Just a Story Ch. 05

Griswold growled: "Anything the Legislature does will likely force us to expand, especially if they merge counties together and then split our Town from the County again. So the work won't be in vain. In fact, the uncertainties are what we are planning for..."

Part 8 - Announcements, Announcements, Announnnncements...

12:00 high noon, Monday, November 29th. Cindy and I were walking to City Hall after a morning of collaborating with the Chief and Tanya on Police structural issues.

Cindy said "We've got a lot of work to do. The Police Department is pretty well organized, so you don't have a lot to do there. But the Fire Department is about to get overhauled, and they will likely fight us every step of the way. And ditto that for the Public Health Service."

I replied "I think the changes to the Sheriff's Department itself are what are needed the most, especially after the incident at the Council Meeting." (Author's note: 'No Show', Ch. 01.)

Cindy said "But there won't be a lot of angst over that, nor resistance to it." We then stopped talking as we came around the corner of City Hall and onto Courthouse Square.

There was a crowd of modest size between the semi-circular steps leading up to the entrance to City Hall and the statue of President Thomas Jefferson and the huge flagpole holding up the huge American Flag waving in the breeze. There were two Press vans, one being KXTC's and one being KFXU's, and a number of cameramen in various places, recording the crowd and preparing to record the announcement.

We were just in time. Four men came out of City Hall and up to the lectern set up with a bank of microphones. They were Town & County Assemblyman Ryan Paulson, Senior Deputy Sheriff Louis Bailey, Town & County Solicitor Ted Mason, and industrialist Bill Redmond.

"Good morning." said Ryan Paulson, who was relatively tall, slender, in good health, and his black hair perfectly styled and in place, his gray suit fitting perfectly, looking like the quintessential Establishment Republican that he was. "Thank you for coming. I'm Assemblyman Ryan Paulson, and with me are Senior Deputy Sheriff Louis Bailey, Solicitor Ted Mason, and Bill Redmond, CEO of Redmond Enterprises,

Paulson then said "We are here to announce our candidacies for several offices. I am running for the Republican nomination for Mayor of the Town & County!" The modest crowd cheered loudly.

Louis Bailey stepped up and said "I am running for the Republican nomination for County Sheriff." Cheers.

Ted Mason said "I am seeking the Republican nomination for District Attorney." Stronger cheers.

Bill Redmond said "And I am running for Chairman of the Town & County School Board." Very strong cheers from one segment of the crowd.

Paulson came back to the microphones. "We are running as a ticket, as a team. Our goals are the same: to fix the huge problems the current Mayor, Sheriff, and District Attorney have created, problems that are greatly harming our Town & County!" The crowd cheered lustily.

Paulson: "We must stop the wasteful and unnecessary spending in this County, that the Mayor and Sheriff have allowed for too long. We must restore order in a Public Safety Department racked by infighting and uncertainty in times of crisis. We must fix the disasters that have recently occurred in the District Attorney's Office. And most of all, we must return the Town & County Government to true Republican values!" The crowd cheered.

Bill Redmond came up and said "We must also fix the disastrous policies and curriculum that are harming our school children. We must address the grossly unfair distribution of school taxes, where those who pay the most see their schools getting less, while schools in other districts get more though they pay less in school taxes." The crowd cheered even more mightily for that...

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

As we'd watched the announcements from the side, Cindy and I found the number of Police Officers and Sheriff Deputies around us increasing slowly but steadily. The reason why quickly became apparent: some in the Press had spotted us, and they rushed over to attempt to get statements from us, especially me. The barrage was stopped by the ring of LEOs surrounding us as we began walking back towards Police Headquarters.

"No comments, no comments." I said over and over at the questions shouted at us, some asking if we supported and were endorsing the candidates that had just announced. When some reporter yelled a question asking as Charter Chairman, what did I think of Bill Redmond's comments, I just said "No comment, no comment."

"Commander Troy!" yelled Bill Hacosta (what was he doing here? I wondered to myself), "These candidates are running on a platform cleaning up the messes you made re-writing the Charter! What is your response to them?"

"My response to you, Hacosta, is that you're an idiot. Nothing new there, though." I said. Cindy laughed out loud at that. At that point, as we reached Riverside Drive, the Police Officers began pushing the reporters back, and not letting them cross the road. We got back to Police Headquarters, and the pack of rabid, diseased dogs of the Media went back to Courthouse Square...

