Dakos

Dakos
Largest City
City of Dakos
Skyline of Dakos Skyline of Dakos
Anthem: Prosperity & Commerce
Country	Belhavia
Founded	1302
Largest Commercial Port	1628
Founded by	King Samuel IV
Government
• Type	Strong Mayor-Council Form
• Body	City Council
• Mayor	Abraham Levan (Lib Dem)
• City Council President	Nathaniel Stein (Lib Dem)
Population  (2015)
• Total	10,099,451
• Rank	1
Demonym	Dakosian
Time zone	UTC+3 (CPT)

The City of Dakos, commonly referred to as Dakos, is a major metropolitan urban center and port city situated in northwestern Belhavia. It is among the top 15 largest cities in Pardes by area, with a total population of just over 10 million in 2014. The Greater Dakos metropolitan economy is an estimated 2013 GDP of $1.56 trillion and is among the largest for urban areas in Pardes as well as making it the largest regional economy in the Empire.

Dakos is the Empire's largest commercial port and a hub of international and Central Ocean trade. The city also hosts the Vakollen Naval Base, which is the operational headquarters of the Home Fleet of the Belhavian Imperial Navy. It also hosts Camp Maxwell, a sprawling joint CDI Army/Navy/Air Force base near the city limits.

The city is a major center for banking and finance, world trade, transportation, tourism, real estate, and media in Belhavia. Western automotive giant Common Motors has a branch in Dakos, altogether with many other Western companies.

It is also well-known for being the most ethnically segregated city in Belhavia.

Geography

The city of Dakos was built in the early 13th century on the right bank of the Pystev River (Yiddish for "fish heavy") at the edge of the river's delta mouth, where the river's south-flowing waters entered the Central Ocean. Over the centuries, the city grew to encompass the various Delta Islands as well, and in the mid-18th century, was expanded further with the addition of the modern, "New City" on the river delta's left bank.

Modern Dakos is divided three sections: the Old City, on the eastern bank of the Pystev River, sometimes called the "Middle City," built up on the Delta Islands at the mouth of the Pystev, and the New City, on the western bank of the river. With connecting bridges over the river delta, the three sections form a continuous span of urban sprawl.

Climate

Dakos is in the coastal continental climate of North Belhavia. It typically experiences shorter, moderately cold winters, with temperate springs and falls, and long, warm and wet summers. Central Ocean storms are a frequent occurrence, and provide above-average precipitation in some years.

The city receives moderate precipitation, usually between 24 and 47 inches per year.

Cityscape

Dakos is credited as the oldest city and the first settlement of Belhavia. It was founded a year after the somewhat-folkloric "Landing of the Jewish Settlers", in 1302. The initial walled settlement was mostly timber and weak stone and was eventually destroyed through fires, natural decay, and conflict. The current "Old City" of Dakos dates back to 1497, and is comprised of mostly stone buildings.

The Old City evolved organically in an ad hoc manner between the start of the 16th century and the 18th century.

Modern Dakos - the so-called "New City" - was a planned city. It was influenced by the Baruch architectural movement, similar to the capital, Provisa. The King in 1766 ordered the newer planned city to be built according to Baruch's designs, and the New City of Dakos is build on order and geometry, with the city split into square grids outlining various neighborhoods throughout the city.

The architecture of the city is dominated by Neo-Gothic styles.

Famous Neighborhoods

The city hosts a diverse ethnic, religious, and nationality-based neighborhoods. The Old City is home to more religious Jewish communities, including the Haredi neighborhoods of Samuel's Plaza and King's Coast. A Modern Orthodox Jewish community currently resides in the Old City's Yiddenkeit neighborhoods. It also hosts the most well-known Christian neighborhood in the country, known simply as the 'Christian Quarter', which is shared by several communities, including Romulan Catholics, Havenwalder Lutheran-Evangelicals, and Orthodox Christians of both the Eaglelander and Gratislav Churches.

The Delta Islands are home to majority mainstream Jews and secular families, while the New City is literally, as one demographer put it, a "big melting pot of every conceivable ethnicity, religion, creed, and lifestyle to be found in the Empire." The New City has several famous neighborhoods, including the Business District, Wyman Hill, Goldman's Way, and Emperor Square.

