It was 8:15AM on a cold and rainy November morning in Nekonia city. Traffic, as usual, was gridlocked. Gino was trying to get ahead on emails, distract himself from the upcoming decision by diving into the one thing he knew best: the work. Sometimes, sifting through issue after issue would drain him of energy. But on a morning like this he found reading through citizen complaints to be a welcome distraction from the noise around him.

The emails flowed in - they had built a system to summarize the top citizen complaints into a daily email that was sent his way. Whenever one particular theme started getting stronger week over week, the team would investigate further.

The goal of this congregated email list was to try and prioritize the team’s time - always focused on the most pressing concerns. Gino found the tools useful, but he didn’t ever want to step away from the intimate nature of reading a citizen’s complaint himself. While the summaries were great, he wanted to know each person’s story. He wanted to know when the train that the single mother took to get to her nursing home job on the other side of town was late or when the slide in the children’s park was unsafe. It was one of the quirky things about working in a city he enjoyed - being able to see the work and the impact he was having.

“We’re almost there boss. Should be about 5 minutes.”

Gino looked up at Franklin, his driver, who gave him a weak smile through the car mirror.

“Thanks, Franklin” Gino replied.

Gino shut his laptop and glanced outside the window as they pulled up into Old Nekonia - the cobblestone streets and old-timey buildings replacing the concrete jungle surrounding. He stepped out of the van, thanked Franklin, and entered City Hall.

City hall was a kaleidoscope of activity - councillors, staffers, municipal staff all buzzing around like bees in a bee hive. To the naked eye, it seemed like folks were acting like it was any other day. Only Gino knew, it wasn’t. Outside of his normal morning greetings, he found he was getting more stares than usual. Pointed fingers, hushed tones, prolonged glances - each person coyly trying to hide what they were all thinking.

Gino walked into his office and saw that Mazin was already in there - typing away furiously on his laptop.

“Keeping the seat warm, Mazin? “ Gino asked.

Mazin responded “More like I wanted to make sure I caught you as soon as I got here. Now, as an FYI - I’ve worked with Sandra and we’ve cleared your schedule today. That is, except for a huddle with a few of us staff this morning”.

Gino frowned. “Why did we clear the schedule? It’s a Wednesday - we‘ve got just over a month left till Christmas. There’s too much to do. And besides, if we’re not trying to attract too much suspicion, clearing the schedule doesn’t do much.

Mazin responded “Gino, don’t play coy with me. We both know you’re on the short list to run. I mean we’ve talked about it, but I never thought the day would come so soon. Myself and the team want to know where you’re at, so I’ve booked us some time today to chat things through.

As for arousing suspicion, you’re right about that. The press are around us like hawks. My view is no matter what you do, they’re going to talk. So let’s focus in on what matters - getting clarity on where you stand.

Gino responded “That’s just it, Mazin. I don’t know where I’m at. I just got the call from Seema last night and saw the press conference, along with the rest of you, this morning. I need time that I don’t have to make a decision.”

Mazin got up and patted Gino on the shoulder.

“Let us help you. Come chat things through my friend. The rest of the team is in the boardroom. Let’s figure this out.”

True to his word, Gino walked into the boardroom and saw a huddle of familiar faces around the brass table.

There was Leanne, a fellow councillor and the city’s Deputy Mayor. Gino had taken Leanne in as a sort of mentee over the past decade. She’d previously been a staffer for Gino when he was a councillor before she took on the big role herself. Leanne was your typical type A personality - serially prepared and meticulously well researched. She was the type of women who got shit done. While she was always smart and diligent, what made Gino most proud about her development these past few years is the voice she’d developed in advocating for local issues. She’d help them build the new women’s shelter on Yarmouth Ave and alongside Gino, was a huge proponent for the Y Line extension connecting hundreds of thousands of city residents to public transit not previously available.