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

1:00pm, Monday, November 29th. The Sheriff and the Police Chief invited Cindy and me to lunch at the Cop Bar. Groups of my Detectives were leaving as we arrived, and we exchanged greetings with them.

We sat in the back 'Command Room'. After ordering, the Sheriff asked "What did y'all think of the announcements?"

Cindy said "I think Don was actually surprised, sir. I'm not sure if it was at Bill Redmond running for School Board Chairman, or all of them running on (air quotes) 'one ticket', though."

I said "Redmond running for School Board Chairman came out of the blue for me. I had no idea, had heard absolutely nothing. I thought he might try to run for a Council seat, either Edward's old one, the northeast part of Town; or J.P. Goldman's old one, in the County northwest and north of Town, or he'd oppose Kelly Carnes again."

Me: "But all of them running together as the (air quotes) 'Establishment Republican' ticket didn't really shock me. I didn't know they were going to do that, and it's going to be interesting, because I did notice that Bailey and Mason didn't speak at the announcement; Paulson spoke for them as well as himself. Bill Redmond spoke independently. In any case, I don't think their tactic is a big deal."

"I'm not so sure of that." growled Griswold. "Them running as one ticket, as one cabal, all but forces me into the same boat with Daniel Allgood and Miriam Walters. Which is a place I'm not sure I want to be."

"Then don't be there, Sheriff." I replied. "I agree that they, and especially the Press, will try to force you into that, pitting two groups against each other. But you can resist that completely. Focus entirely on Bailey, and leave Daniel to fight Paulson, and Miriam to fight Mason. And be sure to tell the God-cursed Press that you're running as your own man for your own post, and not as part of a group, especially if they try to attach you to Miriam's failures."

As the Sheriff became thoughtful, Cindy asked "Redmond running for School Board Chairman. How does that work, and what are the ramifications of his candidacy?"

I said "The Charter Commission set up the School Board to be 12 or so Districts, and a Chairman elected County-wide. The first Districts were computer generated, but the ones for the next Election were done by the first elected School Board and ratified by the Assembly and Council by simple majority votes."

Me: "Since the County High, Town High, and BTW High districts are roughly equal in population, there is an even fall of the cards on the Board. The Chairman runs the agenda like the Mayor runs the Council, but the School Board Chairman always has a vote, not just when there are ties."

Me: "After the issues with Redmond's son Shawn and my daughter Carole, where both Bill and Shawn showed their racist proclivities," (Author's note: 'Black and Blue', Ch. 01.) "I'm extremely leery of any role Redmond would have on the School Board. He's one of those County High system parents that are furious they pay more in taxes but don't get more funds for their schools."

Cindy said "And Louis Bailey is gone... he can't work for the Sheriff's Department while running against the Sheriff for the Sheriff's job. He has to go on unpaid leave. Does that apply to Ted Mason, as well?"

Sheriff Griswold said "No, Bailey won't have to go on leave. He filed his retirement papers this morning, so he'll get his pension from this day forward. But it also means he won't be coming back, at all."

I added: "Ted Mason does not have to take leave from the Solicitor post to run for D.A. However, he cannot run for Solicitor in this Election cycle. Ditto that for Ryan Paulson. He's giving up his Assembly seat in order to run for Mayor."

Sheriff Griswold said "I heard something else, Crowbar. We know Edward Steele is running for Ian McGhillie's seat with Ian retiring, and Edward building his new house next to Cindy's. And we know J.P. Goldman is retiring. I thought Selena was going to run for her father's seat, but this morning she filed paperwork to run for J.P.'s seat. Whassup wit' dat?"

"That was the original plan, and they decided to follow through." I said.

The Sheriff was not mollified. He said "But... but who is going to run for Edward's seat? Things are too much on a knife's edge to not have a plan for that!"

That generated a grin on Your Iron Crowbar's face. Cindy felt the vibe, and said "You do have a plan. Spill it, Red Crowbar."

I replied: "All I'll say at this moment is that Paulina lives in Edward's district."

"Shut the front door!" Cindy exclaimed. "Paulina is going to run for the Council? Can she do that, be on the Council, and remain an ADA?"

