MANAZURU, Kanagawa - Local government officials in this small coastal town in east Japan are quitting one after another after a scandal involving the mayor who admitted to having illegally copied and used a list of voters in an election.
Since December 2021, 11 employees, or about 10% of all town workers in Manazuru, Kanagawa Prefecture, with a population of less than 7,000, have resigned, and it's been feared that the number could increase due to growing distrust of the mayor.
In February 2020, mayor Kazuhiko Matsumoto, 56, copied a pollbook when he was head of the city's civic life department and used it for his campaign in the mayoral election that year where he was elected mayor. Matsumoto resigned after his illegal activity was exposed by the media in October 2021, but was reelected two months later.
After his re-election, it came to light that the copied list included information on residents' voting status. Matsumoto is preparing to file criminal charges against himself and a former city official in a highly unusual move.
The mayor has apologized repeatedly over the matter, but he is refusing to resign this time. He has made comments that he's shifting blame to the municipal government, saying that the issue was with the town hall's data management. One town worker said I can't forgive him for what he's done while we're working hard, while another said I was disappointed in our residents for having let Mr. Matsumoto win the election. A senior town hall official who submitted their resignation on June 1 told Mainichi Shimbun, The mayor's behavior suggested no remorse was the last straw. Another worker who left the town hall said he couldn't bring myself to work for the municipal government because of the attitude of the mayor. The town saw a string of staff resignations after Matsumoto resigned in December 2021. A long-serving official who had been reappointed after retirement and the municipal education board chief resigned following one another, and one of the three counsellors running the town's administrative tasks under Matsumoto also left their job. The city only has one counsellor remaining, as the other was dismissed for their involvement in the scandal in November 2021.
According to the town hall, Manazuru needs around 110 employees to run its administrative affairs, but as of July 1, it had 93 employees. Some have expressed concerns that they may face difficulties operating teller tasks at the town hall, while Mayor Matsumoto admitted during a June 29 town assembly session that municipal staff are confused and exhausted. The town offered three candidates a job starting in August, but one declined. It plans to start the recruitment process in October, but it won't be easy to find replacements for experienced workers, raising concerns for further confusion in the town's administration.