Mayor and City Management

Hey,

I am currently in the process of refactoring some of the code around the mayor and tax system, seeing as it's highly outdated and some of it hasn't been touched for 7 years. I would like to make the mayoral job a bit more serious rather than the AFK job it currently is. Currently, you don't really have to do anything as mayor, which is strange. I feel like the mayor should constantly have things to do. And if the mayor fucks up, something will actually happen instead of people just losing a bit of money.

My plan is to do the following,

• New Mayor UI for taxes and City information
• Automatic broadcasts on tax change
  • There will be a time limit so you can't change taxes every 10 seconds
• Allow the mayor to spawn a mayoral vehicle
• Make it so the Mayor can somewhat control unemployment checks

I am also thinking about doing the below but would love feedback and suggestions about it,

• Give the mayor the ability to control more things within the police force
  • Ability to raise the TFU slots from 4 when there are enough players
• Make it so that the city will actually feel a hit if it goes bankrupt
  • Maybe the selection of pistols and vehicles for police goes down? Due to lack of funding
  • CCTV cameras would stop working at random intervals
  • Traffic lights stop working
  • Fuel prices go up
  • Shop items go out of stock or maybe become more expensive
• Add a specific tax type for when buying and selling properties
• Add a specific tax type for when buying and selling cars
• Allow the mayor to change the "Enter Fee" for taxis
• Make it so that the mayor can add a ticket price for riding the monorail
  • The ticket would be valid for x amount of minutes
• The ability for the mayor to freeze paychecks for 5 minutes every hour to fix city funds
  • Can only be done if funds are under $20,000

If you have any other serious suggestions, put them down below

Maybe adding back the mayors ability to choose police slots would be a great way for the mayor to be able to shape the city?

how will the traffic light thing work rule wise at intersection ?? and law wise too

Auris said:

how will the traffic light thing work rule wise at intersection ?? and law wise too

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there is a similar traffic light at the bazaar, I would say it is the same, there are stop signs in multiple directions which indicate you have to stop, right of way I guess?

Auris said:

how will the traffic light thing work rule wise at intersection ?? and law wise too

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you can't be held accountable for running a red light if there is no red light? same for the laws

The mayor should have to allocate budgets to each department, Police, Fire, EMS, Roadcrew and Secret Service. Each department uses some of their budget for various things, like taking guns from the armoury, spawning vehicles, taking bandages etc.

Using police as the main example, high tier weapons and vehicles should cost more budget, so when times are tough and the budget is low TFU might have to elect to use SMGs instead of rifles, officers might have to use crown victorias instead of chargers etc.

Just an idea but I think it could add a lot to the mayor job.

I kind of like this whole idea making Mayor responsible for this kind of things and have to be held accountable if they do something fishy, but with all of this, some new rules and laws must be added about the mayor position to make sure it's getting handled the right way? So the PD and the city can have some laws backing them up and not only 4.4 if the Mayor is doing a terrible job

Auris said:

how will the traffic light thing work rule wise at intersection ?? and law wise too

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If traffic lights flash yellow then you would use the stop signs. So this would not be an issue as current law already covers the use of stop signs.

LilChicken said:

Maybe adding back the mayors ability to choose police slots would be a great way for the mayor to be able to shape the city?

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This is a good point, when there is no mayor it could be like it is now. But when there is a mayor, he or she can set a PD budget that covers slots etc...

Jimmy said:

The mayor should have to allocate budgets to each department, Police, Fire, EMS, Roadcrew and Secret Service. Each department uses some of their budget for various things, like taking guns from the armoury, spawning vehicles, taking bandages etc.

Using police as the main example, high tier weapons and vehicles should cost more budget, so when times are tough and the budget is low TFU might have to elect to use SMGs instead of rifles, officers might have to use crown victorias instead of chargers etc.

Just an idea but I think it could add a lot to the mayor job.

