HIT, Iraq- In recent months, while many of the cities in western Anbar province have enjoyed a relative boom of new growth, Hit has continued to decay.

Much of the reason for this, according to military and Iraqi officials, was the behavior of Hit’s mayor, Hikmat Jubair al-Gaoud, whose jet-setting lifestyle was won at the expense of Hit’s people.

Hikmat was known for tapping oil lines for personal profit and ties to an auto theft ring, said 1st Lt. Lawton King, spokesman for Regimental Combat Team 5. Hikmat also allegedly sold chlorine, fuel and water the coalition had donated for a water treatment plant, and allegedly had ties to Baathist and nationalist insurgent cells.

"It is also known that he launders money abroad and boasts of his involvement with eastern European prostitutes," King said.

King said coalition forces were unable to do anything about Hikmat without appearing to undermine the Iraqi government. Throughout Iraq, as U.S. troops work more closely with local government officials to capitalize on security gains, cases like that of Hikmat offer tough choices.

In this case, U.S. troops cut off funding for civil projects in the city.

At more than 5,000 years old, Hit may be one of the oldest cities in the world. It definitely looks the part.

Buildings crumble in varying states of disrepair. Garbage and rubble lay strewn about the city’s streets. Even in the mayor’s office, power flickers on and off intermittently.

Military officials alleged Hikmat skimmed funds for projects provided by the provincial Anbar government.

According to Capt. Seth McCutcheon, commander of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, under Hikmat’s direction, municipal department heads, city leaders and Iraqi police coexisted with a complete lack of communication, leading to further turmoil as the city’s infrastructure declined.

Things took a turn for the better in Hit when Hikmat went on vacation late last month.

No one claims to know where he went, and no one seems to be looking for him.

At the city’s helm now is Deputy Mayor Ahmed Mahmud, a former lawyer with no tribal ties in a region where tribal rivalries run deep.

Ahmed said his lack of ties to any one tribe is boon in the city, because he can garner the support of most of the people there. Still he’s inherited a mess from his predecessor. Almost a fourth of the city’s population is homeless and 80 percent to 90 percent are unemployed, he said Sunday.

Among the first things he did when taking charge of the city was to write to the provincial government in Ramadi asking for more funds for city projects.

He also began stricter oversight of municipal departments that under Hikmat’s reign went virtually unsupervised.

Encouraged by the new direction the city is taking, the coalition has allowed funding for civil projects, and members of Company L are evaluating about a dozen projects to assist the city with including power, water and education projects.

On Sunday, the secretary to Anbar governor Arif Mukabaar also promised funds for new equipment, personnel and projects for every municipal department, saying he felt comfortable doing so now that the area is relatively safe and there’s a trustworthy person in office.

Ahmed said his top priorities at the moment are centralizing control of the city’s various municipal departments and dealing with housing and unemployment problems. He’d also like to get the garbage off of the city’s streets.

Coalition forces in the area look forward to working with him.

"The thing with old mayor was he was just looking out for the interest of himself and his inner circle of friends more than the welfare of the city," said MacCutcheon. "The new mayor is showing more signs of wanting to end that way of doing things. He seems to care more about the welfare of the people than lining his own pockets."