"I have no ideas about the legalities of that." I replied. "And I did not say Paulina was running for the Council, only that she lives in that district. And Paulina is thinking about running for Solicitor, but hasn't decided on it yet. That's all I'll say for now, but stay tuned for other developments."

Chief Moynahan had been quiet up to now, bur now he asked: "Speaking of Edward's home being built, how is your home coming along, Mizzz Rossss?"

Cindy smiled and said "Teresa took this week for vacation, which is why I'm hanging out with Cousin Crowbar here as his bodyguard Angel. Next week, after she gets back, I'm taking a week off... to move into my new house!"

We all enthusiastically congratulated her. She said "It passed all the inspections and was approved for occupancy last week. It's really great. The views from the back deck are as stunning as The Cabin's, though they look southeast over Reservoir Lake and Nextdoor County instead of Town. Y'all can come see it any time, and Callie and I want to host a housewarming party as part of a Christmas party."

"Sounds good." I said. "Is it fenced in?"

"Yes." Cindy said. "The front yard has squared-out logs like a western ranch house, but the backyard has a black-painted chain-link fence just inside the woodline that is unobtrusive, but can keep dogs inside if we get a dog, or two."

I said "I'll have Bowser and Sadie Mae get to work right away..."

Part 9 - House On The Hill

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, December 1st, from the anchor desk of the KXTC studios. "The Town & County Council doubles down on their support of Police brutality against People of Color!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "The Town & County Council has fired City Attorney Dennis Garland after the second reading of the bill last week that also voted to fight the lawsuit by the family of Anthony Wilson, who was severely injured by Police Commander Donald Troy after a peaceful protest at the Council meeting three weeks ago."

Bettina: "The amendment to fire Mr. Garland was made by Republican Edward R. Steele... again, that's Republican Edward R. Steele... and the first vote on the bill was passed with the tie-breaking vote of Republican Mayor Daniel Allgood... again, Republican Mayor Daniel Allgood made the deciding vote to fight the lawsuit, support Commander Troy's Police brutality, and fire Mr. Dennis Garland for his courageous stand on behalf of peaceful protesters!"

Bettina: "And a number of candidates for Town & County offices are expected to be made today. The Town & County Democrat Party is sponsoring an announcement at noon, where many of their slate of candidates will be introduced. KXTC Channel Two News will bring you full coverage of those announcements!"

Bettina: "Meanwhile, Republican Edward R. Steele filed papers to run in the district now held by fellow Republican Ian McGhillie, who is retiring from active politics. It was expected that his daughter Selena Steele would run for his old seat, but she filed paperwork to run for the seat being vacated by Republican J.P. Goldman, who also is retiring after this current term."


Bettina: "What is not clear is who is going to run for Steele's seat as a Republican, and Democrats believe they have a chance to pick up this seat and have an overall majority on the Town & County Council. Democrats are also seeking a good candidate for the seat Goldman is vacating, though that northwestern County district is heavily populated with Police Officers loyal to Commander Donald Troy..."

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

"Finally!" Chief Deputy Sheriff Cindy Ross exclaimed as she, ADA Paulina Patterson, Sheriff Griswold, Your Iron Crowbar, Chief Moynahan, and Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone drank coffee and watched the broadcast in the Chief's Conference Room. "Bettina actually said something good about Commander Troy!"

"She was trying to make it sound bad, though." said Paulina. "She was trying to say that loyalty to Don is a bad thing."

"Still," I replied, "it was a random act of journalism, and I'm sure Bettina will come to regret saying it."

Sheriff Griswold said "I'm more interested in what Bettina was saying about the Council races. She may not be wrong that there is a risk in Selena not running for her father's seat in the northeast County district."

Cindy replied with great snarkiness: "But Sheriff, Don has assured us that all will be well. He even took Paulina's name in vain in doing that." Paulina just smiled, very aware of what I'd said... since I had told her.

I said "All I said was that Paulina lived in that district."

Sheriff Griswold growled: "Are you going to run for Solicitor, Paulina?"

Paulina grimaced a bit as she replied: "I don't know, Sheriff. My heart is not really in it. I'm definitely going to wait and see who declares for the position before I decide."

"They may be wait-ingggg for yooooo." drawled Chief Moynahan.

