There are "three things a mayor must do to keep his constituents satisfied," Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner just told All Things Considered's Michele Norris.

Citizens want a "safe city ... a clean city ... (and) a competitive school system," the Democrat says.

By mowing the city's parks and cemeteries on weekends, and asking city residents to help, Finkbeiner hopes he's doing something to keep the city clean and is giving people "an opportunity to feel good about giving back to their community." Also, by the end of summer, he thinks, "I'll have some Toledoans who will have their batteries recharged."

By getting volunteers to do the work, the mayor is also tackling a serious budget problem:

 

As the Toledo Blade and other local news media have been reporting, the city faces a $21 million deficit and has been pushing for city workers represented by five unions to take "15% pay cuts for a year."

Finkbeiner and other local lawmakers have been looking for other ways to cuts costs, which this year included not hiring as many seasonal workers who cut grass in parks and city cemeteries.

Local station WTVG put together this report, which raises the issue of whether some of those who did the mowing last weekend might not have been totally willing volunteers. The mayor insists in the clip that no city worker was in danger of losing his job if he didn't help out.

The Blade offers this video of its own, which shows the mayor in action:

By the way, the mayor concedes that mowing isn't something he has done too often in recent years. Asked who mows the small lawn at his house, Finkbeiner says "my wife."