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Yes exactly. The whole city should feel an impact if the city is run in a very bad way. I like the sound of the mayor actually having power over the city in one way, other than taxes that few care about.
The issue I see here tho is that John Doe could go for mayor just to cut down on the PD so his friends can raid easier. In fact, this is something we have seen before. And I am a bit unsure how this could be stopped.

Ellie said:

I kind of like this whole idea making Mayor responsible for this kind of things and have to be held accountable if they do something fishy, but with all of this, some new rules and laws must be added about the mayor position to make sure it's getting handled the right way? So the PD and the city can have some laws backing them up and not only 4.4 if the Mayor is doing a terrible job

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Yes, I think the mayor rule needs to be updated so it's clear that when you are mayor you need to act seriously and you must make responsible decisions. I think the issue right now is that many mayors can rule and law-wise defend their insane tax policies as it really does not have an impact on the city. If a city without money actually results in fewer cops and shitty equipment then there is a better incentive for the police to make sure the mayor does what's right for the city. I think 4.4 is a very good law it just needs more specifics and examples on when it's really misconduct.

Having the mayor decide TFU slots is a terrible idea as any mayor who doesn't max them out during shootout hours would just be instantly arrested meaning the option would just lead to constant arrests of the mayor for manslaughter charges or whatever people want to throw at them.

Samuel said:

Maybe the selection of pistols and vehicles for police goes down? Due to lack of funding

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A Police department won't sell off firearms it has unless it runs out of need to have them or they've been replaced.

I've always liked the idea of sales taxes being split into multiple factors, such as:
- Alcohol and Tobacco Tax (max 100%): Affects beer, Tobacco water pipe, matches and cigarettes.
- Firearms and Weapons tax (Max 50%)
- Vehicle tax (Max 5%)
- Properties tax for each type of property:
Shop tax: 75% Max
Business tax: 50% Max
Residency tax: 50% Max
Pharmacy tax: 50% max: Affects sales of Sudafed, Painkillers, Bandages, Life alerts, Stimpacks, and Splints.

A gambling tax could also be implemented with a maximum of 10% From casino winnings taken.

Another feature could be the mayor could decide on a price for the monorail, a fee of up to $250 per stop could be decided by the mayor in intervals of 5 dollars.

Benj said:

Having the mayor decide TFU slots is a terrible idea as any mayor who doesn't max them out during shootout hours would just be instantly arrested meaning the option would just lead to constant arrests of the mayor for manslaughter charges or whatever people want to throw at them.

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Alter the misconduct to be 'gross misconduct' and lower the standard expected. Also, the manslaughter charges are really inappropriate. If unsuitable funding could be charges for manslaughter then Westminster might as well be turned into a prison.

I think the ideas you have listed are very cool and would fit in perfectly. This way the Mayor job will have more impact in the actual safety within Paralake and he/she could screw more up. Maybe make it so the mayor can only spawn his car when he is not hiring any SS or doesnt have any?

Lucius Husky said:

Maybe make it so the mayor can only spawn his car when he is not hiring any SS or doesnt have any?

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I love the idea for what happens to the city when it goes bankrupt but I'm concerned about how quickly the mayor might get assassinated especially because of higher fuel prices, some people will instantly go and commit jihad on the city hall... and probably just for fun no because it actually affects them

@Samuel do you reckon we will ever see a paralake council type thing ever again were they are voted in and maybe last a month or so before being replaced with a new one [or sooner if they are overthrown or the mayor is shot]
it would be great RP wise ngl

Benj said:

Having the mayor decide TFU slots is a terrible idea as any mayor who doesn't max them out during shootout hours would just be instantly arrested meaning the option would just lead to constant arrests of the mayor for manslaughter charges or whatever people want to throw at them.

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The same thing could be said for medics then. Without medics, a higher count of police officers will be killed during peak hours. Additionally, 6 TFU is not needed at all hours of the day. This is something that can be changed during the course of the day, Much like the police slots were changed years ago depending on the crime status of the city. Police are not in need of max slots at all times of the day.

Benj said:

A Police department won't sell off firearms it has unless it runs out of need to have them or they've been replaced.

