2014-07-05:TownHall

Town Hall
Your tax dollars at work!
IC Date	July 5, 2014
IC Time	Afternoon
Players	Candy, Jessica, Velok, Elise, Aiden
Location	Juniper High School gymnasium

Begin Log

Ah yes, Juniper High, one of the area's long-standing institutions. It tends to bring back old memories-- even if those memories are just 'man, I hate the smell of high school gyms'. The warm weather, such as it is, hasn't helped any in that regard.

Anyway, the metal folding chairs are all out and lined up, and a fair number of them are actually occupied! Who knew. Volunteers are handing out leaflets near the entrance, next to the fruit punch table with the metal donation box.

Candace Kane stuffs a folded bill into the donation box but eschews the punch. "If you'd earmark it for some poor girl who doesn't have a parent working in a large office building where they cheat by selling her cookies for her in order to fill her sash with cookie-sales-achievement badges, I'd be grateful."

Jessica barely looks like she's paying attention to her surroundings as she makes her way into the building, her gaze mostly directed at the computer tablet she's carrying along with her. She's humming a fairly cheerful-sounding tune ("Baba Yetu") to herself as she taps away at the screen while walking. She does eventually look up from what's apparently a game of Civilization 5, though, right hand reaching up to remove her earbuds as she looks around to take in the scene.

When Velok reaches the entrance, there's a small smile on his place. He's chosen a far more casual outfit today, khaki cargo shorts, a light blue teeshirt with a pocket on the breast. He has no bow, no tube, and only colored silk fingerless gloves tucked against his hands. The man receives a leaflet and politely thanks the volunteer, forgoing the fruit punch and immediately heading towards one of the seats near the back. He's keeping a rather close eye out at the surroundings, looking for people he knows. His phone comes out of his pocket, tapping on the screen and bringing it up to his ear. "Yea, I'm at the place. They have free punch." He says, nodding his head once and putting the phone back down on his lap.

Elise accepts a leaflet coming in, and proceeds to ignore it in her right hand as she stands motionless a few steps in, eyes travelling around in a long survey of the area and the seating arrangements. She picks a seat towards the back, and moves over to claim it, settling in already. Now she looks at the leaflet, reading it through it quickly before refocusing on the room and its occupants. She's chosen to psych out the heat by acting like she doesn't notice it, in her blazer and slacks and all.

Jessica ends up accepting a leaflet herself, though likely just to be polite; she's actually ON the city council, after all. Still, she nods and smiles at the volunteer all the same, and even makes a show of reading through the leaflet on her way to find herself a seat; as things turn out, she ends up sitting more or less in the middle of the seating area. Her left leg folds over the right, the tablet gets placed on her lap. The waiting begins.

"Oh, no, I hear you," the punch attendant promptly answers Candy. "My husband works in an office, but he wouldn't do anything like that."

The leaflet is a pretty generic affair. Mr. Talbot has served as a city councilman for so many years, he's promoted this and that and the other. And oh yes, here he is: dark suit, red tie, not a hair out of place. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for making the time for this, I'm sure you all have busy schedules to keep."

Candace accepts a leaflet and settles in a seat just before the Talbot arrives. She peruses its asserted facts briefly and then gives her attention to the councilman as he takes the floor.

Aiden has totally been here the whole time. Really. She's sitting next to Jessica in her Sunday best.

Velok leaves the phone alone in his lap as long as he can, fidgeting within the seat. He doesn't really look like he chose on his own to be here, that and the phone conversation revealing there's another reason. Still, he focuses his eyes carefully on Talbot, offering a polite smile that quickly fades when the man arrives.

Jessica's smile seems to warm a shade as she inclines her head towards Mr. Talbot, acknowledging his words. "Well, this is /on/ the schedule," she comments; it's likely not meant as a reply, though - she's not raising her voice at all. Given the distance and the crowded room, her voice probably isn't going to carry that far. Maybe she's making the comment more for Aiden's benefit. Her gaze lowers for a moment then, towards the game in progress on her tablet; another thing that's also on her busy schedule is apparently nuking Tenochtitlan. Twice.

Elise folds the leaflet very crisply and puts it away inside her jacket, then rests her hands flat on her thighs, back straight, eyes dead ahead. She looks up as Talbot arrives, and stares at him, stoically readying herself for the afternoon's politics.

The reason for the not-much-of-a-speech soon becomes clear, as already a dozen or so people have lined up to get their questions in early. "Yeah, uh, thanks," says constituent #1, a slacker with a black goatee. "I was wondering about the extra cops in Maple Park lately. I know they're mostly looking for weed-- well, with decriminalization coming up, are they going to be assigned someplace else? And if so, where?"

Aiden has her tablet out as well. Damn that Papa Pear Saga. She can't get that ONE FRIKKIN' BUCKET! It's killing her, really. She nods to Jessica's words and then turns her attention away from her tablet and then upward, resting the tablet face down in her lap as the constituent begins talking.

Candace tucks the leaflet into her purse and crosses her arms against her chest as the town hall meeting gets underway. She lets her gaze roam around the school gymnasium, refocusing her attention on the business at hand at periodic intervals.

Velok leans forward in his chair, looking a little more comfortable. He does smile at the first question, nodding his head to show he approves of it. The phone is retrieved from his lap and he starts texting again.

It's a good question. Elise looks towards constituent #1, eyes him up and down coolly, and refocuses her attention on the Talbot once more. She doesn't look particularly interested, but that's just the way her face is frozen, like her mother told her would happen. Thankfully, she was pulling a neutral face when it took place. She listens patiently.

Jessica lets out a faint giggle as she overhears the first question being posed. "Glad it's not me up there today," the young councilwoman comments to Aiden with an almost impish smile, giving her shoulder a very light elbow-nudge as she does so. "It's almost a little strange, watching it from the 'other side' like this." A few more taps to her tablet reduce another three Aztec cities to nuclear ash; thankfully the earplugs are still plugged into the tablet, sparing those nearby the sound of casual nuclear armageddon.

Aiden grins at Jessica and shakes her head, peeking over at the tablet in Jessica's lap. "I'll pass. I'm good right here. I have zero interest in speaking in front of peope and making decisions. I have a hard enough time talking to the people who work for me." