickly in Missouri City. The city system worked perfectly
Even every email complaint sent by ordinary people was resolved. Many people asked me if a mayor needs to work hard to look into so many email complaints and call them back. I have only one answer to all this. The most important thing a political leader should understand is that whether it is the UK, the US, China or India, the people elected us. They have made us successful because they believe that when they have a need, we will be there to solve it.
The public only approaches us when we are in political leadership. They come because they have grievances. So, while we are in power, we should help them as much as we can............... (to be continued).
