Consent of the Governed Ch. 02

"Is it necessary to be wearing all that armor?" Coretta K. Scott asked, trying to regain the upper hand. "Even the Sheriff and Commander Ross, wearing armor in here? I feel like we're under siege."

"We are." replied the Sheriff. "I just mentioned the nearly-violent demonstrations outside. And I do not trust Stacy Jacobs's and Lionel Carmela's thugs to not try something. And Commander Ross has a baby to protect under her armor. I for one am glad to see her wearing it."

"Mr. Mayor," said Ryan Paulson, "I must protest the lack of order and decorum by Assemblywomen Scott and Bowman, and ask you to get this session back under control."

Daniel turned and glared at Paulson. "You are not helping." the Mayor said sternly. He turned forward. "Go ahead, Sheriff Griswold."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Sheriff had Cindy come up to present the EMS and Police portions of the Public Safety Budget. And that's when the fight started.

"Mr. Mayor, and Sheriff," said Coretta K. Scott, "why is this Police Officer giving the EMS presentation? Why don't you have someone from the EMS doing it, or Chief of Staff Oswald?"

"Because I've been doing the EMS's Budget for them during their creation." Cindy Ross replied. "They're------"

Coretta K. Scott rose to her feet and jabbed her finger at Cindy as she yelled "I DID NOT ASK NOR ADDRESS YOU, WHITE BITCH! YOU KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT------"

"POINT OF ORDER!" yelled ten (of the fifteen) Republican Assemblypersons.

"Agreed." said Daniel Allgood "Ms. Scott, your language is inappropriate, and I'll ask you to apologize for it."

"Go to Hell, you illegitimate Cracker." Coretta K. Scott snarled.

"I'm not rising to your racist bait." Daniel said. "And you've been warned. One more outburst like that, and you'll be removed. The floor is yours, Sheriff. Go ahead." Griswold pointed at Cindy.

"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted in violation of the Rules of Order," Cindy said darkly as her ice blue eyes bored into Coretta K. Scott's, "the EMS has only been reconstituted and in service for a few months. I have personally been handling their budget issues since that inception, and no one knows more than I do about their operations."

"Thank you, Deputy Chief Ross." said Mayor Allgood. He then rose to his feet and said "At this time, I'm imposing the most rigorous Rules of Order upon this session of the Assembly. I'm just not going to sit here and listen to you act like children... and Council Members." There was laughter in the audience and among some Assemblypersons at the little dig at the Council.

As Cindy went through the progress of rebuilding the EMS, then began itemizing their Budget needs, an Asian Assemblywoman, a Democrat, was recognized to speak.

"Commander Ross," she said, the politeness of her voice fooling no one present, "I do not understand why the EMTs cannot be housed in the same buildings with the Fire Department, and be under the Fire Department's total control."

Cindy didn't miss a beat: "Assemblywoman Chang, do I need to remind you and this Assembly that when the EMTs were housed with the Fire Department, a female EMT was violently gang raped, and a male EMT beaten nearly to death... by Fire Department personnel?" (Author's note: 'Hampered In His Plans', Ch. 01-02.)

Her words shocked the entire room into silence. And in that tense silence, Cindy continued: "The Fire Department is a much better organization today than it was then, but that previous enmity between the TCFD and TCEMS is the main reason they are housed separately. The cost, especially after the initial setup costs that have already been spent, is minimal, and it's working well to this point."

Whatever Assemblywoman Chang's point was, she didn't try to push it any further. Cindy finished the EMS presentation, and the Mayor called for a ten minute break. Of course those never go the exact amount of time, and it was more than ten minutes before people began going back into the Assembly Chamber.

I did not immediately return to the Assembly Chamber, but went into the atrium. Looking out the window, I saw that Courthouse Square was clear; all the protesters had left. I also saw that it was an overcast day, adding to the strange foreboding that I felt.

"Commander!" I heard as I turned to go back down the hall. It was Teresa Croyle. She hurried up to me and said as we walked along "The protesters have all dispersed, at least from our visible range here. What bothers me most is that KXTC still has a cameraman on the roof of the building at the corner, and two people in the van parked in the parking lot behind the building."

