The people of Idyllwild California have decided once again to elect a dog as the mayor of their town. The Golden Retriever Maximus Mighty Dog Mueller II, also known to the people of Idyllwild as Mayor Max has been the incumbent for 5 years now preceded by his uncle who was also named Max.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mayor Max (@mayormax1) on Dec 16, 2017 at 4:20pm PST
In 2012, Idyllwild ran its first mayoral elections, but there was a twist. The caveat was that the candidate must be a resident of the town but also… must not be human… preferably should either be a cat or a dog. Therefore, people were encouraged to have their pets run for elections.
To assist in this process, the town appointed Phyllis Mueller as Mayor Max’s chief of staff.
According to Mueller “[i]n a voted election, 14 dogs and 2 cats ran, and we decided to have an election to raise money for the animal rescue, so you paid a dollar a vote and you were encouraged to vote a lot.”
After the passing of Mayor Max senior in 2013, the town unanimously voted for Maximus Mighty Dog Mueller II to become the new mayor of Idyllwild. The position was a lot of responsibility for Max who was just a puppy at the time.
Obviously a mayor’s job is quite demanding therefore Mueller had to assist with the responsibilities that come with a mayor’s position.
“My role as the chief of staff is to help run the vision of the mayor’s office for Idyllwild, so we actually run an actual mayor’s office,” Mueller said.
“His role is to make the world a better place by conveying unconditional love and doing as many good deeds for others,” Mueller elaborated.
According to NBC news, both Mayor Max and his chief of staff make frequent public appearances. Max can often be seen in his doggo-mobile accompanied by a fleet of deputies who, of course, are also golden retrievers. Mayor Max and Mueller often attend charities, community events and fundraisers.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mayor Max (@mayormax1) on Jun 17, 2018 at 1:52am PDT
Max will continue to hold this role for his lifetime.
People are absolutely smitten by Max and the town has become an attraction for tourists who want to meet man’s best friend turned mayor of Idyllwild.
Andrea Valdez a visitor of Idyllwild tells KMIR TV:
“Max is awesome. He is super friendly and he lets my son give him treats.”
Chicken_Pine on September 16th, 2018 at 19:44 UTC »
So he is an awesome dog, I met him before. He also has a brother and sister that hang out with him. He always wears a little tie and has a truck with his picture on the side. The original Max passed away and the owner went and got 3 more puppies from the original breeder in like... Ohio or some state like that. There is also a calender available with pictures of him.
Haver040 on September 16th, 2018 at 18:30 UTC »
The neat implication here is that a mayor has almost no function, besides a symbolic one
Vengefulseven on September 16th, 2018 at 15:35 UTC »
His controversial zero tolerance policy for squirrells still has some residents up in arms, but they can't argue the benefits they've received from increased treat portions and mandatory twice daily walk walks.