City of Goberna


 * Never to be confused with Goberna.

The City of Goberna is a corporation-run city and is wholly-enveloped by the larger city of Goberna. The two cities are often mixed up, although they are completely different in many ways. The City of Goberna is run by a corporation called the City of Goberna Corporation, the business that the mayor of the City of Goberna works with. The population of the city is currently around 11,000 penguins and puffles.

History
In late 2013 and early 2014, Goberna began to receive an influx of immigrants from Anglo places such as Puffle'and, Austiceia, and Puffica. These immigrants found it hard to support themselves, as the city's government highly favored Hispanic penguins. The locals were also less than hospitable to their new English-speaking counterparts. So, many of these penguins formed a rebel group and sent a diplomatic envoy to Puffle'and, asking the Puffish to support them if they wanted to start their own city, somewhat autonomous from Shops Island. The Puffish agreed, and the rebellious penguins ceded a section of the city to themselves, a place of high Puffish populations, and named it the "City of Goberna". The Shopper government originally refused to legitimize the new city, but the Puffish said that they would take military action against the Shoppers if they did not agree. Shops, trying for a year of peace in 2014 at the time, decided that an armed conflict was not worth it, and Shops Island formally ceded a part of Goberna to make the new "City of Goberna", which was given a fair level of autonomy in itself.

Politics
The political structure of the City of Goberna is extremely complicated. The city is led by the mayor, who has his own special name: The Great and Awesome; The Proper Crowned Mayor of the City of Goberna, or usually just referred to as the Proper Crowned Mayor of the City of Goberna. Other entities such as the Court of Oldermen and Guilded Council also have says in important matters. As a whole, the entire governing body of the City of Goberna is referred to as the City of Goberna Corporation.

The City of Goberna is split into 25 different districts; Four districts house citizens while the other 21 house special companies and guilds. Each district has a representative in the city's local government, which is called the Court of Oldermen. Each district elects its own Olderman to represent the district on the Court of Oldermen.

Elections in the city are complex. Unlike Shops Island and many other countries, who get their power from the people, the City of Goberna gets its power from something called place immemorial, which means it just is. In elections, both citizens, or Truemen, and companies get votes. Companies get 75% of the votes in a typical election, with the other 25% going to the locals. However, any election can be vetoed if a majority of the Court of Oldermen disapproves.

There are four classes of peoples in the City of Goberna: Truemen (citizens), Oldermen, Officers, and the Mayor.

To become a Trueman and to get Trueman status, one must either be approved by the Court of Oldermen, who in turn will not grant one Trueman status if their direct intentions are to become and Olderman, creating a conflict of interest. One can also apply to be a trueman by joining a certain guild, and getting the status from there. It is illegal for one to simply bypass this rule by creating their own guild, as all guilds must be, in turn, approved by the Court of Oldermen. Regardless of how, any registered Trueman can officially run for Olderman status after.

Gaining Oldermen status involves winning an election in a certain district. A Trueman can run for Olderman in any one of these districts, but can only run for one of them. If they win the district election, they become part of the Court of Oldermen. There are 25 Oldermen, and every time someone loses a district election, they are replaced by a new Olderman.

Before rising to the rank of mayor, one has to finally become an officer. These people are the main advisers to the mayor, and can also serve jointly on the Court of Oldermen at the same time. Becoming an Officer requires one to have no criminal record, and comply with all the city's official-officer protocols.

In January, any officer is free to run for Mayor. There will always be a new mayor as each year goes on, according to local law. The winner of the election is officially crowned the Proper Crowned Mayor of the City of Goberna. As mayor, one must fulfill many duties. The mayor is responsible for maintaining local business, maintaining quality of life in the city, and keeping foreign interest alive. Any mayor in office must wear a fancy hat at all time. Mayors must also pay for their own amenities, as well as pay personally for any travel (which there is a lot of). Not to mention that the mayor also has no salary to speak of.

Local companies, or guilds as they are called, are a major component of the complicated political system in the city. Such guilds have seats in a Guilded Council, which works as a puppet subsidiary of the Court of Oldermen. Each guild has one representative on the council. Some notable guilds in the city are the Red Shield Bank (which is also the ruling guild/party), Hat Inc., and Squarium Industries Inc. These guilds get 75% of the cotes in local elections.

The internal political system, as shown above, of the City of Goberna is regarded by many is the most complex and confusing government in Antarctica; even the Shoppers and Puffish do not fully understand how it works.

Culture
The City of Goberna has a very Puffish culture, and most people living inside the city walls are of direct Puffish descent. They also share Puffish traditions, observe Puffish holidays, along with much more. The City of Goberna is the largest Puffish-majority city in Shops Island, outdoing Bro Town by a long shot.

Special Autonomy
The City of Goberna has special autonomy from Western Shops due to aggressive policy-pushing within they city, and supranational support from the Puffish Empire. The Puffish threatened war on the Shoppers if the City of Goberna was not given a certain level of autonomy; the Shoppers obliged. Ever since, the city has had its own set of laws and policies, some of which are extremely racist and ban Hispanic creatures from entering City of Goberna limits. They have also tried to change their name to something more Puffish, but the Shoppers have refused.

Economy
Although their internal economy is often counted into Goberna's as a whole, the City of Goberna, alone, rests its main economic placements in tourism, money invested in foreign affairs, and trade. The Puffish embassy to Shops Island is located in the City of Goberna, along with separate embassies for each of their crown colonies. The small city is an economic hub due to the English-majority populace, located in a very industrious location. Foreign investors tend to deal their stocks and purchases in the City of Goberna instead of Castillan Goberna, for linguistic and simplicity purposes. Travel from other vestiges of the Puffish Empire to the City of Goberna are also common, as it reminds the Puffish of their capital, Snowdon.

Sister Cities

 * ShopsIslandFlag2013.png Goberna, Shops Island
 * UK Flag 2.png Snowdon, Puffle'and
 * UK Flag 2.png Yank, Puffle'and
 * UK Flag 2.png Glassgau, Puffle'and
 * Austiceiaflag.png Sydden, Austiceia
 * Puffica flag.png Broadway, Puffica
 * Puffica flag.png Froston, Puffica
 * ShopsIslandFlag2013.png Bro Town, Shops Island

Gallery
 File:CityOfGobernaMayor.png|The Mayor 

Trivia

 * The City of Goberna is a parody of the City of London.
 * Their motto, Pro Nobis et ex Nobis translates to For Us and Us Only.
 * On an international level, the City of Goberna Corporation formally demands that their city's flag be flown when the City of Goberna is mentioned in other countries and in formal/legal cases, instead of Shops Island's regular flag.