Demographics

The Imperial Census Bureau estimated the city's current population as 10.09 million on January 1st, 2015, a 8.2% increase since the 2010 Imperial Census. The province the city is located in (North Dakos) is ranked 1st out of the 25 Imperial provinces in terms of population.

The city has a higher average of non-ethnic Belhavians than the country as a whole, with nearly 42% of the city's residents being of Westerner, Emmerian, Ulthrannic, Havenwalder, Gratislav, Eaglelander, and Rodarian descent. Subsequently, there are larger communities of faith that practice religions other than Judaism, including Catholicism, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity, Islam, and other non-Jewish religions. The city also has the largest self-described secular and atheist communities in Belhavia.

Media

It is the home of the global newspaper of record The International Financial Insider.

Government & Politics

Dakos is considered a liberal city. Like most central-northern Belhavian cities, it is considered politically liberal, though it has pockets of strong conservatives scattered throughout the city. Unlike Provisa and some other cities, Dakos' zoning laws restricted the political boundaries to the urban core, excluding the more conservative suburban and exurban metro Dakos areas.

The current mayor is Abraham Levan, a Liberal Democrat.

The Lib Dems dominate the city's 25-member city council, with a commanding 17-5 majority. The minority Conservative and Libertarian parties have formed an opposition minority caucus on City Council.

Reflecting its diversity of ethnicity and foreign nationalities, Dakos City Council has 6 non-ethnic Belhavians serving.

