servant.
.
Neither are army officers, or judges, or priests in their own environments. They are servants also, and rising in deference to them is not being obsequious.
I see that you don't understand at all the idea of respect for the highest authority of a very large, premiere metropolis.
Actually, when a platoon of soldiers or construction crew are at work, their NCO or straw boss is the one showing deference to arriving officials. And the Mayor here ought to be commanding respect, not demanding it. But we're only seeing this through the eyes of the reporter, whose view itself might be jaundiced.