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But it would run out. Police die constantly and lose firearms and other equipment, they also crash cars daily. Something that's pretty expensive and should be reflected on the city budget. Additionally, small police departments in the US have started selling their equipment as taxes don't cover the needed budget. I saw a video a while back of a police department selling their SWAT vehicle, and a lot of SWAT gear to be able to upgrade their patrol cars as they were bought second hand from LAPD 10 years ago. So if the city is running out of money, cutting PD equipment sounds like a good idea, especially when it's not always needed.

MegaFro said:

I'm concerned about how quickly the mayor might get assassinated especially because of higher fuel prices, some people will instantly go and commit jihad on the city hall... and probably just for fun no because it actually affects them

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The reasons people have for killing the mayor these days are ridiculous. People claim the sales taxes are affecting them, when in fact the people who keep killing the mayor don't even buy stuff at the default 25% sales tax. I personally think it should be harder to kill the mayor, you should be able to show that the mayor's policies are affecting you in a bad way, rather than claiming that 50% taxes stop you from buying materials when you won't even buy them at 25%.

Auris said:

@Samuel do you reckon we will ever see a paralake council type thing ever again were they are voted in and maybe last a month or so before being replaced with a new one [or sooner if they are overthrown or the mayor is shot]
it would be great RP wise ngl

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I don't think a council is the right path. Last time it went horrible, they voted on laws when they had no idea what it was or how it would impact the general roleplay. I would tho want to see some kind of semi-permanent mayor thing. Were we voted for 2-3 candidates and when Community Management picks one after interviews. That would be pretty cool. But that could only be done when we've found more stuff for the mayor. Otherwise, it will be a pretty boring job.

One of the biggest changes i'd love to see is PRECISELY what expenses and income are. what indivudual thing gives us money and what individual thing takes away our money.

Samuel said:

Maybe the selection of pistols and vehicles for police goes down? Due to lack of funding

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tbh as much as I enjoy the idea of chaos being created because of bankrupty I don't think removing weapons is the way to go, I can see people asking their friend to sit as mayor to go bankrupt so criminals have the upper hand. I also think this doesn't benefit anyone, police lose guns so they resign, experienced players want police to have guns so they can have shootouts, new players need police to help them from being raided, maybe the only people who benefit from police not having guns is the small group of players who prefer avoiding shootouts, the same people who would abuse this system.

CaughtRed said:

tbh as much as I enjoy the idea of chaos being created because of bankrupty I don't think removing weapons is the way to go, I can see people asking their friend to sit as mayor to go bankrupt so criminals have the upper hand. I also think this doesn't benefit anyone, police lose guns so they resign, experienced players want police to have guns so they can have shootouts, new players need police to help them from being raided, maybe the only people who benefit from police not having guns is the small group of players who prefer avoiding shootouts, the same people who would abuse this system.

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I don't understand why does every suggestion always have a reply where "A friend of someone can abuse this so that their friend gains an advantage" like so instead of having someone deal with that, we should just throw some suggestions out the window because it's abuseable? If someone abuses this then ban them idk

MegaFro said:

I don't understand why does every suggestion always have a reply where "A friend of someone can abuse this so that their friend gains an advantage" like so instead of having someone deal with that, we should just throw some suggestions out the window because it's abuseable? If someone abuses this then ban them idk

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It is reasonable here to assume as it is not always straightforward - unlike you shooting someone for no reason, this could be very much justified in role-play to run the city poorly, so it is very hard to enforce per rules.

Jimmy said:

The mayor should have to allocate budgets to each department, Police, Fire, EMS, Roadcrew and Secret Service. Each department uses some of their budget for various things, like taking guns from the armoury, spawning vehicles, taking bandages etc.

Using police as the main example, high tier weapons and vehicles should cost more budget, so when times are tough and the budget is low TFU might have to elect to use SMGs instead of rifles, officers might have to use crown victorias instead of chargers etc.

Just an idea but I think it could add a lot to the mayor job.

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but this gets downvoted immediately and denied lmao