"We can smoke them out if they do try to wait on Paulina." I said.

"Ohhhh!" Tanya suddenly exclaimed. "I get it." Everyone looked at her, and she said "I get what Don was saying. Paulina, your condo complex has a lot of, shall we say, (air quotes) 'upwardly mobile' members of the Black Community, doesn't it?"

I grinned; Tanya was on to it. Paulina confirmed what Tanya had asked, and Tanya said "Doesn't Katina Jones now live in your condo complex?"

"You're all over it." I said. "Here, hold this." I passed the red crowbar across the table to Tanya.

"Moohahahaha!" Lady Ironside said happily as she held the crowbar. "The power is mine, mine!"

I said "Let's not let this get out of this room, especially to the God-damned Press. But yes, Katina Jones is seriously considering running for that seat, and she is more Conservative than Edward is. She did well running against Silas in a rabidly Leftist district. J.P. Goldman's seat is much more likely to stay Republican if Selena runs for it, so it makes sense... a lahhht of sense... for her to do that and let Katina take the shot at the title in Edward's old district."

Cindy said, almost bitterly, "Why do I have the feeling that you not only knew about this, you were the one that came up with the idea?"

"Because I am the one that suggested it to Katina, Edward, Mr. Goldman, and Selena. Not sorry." I replied. The Sheriff's mustaches quivered with amusement.

"And that's nothing." I said cryptically. "If things go the way I am expecting them to... just wait 'till you see what I'm going to do next." And not one word more would I say about any of it, for the time being...

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

12:00 high noon, Wednesday, December 1st. As they usually do, and the Republicans often fail to do, the Democrats got the optics really right. They had a large gathering in the Civic Center auditorium, and they made a lot of noise of applause at the correct times, and also booing at the mention of a Republican or (especially) Police Commander Donald Troy, which Channel Two News could not show often enough.

"Let's get started!" said Eldrick X. Weaver as he and the other candidates went up on stage, to raucous applause. "Our candidates will come up one-by-one and introduce themselves and the position for which they are running. I have made them aware to not overtax the time of those watching on KXTC and KPUB."

Stacy Jacobs, a black woman that was gaining weight (to put it mildly), and with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, came up. She was rabidly Leftist, with a deep racist hatred of Whites. She was a former Town Assemblywoman, a close associate of Professor Lionel Carmela, and had lost a primary battle against Malinda Adams in the last Election.

"Thank you." she said as the audience gave her a long, loud standing ovation. "I am announcing my candidacy for the Democrat nomination for Town & County Mayor!"
Sustained applause.

Jacobs: "Daniel Allgood is a racist, and worse than a White Nationalist. He is a former cop that as I.A. Chief covered for the systemic racism of Captain Harold Malone. He had to cheat to steal the Mayoral election from its rightful winner, Eldrick X. Weaver." LOUD applause for that.

Jacobs: "Daniel Allgood continues his racist policies by supporting and covering up for the Police brutality of Commander Donald Troy---" Long, loud boos at the mention of that most hated of names. "Daniel Allgood supported the systemic suppression of peaceful black voices by the cops, as well."

Jacobs: "Allgood led the way in covering up for Troy's most recent abuse of his Police authority, when Troy severely injured a peaceful protester with violent combat tactics. And Allgood's vote was the key vote in fighting the Wilson family lawsuit and firing a good man who raised his voice in a protest of conscience, Dennis Garland." More raucous applause.

Jacobs: "As your next Mayor, I will work closely with the US Department of Justice to bring Daniel Allgood to justice for his hate crimes against People of Color. Additionally, I will work with the next Sheriff, who will announce in a moment, to force the racist, corrupt Town & County Police into a Consent Decree, where the DOJ can dictate terms to the TCPD, and also force Commander Troy to retire or be fired." Raucous applause for that.

Next came Town & County Councilman Edgar Silas. "Today I am announcing my candidacy for the Democrat nomination for County Sheriff." Applause. "As a former Board of Inquiry leader, I saw Sheriff Griswold support Commander Donald Troy's racist use of excessive Police force, often stepping over the line into Police brutality. In order to get rid of Donald Troy, we must defeat Griswold for Sheriff. And with your help, that is what I intend to do!" Raucous applause.