City Council Membership

District	Member	Party	Last Election Results	Urbanicity	Notes
1	Tal Frum	Liberal Democrat	73.6% - 25.2% - 1.2% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City	The oldest member on the council. Has significant political heft because of his seniority.
2	Jeffrey Bridge	Liberal Democrat	89.1% - 10.2% - 0.7% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City	The poorest area in Dakos. Bridge is the first openly atheist politician in Belhavia. He is known for his verbal fistfights with councilmembers who are religious and often gives frequent floor speeches denouncing religion.
3	Noah Seidel	Liberal Democrat	79.8% - 3.4% - 9.7% - 7.1% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian - Left-wing Third Parties)	New City	Elected in 2004, Seidel has had a meteoric rise in local politics and is speculated to be angling for the mayor's office after Levan retires. Pegged as a liberal but also a pragmatist.
4	Dal Cohen	Liberal Democrat	65.8% - 34.2% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	A committed Reform Jew who is considered the leader of the religious left on the city council. He represents a working-income neighborhood with a religious and populist bent.
5	Abraham Gurion	Liberal Democrat	59.3% - 40.7% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City
6	Stefan Dobrescu	Liberal Democrat	56.5% - 43.5% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	A mixed district that includes liberal, secular, artsy yuppies and congregated religious conservatives. Dobrescu, a Romulan Catholic and ethnic Rodarian, heads the conservative wing of the Lib Dems on the council and often allies with the Tory-Libertarian minority on some issues. The Lib Dem left-wing refers to him derisively as a "DINO" (Lib-Dem In Name Only). His district is one of the few more competitive seats in the New City.
7	Miriam Belenky	Liberal Democrat	69.1% - 23.6% - 7.3% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City
8	Zander Van der Watt	Liberal Democrat	91.4% - 8.6% (Lib Dem - Left-wing Third Parties)	New City	A mixed ethnic Westonarian-Belhavian Jew who leads an overwhelmingly liberal district based around several poor, immigrant communities and two larger local universities. A part of Dobrescu's conservative Lib Dem faction. He receives strong crossover support from the district's few Tory and religious voters, and has had to beat back more liberal primary challengers every election cycle.
9	Milton Ben-David	Liberal Democrat	75.3% - 20.2% - 4.5% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City	An high-profile member of the Lib Dem left-wing known for his economic populism and anti-religion sentiments. Represents the largest theater district, Bronstein Town, with a large population of suspected closeted gays.
10	Navid Rouhani	Libertarian	53.1% - 46.9% (Tory/Libertarian1 - Lib Dem)	New City	An ethnic Arab Emmerian and one of the handful of non-Lib Dems representing a New City district. He is a leading anti-regulation and pro-Western Pardes-style civil liberties advocate. Also the only observant Quranist Muslim on the council.
11	Jacob Weissman	Liberal Democrat	73% - 19.9% - 6.5% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City
12	Adam Fleisch	Liberal Democrat	61.3% - 38.7% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	Moderate Lib Dem who is a key swing vote. He represents the Business District and has the wealthy, stock trader-filled Dravidic Hills neighborhood at the heart of his district. Elected in 2000, he has established credentials as a consensus-builder and often mediates between the Lib Dems' left- and right-wings, as well as between the Tory-Libertarians and the Lib Dem right-wing.
13	Gershon Dershowitz	Liberal Democrat	59.9% - 40.1% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	A religious Conservadox Jew who is part of Dal Cohen's religious left faction.
14	Joseph Brandt	Liberal Democrat	68.2% - 27.7% - 4.1% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City	An ethnic Havenwalder and frequent liberal media commentator, Brandt represents a district split between poor, nonreligious Jews and Christians and relatively wealthy and liberal intelligentsia émigrés from Havenwalde, Rodarion, and Gratislavia.
15	Elijah Friedman	Liberal Democrat	57.6% - 42.4% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	Known for his work on public-private infrastructure projects.
16	Michal Ginsberg	Liberal Democrat	65.4% - 19.1% - 15.5% (Lib Dem - Tory - Libertarian)	New City	Youngest member of the council, having won her seat in 2014.
17	Georgios Theodorakis	Libertarian	54.9% - 45.1% (Libertarian/Tory1 - Lib Dem)	New City	The second Libertarian Party member and an ethnic Eaglelander and practicing Orthodox Christian.
18	Nathaniel Stein	Liberal Democrat	52.1% - 47.9% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1)	New City	Well-regarded moderate Lib Dem and the current city council president. He wields tremendous power as the council president, and has built strategic alliances and relationships with his fellow Lib Dems in both of his party's left- and right-wings as well as with the Tories and Libertarians. Thought by his friends and supporters to be eying the open mayor's seat in 2016.
19	Eliezer Kaufmann	Conservative	59.7% - 41.3% (Tory/Libertarian1 - Lib Dem)	New City	Only Tory in a New City council seat, and his seat is the most conservative in Dakos' New City. Area contains heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of "David's Point", "Leibowitz's Plaza", and the old "Maritime District."
20	David Meyers	Liberal Democrat	49.8% - 47.9% - 2.3% (Lib Dem - Tory/Libertarian1 - Other)	Delta Islands	Considered one of the most conservative Lib Dems on City Council and is part of Drobescu's faction. Represents mostly working-income conservative Democrat-leaning neighborhoods where many police officers, fire-fighters, and their families reside.
21	Aaron Levitsky	Conservative	52.4% - 47.6% (Tory/Libertarian1 - Lib Dem)	Delta Islands	A perennial swing district that leans Tory. Holds most of the maritime and shipping industry hubs, which dominate the Delta Islands' economy.
22	Isaac Moskowitz	Conservative	62.8% - 31.5% - 5.7% (Tory - Lib Dem - Libertarian)	Delta Islands
23	Vitomir Milojević	Conservative	54.5% - 39% - 6.5% (Tory - Lib Dem - Libertarian)	Old City	An ethnic Gratislav and practicing Orthodox Christian. An outspoken member of the religious right.
24	Howard Adler	Conservative	71.4% - 28.6% (Tory/Libertarian1 - Lib Dem)	Old City	A Haredi Jew and leader of the council's bipartisan religious right.
25	Benjamin Schechter	Conservative	76.8% - 33.2% (Tory/Libertarian1 - Lib Dem)	Old City	An mainstream Orthodox Jew who represents a mixed Orthodox Jewish community (mainstream, Modern, and Haredi) as well as the Christian-dominated neighborhoods of the aptly-named 'Christian Quarter.'

Notes:
1. Cross-endorsed by both the Conservative and Libertarian parties.

Swing Districts

Districts 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 are the seats regularly targeted by both parties, though only Districts 6, 10, 17, 18, 20, and 21 have been extremely competitive in the last three election cycles of 2010, 2012, and 2014.

These districts tend to produce members who are more moderate and deviate much more from their party's orthodoxy.