"Good observation." I said. "And you're right to be bothered by that. They're just starting the Police presentation now..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cindy had barely started her Police Budget presentation when Cori Bowman stood up and yelled "Point of Order, Mr. Mayor!", shocking everyone in the room.

"What is it, Ms. Bowman?" the Mayor said, clearly nonplussed by the interruption.

"Mr. Mayor, there is no point in wasting our time listening to this drivel." Bowman replied. "We are going to defund the Police, by whatever means it takes. I expect every Assembly Member to vote to defund the Police. Anyone who does not is a racist, and we'll make damn sure the whole world knows it-------"

"Point of order, Mr. Mayor." said Jeff Maple, a white Republican. Maple's dark brown curly hair reminded me of Steven Ikea's, but Maple's face was more sallow and less haughty than Ikea's. Maple was tall and slender, and considered a rising star in Republican circles in this County and even the State. I wasn't sure he was Establishment or Conservative; he was good at talking out of both sides of his mouth to either audience.

"Mr. Mayor, my first point of order is to protest Assemblywoman Bowman's slanderous lie that I'm a racist." said Maple. "My second point of order is that there is no guarantee the Budget won't be passed with the Police fully funded, in spite of the threats and intimidation by our County's version of 'the Squad'. Not only should we hear this Budget presentation, I look forward to passing it... with our heroic Police fully funded."

The other fourteen Republicans broke out into applause, as did some in the audience. The thirteen black Democrats sat stonily silent, their faces masks of hatred, and fierce determination. The two white Democrats did not join the applause, but looked conflicted.

Daniel Allgood tapped his gavel until he had order, then said "The period of debate by the Assembly and the passage of the Budget is scheduled for a future time. The current time belongs to the presenters. Therefore, the presentation will continue..."

Part 13 - Endorsements

I listened to Cindy's presentation of the Budget along the lines of the Official Inventory List (OIL), which military veterans Chief Moynahan and I colloquially called the Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE), the military's version of that. At their next break, I did not return to the Assembly Chamber, but went back to my office at Police Headquarters.

At 11:30am, my assistant Helena French buzzed me and said that I had a call from District Attorney Miriam Walters. I took the call: "Yes, Ms. Walters, what can I do for you?"

"You can let me buy you lunch." said Miriam Walters. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Should I ask Paulina to join us?" I asked.

"No, just you and me." Miriam said. "Cattleman's Club? High noon?"

"Er, sure." I said. "But I'm going to be wearing my uniform and armor, and I may be called out to leave at a moment's notice..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Miriam was wearing a dark gray jacket and skirt and a white blouse, colors that seem to blend with my black uniform and black armor all but molded to it. Dull silver cloth stars were sewn onto the epaulettes of my uniform shirt, the only splash of non-subdued contrast that was visible besides the word "POLICE" on the armor.

"I heard about those protests this morning." Miriam said after the server handed us our menus and took drink orders. "Did you know Katina Jones was going to show up with a counter-demonstration?"

"I'd heard rumors." I said. "I keep my ears peeled about things that might cause trouble, of course, and we already knew the red-shirted Antifa thugs were going to show up and demonstrate. So we were ready."

"But you're not letting your guard down, nor taking your armor off." Miriam noted.

"Not until the Police presentation to the Assembly is done." I replied. The server returned and I ordered for both of us, which greatly impressed Miriam.

"How did you know exactly what I wanted?" she asked, her beady black eyes softening and looking at me flirtatiously.

"I'm a Detective, and a good one." I said with a smile, not giving away further secrets. "So! What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Miriam said "Two things. First, the situation with the District Attorney's Office. Hannah Doss has no opposition for the Magistrate Court Judge seat, which will be really good for you and the Police; she's very pro-Police when it comes to issuing warrants. And my political people are expecting Franklin Washington to beat Harry Nance by margins on the level that Sheriff Griswold crushed Della Harlow."

I nodded. "The Sheriff has told me similar things."

Miriam said "So that's going to open up some things. And if Savannah Fineman wins the Solicitor position, then Paulina will practically have free run of the D.A's Office. I can make her the Assistant D.A. in the true sense of the word, and she can hire and organize DDAs as she likes. She'll run the shop, I'll do District Attorney things and deal with the other politicians, the Public, and the Press."

