Waltzing at Midnight Read Free

Hugh? During your term, the monies have been so badly mismanaged that if Weberstown were a charity, it would be criminally prosecuted for fraud. The reserve was in the millions of dollars when you became mayor. Today there is no reserve to speak of.”
    Rosie’s manner was spirited and good-natured, as though she were enjoying the game. She was relaxed. He was tense and on the defensive. You could tell he was frustrated, had no means to slow the momentum of phenomenal Rosie.
    “And on the issue of planning for the future,” she said, “the plan submitted by your planning commission last month, a year late and forty million dollars over budget, is doomed to be voted down by the council. It’s unrealistic and even in opposition to the county and state plans. Environmentalists and state offices are hollering bloody murder. But I’ve got to give you the fact that it’s farsighted. Fifty years! No other city’s plan has been able to see that far into the future, Hugh. Maybe you ought to rent out your crystal ball.”
    I smiled along with Rosie as she and the camera turned to Kiester, whose face was contorted into a grimace trying to become a smile.
    “Isn’t he a jerk?” I said. Jerry patted my arm to placate me.
    The mediator asked about job creation. This was one of Kiester’s vulnerable areas. Rosie was going to smear him. I was definitely enjoying myself.
    “Bringing new jobs to our county is one of my top priorities,”
    Kiester said. “We have implemented several new programs to make this area attractive to business, including the one-stop permit office which will open in January. In the recent past we’ve asked new and expanding businesses to shoulder too great 15
     
    a percentage of support for our infrastructure. I’ve ordered the council to review the business tax structure and look into the fee system, land use and environmental regulations, and several areas where we might ease some of the burden away from businesses willing to locate here and employ our citizens. Two companies which will employ a total of two hundred and eighty-five people have committed just this month to relocating to our city.”
    When it was Rosie’s turn, she sparkled at the camera and said,
    “If you can’t get a job done, take credit for somebody else doing it.
    The two relocating companies the mayor refers to were secured through the negotiations of the Vision Partnership, a cooperative of civic leaders and businessmen and women, of which I am the director. The Partnership was formed because we’re deeply concerned about the lack of jobs in our community and we’ve been unable to move city government to act. One of the reasons we haven’t been more successful is that businesses are alienated by the apparent apathy of city government in assisting them. The regulations are oppressive, the taxes are restrictive, and the red tape involved in getting licenses and permits is prohibitive. Not a single piece of legislation has been passed in the last two years to ease these constraints, and the one-stop permit office, which we’ve been pushing for at least three years, has been too long coming.”
    Rosie gestured in a relaxed manner with her hands, talking into the camera as though she were addressing a friend. She was so good at this! “And, as the mayor has just told us,” she continued, “he has finally asked the council to review some of the restrictive policies, policies he promised in his previous campaign to revise. How many terms do we give Mr. Kiester before we get some results? Since he took office, twenty-two private-sector employers in the city have shut their doors. Four hundred and twenty-one people lost jobs.” Rosie paused for effect. “No, he didn’t cause an atmosphere discouraging to business, but neither did he do anything to improve it. As far as I’m concerned, the single most urgent issue for this community is unemployment.
    Put people back to work and you’ll reduce crime. Bring more