Maia began his first term as mayor in the wake of an episode that mirrored the strained relationship between the social classes in Rio de Janeiro, the so-called "arrastão" (looting-rampage, or "dragnet") on October the 18th, which saw rival groups of youths from different shanty towns ("galeras") and associated with various funk bands ("funkeiros") sorting out their differences and going on a looting-spree at Ipanema beach. Maia ran as a law and order candidate, and after his inauguration tried a "no-nonsense" attitude, focused on new directions on public administration and urban intervention. He frequently courted media attention through the use of so-called factoids; small antics that went from the eccentric to the ridiculous, for example his proposed special monetary unit, legal tender only in Rio de Janeiro. Given the bizarre character of some of these antics, some say that Maia from the start "wanted to build an image purposely intended to appear as surprising as well as strange".