"But only if Savannah wins." I said.

"True enough." Miriam said, not trying to hide from the the reality of the situation. "If that prick Mason wins re-election to the Solicitor post, Savannah will come back to me. But don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that I'm going to put Savannah over Paulina. It'll be more of a power-sharing situation."

"Paulina gets the MCD cases, Savannah the Vice cases?" I asked, not pretending to be anything but hopeful of that result.

"Maybe." Miriam said. "My deal with you about having Paulina on the cases you want will hold. Savannah will likely oversee most of the rest of it."

"And if by some miracle Franklin Washington loses?" I asked.

Miriam looked at me a bit more coldly and said "If that happens, Franklin can come back, but it will basically mean that I have to hire one or two fewer people. Truly, I'm not even considering the possibility that Nance can beat Franklin. Nance is a rabid Leftist, but he is not popular at all with the Black Community; in fact, he's pretty well despised by everyone. And it's an open secret they like Rodney K. Watts, and even if Franklin is as conservative as Watts, he'll be acceptable to virtually everyone. People want fair, clean judges, and they know they'll get that from Franklin, and not from Nance."

Our food came, and we settled down to eating the delicious steaks and trimmings. I began wolfing my food down, having not realized how hungry I was, then remembered to slow it down and use my manners. As we ate, we talked mostly about our families and about Claire Michaels returning to the TCPD as Captain of Detectives.

As we had ice cream and coffee for desert, I said "Soooo... you want me to endorse Savannah Fineman, do you?"

Miriam's eyes glinted a bit, then she smiled and said "As everyone says, not much gets past you. Yes, that is what I wanted to discuss with you."

"Well," I replied, "you've spent a lot of time laying the groundwork by telling me how good it will be for Paulina if Savannah wins. And while I do agree, I've talked to Paulina about it, and she agreed with me that it might be best if I just keep my beak out of things and not make any endorsement. The only one I'm making is the one I've made: Curly Goodwin over that pedophile Bruce Finneran."

"You didn't endorse Katina Jones?" Miriam asked.

"No, not formally." I replied. "I talked to her about it, and we weren't sure how that would go over in her District."

"It'd go better than you might realize." Miriam said. "Sheriff Griswold has amazed me in that he has tremendous support in the Black Community. And even after last summer's riots and the Breonna Bryant trial, you still have better standing than many would expect. People of all ethnicities did not like what Lester Holder was calling your little daughter."

"True," I said, "but Katina is doing very well, despite the Press working as hard as they can to destroy her campaign. I talked with her and her Campaign, as well as some other astute political operatives, and we all agreed that my influence might be uncertain. And there's another reason, too. We're going to be watching for efforts to steal the Election for Eldrick X. Weaver, and maybe even Finneran. And if Katina does well, KXTC will say it's because I helped rig the vote."

Miriam sighed, then said "It's really too bad that literally everything has to be considered through the filter of race."

"Yes, it is." I replied. "And I fully blame the corrupt Mainstream Media for that."

"So. Savannah." Miriam said, drawing me back on topic. "You worked with her on the Charter Commission, and you said she did well."

"Yes," I said, "but I also said in less public places that she did the work she did competently and well, but she took no initiative in places where I hoped and even expected her to. And as you know, I've been dissatisfied with her lack of effort on things such as prosecuting Kelly Carnes. I think I'd rather just punt on this one, and make no endorsement at all..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1:30pm. I got back to Headquarters. As I sat down at my desk, I speed-dialed Teresa on my Police iPhone.

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

I looked up at my office door, from where the ringing sound was coming, and I observed Teresa walking into my office, holding her iPhone to her ear.

"Just hang up and sit down." I said into my iPhone. Teresa gave what was for her a grin, and sat down in the 'hot chair' furthest from the door, where she normally sat, as we disconnected the call.

"We can go back over there if anything breaks." Teresa said. "They adjourned for lunch at twelve fifteen, and won't reconvene until two o'clock."

"How did it go in there?' I asked.

Teresa made the 'so so' motion with her left hand and said "Coretta Scott and Cori Bowman just stopped talking, at least for a while. They were playing games on their cellphones, not listening to a word Cindy was saying. The other black Democrats are acting bored, but aren't leaving; they may be afraid the Mayor will call a snap vote on something."