Urbanicity and Political Geography

However, because of the city's fusion electoral laws, parties can cross-endorse candidates on their party lines on the ballot. Dating back to the 1974 "Settas Accord," the Conservatives and Libertarians usually cross-endorse each other's candidates, especially in districts where a divided vote would empower the Lib Dem to win. The Accord laid out the principle of "Larger Voter Bloc Takes All," where under a cross-endorsed situation, the party will more voters in the coalition candidate's district will be the party of choice if the candidate wins and is seated on City Council and/or the Mayor's office. However, cross-endorsed candidates occasionally identify with the "minor" of the two cross-endorsing parties out of personal or ideological preference.

Since 1974, the Tories and Libertarians generally cross-endorse most City Council candidates.

More frequently than not, in some districts (especially heavily Lib Dem ones), local fights between the district Conservative and Libertarian Party organizations over ideological, policy, or leaders' personal differences leads to them to decline to cross-endorse and they will run their own candidates.

Local politics

Local Dakos politics is often shielded from view by the on-paper one-sided partisan breakdown of the city. However, that masks the unorthodox and often bipartisan political votes that spill out over religion, education, local autonomy, and economic populism. This is partly due to the highly-influential effects of the city's various and entrenched ethnoreligious enclaves.

An observer might be surprised to know that the abortion laws in Belhavia's most liberal city are highly restricted. A bipartisan religious right majority has prevailed on adopting a rightward motion on contentious social issues. All the Tories and Libertarians and nearly 60% of the Lib Dem caucus are pro-life on abortion. Likewise, bills to condemn Belhavia's ban on homosexuality put forward by the Lib Dems' left-wing has repeatedly failed - with many religious and/or socially conservative Lib Dems voting with the Tories and Libertarians to defeat the bill. Even the pair of Libertarians - usually known for their social liberalism - are more socially conservative then elsewhere in the Empire, due to the two sitting lawmakers: both of whom are religiously observant in their faiths.

A bipartisan religious right majority of the Tory-Libertarians and Dobrescu's and Cohen's Lib Dem factions have frustrated the social liberalism of the secular liberal left faction. This has shaped the debate among the public. In Dakos, there is a large divide between the hiloni (secular, nonreligious) and the dati (religious) sections of the population. Despite the city's liberal bent and voting habits, the religious in Dakos receive city benefits or privileges that are decried by the secular left.

	Liberal Democratic Party internal factions
	Liberal Left	Mainstream1	Moderates	Conservatives
	Jeffrey Bridge	Tal Frum	Nathaniel Stein	Stefan Dobrescu
	Milton Ben-David	Noah Seidel	Adam Fleisch	Zander Van der Watt
	Joseph Brandt	Dal Cohen	Abraham Gurion	David Meyers
	Miriam Belenky	Gershon Dershowitz
	Mical Ginsberg	Elijah Friedman
		Jacob Weissman

Notes:
1. "Mainstream" here is described as "moderately liberal" - not too far to the left, but not overly moderate, either.

The city's Lib Dems are far from unified, and are often at odds. This contributes to the unusually-complex and cross-party coalitions that form depending on the issue.

• Dobrescu's faction: This political contingent, three members strong, are described by their peers as Tories in all but name. They are socially, fiscally, and culturally conservative, and personally very devoutly religious. They rankle their party's leadership by occasionally endorsing Tory candidates. They are considered part of the bipartisan religious right majority along with Cohen's faction, the Tories, and the Libertarians.

• Cohen's faction: This faction is made up of Cohen and Dershowitz, and is joined often by Friedman. They are the council's "religious left" - solid economic liberals but religious and social conservatives who defect to vote with the Tory-Libertarians and Dobrescu's faction on religious and social issues. However, they have, at times, readily joined Bridge's faction to support left-wing economic populist measures.

• Bridge's faction: A political group that heads the Lib Dems' far left-wing. Aggressive left-liberal advocates, they fight to import policies and perspectives from the global left, looking towards countries such as Eslovakia, Arthurista, Erucia, and Anikatia and arguing carefully from social democratic perspectives.

• Stein's faction: A bit of a misnomer, as Stein wields tremendous power as the party's nominal second-in-command as council president (with the mayor as the party's titular leader). Still, Stein has a group of like-minded moderates who form a strong cadre around him. He can also count on many in the party's so-called "mainstream" wing to support him. He oscillates between the Dobrescu-Cohen and Bridge factions, though he has leaned towards supporting the cross-party religious right alliance in recent years, much to the chagrin of the liberal left.