Lidiane Leite may be the most social media savvy mayor, because she’s 25 and probably actually uses apps without needing someone to explain them to her. But she may also be the worst one, because she didn’t actually live in Bom Jardim, the Brazilian town she was presiding over, and instead just used WhatsApp to run the town from 170 miles away.
The BBC reports that Leite was living it up in Maranhao and only checked in with members of her cabinet via WhatsApp about once a day. She also really messed with the education system, and is accused of stealing $4 million from the schools of Bom Jardim, meaning that teachers haven’t gotten paid. According to her lawyer, Leite didn’t know she was doing anything wrong, which seems like a hard case to make. This is why millennials can’t have nice things.
Leite only ran for office after her ex-boyfriend, Beto Rocha, was banned from running in 2012 due to corruption charges against him. After she won the election, she hired Rocha as her advisor and is said to have delegated most of the decision making to him – that is, until they broke up earlier this year.
Now, there’s an arrest warrant out for Leite in connection with a federal investigation into the misappropriated state education funds and she’s on the run. Her former deputy has been sworn in as mayor in her stead.