Teresa: "The white Democrats and some of the Republicans are asking a lot of questions. One Republican, Ryan Paulson, asked what Cindy expected to do if the State Legislature didn't pass a Budget next Winter. Cindy said we have a 'rainy day fund', and a black Democrat immediately said that they should take that money and spend it on forced 'sensitivity training' for white Officers dealing with People of Color. I know Cindy well, and I could tell that she was beginning to get pissed off at that crap, but she held her tongue... so far."

I nodded. "So no more external protests?" I asked.

"No sir." Teresa said. "And Terry Halston has been monitoring things via drones and talking to the SWAT Team members. He says we might want to be on standby when the presentation ends, but he doesn't expect much real trouble."

*BUZZZ!*

Helena announced that I had a visitor in the lobby: Town & County Solicitor Ted Mason. Teresa beat a hasty retreat, and I had the Duty Desk Officer escort Mason to my office. When he came in, my offers of coffee or water were refused. I had him sit down in the near-side 'hot chair'.

"Armor? In your office?" Mason astutely noted.

"If something breaks at City Hall, I'm ready to go." I replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here," said Ted Mason, "to ask you to endorse me in the Solicitor race against Savannah Fineman."

"I have no plans to endorse anyone in that race, nor most of the others." I said. Then I added, just to make him realize it was an uphill battle: "And I'm not sure it's better for Paulina, and therefore for me and my Detectives, for Savannah not to win."

"I understand where you're coming from, but just let me make my case." said Mason. "First of all, you know how Savannah has not pursued a lot of cases, like the Carnes campaign finance case. And she didn't want to pursue other cases, like Breonna Bryant, which despite what the Media is making of it, did a whole lot of good cutting down those riots."

"I don't disagree with you at all, there." I said.

Mason: "Another thing to think about is what the Solicitor position is about. My office handles most of the misdemeanor cases and little stuff like traffic court cases. And a lot of those cases involve the Minority communities. If Fineman wins, she may become like a lot of those D.A.s in several cities that just won't prosecute Minority offenders."

I replied: "If she does that and ticket revenues drop, she'll be hearing from the Town & County Council."

Mason nodded, then said "It could still be a problem. And the flip side of that may also be true: a lot of the Black Community do not like her at all, because of the Charter. You, Commander, are a lot more popular with Blacks than you may realize because of your backing Edna Carter to get all our kids better educational opportunities, as well as the way you pushed back against the NEA, and hard. But it's well known, and partly because Mrs. Carter and the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Williams are telling people out loud, that Savannah opposed what you did with the School Board and the taxation issue.

"And you think that'll lead to more racial strife?" I asked in reply.

"Possibly." said Mason. "Anyway, I'm just presenting my argument that I'll be a better and more fair Solicitor than Savannah will. She just wants the job as a stepping stone; she doesn't care about doing the job but having the title on her résumé. I've been doing the job for two years, I think I've done it well, and I would continue to."

"Out of curiosity and nothing more," I inquired, "what are your future plans? If Gil Krasney win the State A.G. job, you might bolt to go work with him. Especially if you lose. I already know Miriam won't have you as an ADA. And if you win, are you planning on running for D.A. in the next one or two election cycles?"

Mason said "If I lose, yeah, I'll need to find something, and I might give Gil a call if he doesn't give me one first. And as you know, because you wrote the new Charter, the D.A. and Solicitor positions are four year terms now, and staggered so that they're not at the same time. I have no plans to run against Miriam Walters for D.A., but if and when she pursues other opportunities, I'll definitely run for D.A. if I'm not already at the State level."

I nodded. "Sounds good." I said, then drew the meeting to a close by saying "Okay, then. I'll consider making an endorsement. But don't get your hopes up too much. As I said before, I don't plan on making any endorsements, or even showing public leanings... except for the Inspector General's Office."

"That's all I ask, then." said Mason. I was about to get up, but he said "Before I go, there are a couple of things I should probably tell you. First, about Edna Carter. She may not be as much a friend to you as you might think. She was with you on the education issues, but she's much less a fan of Police, and she was very opposed to the way Breonna Bryant was dealt with."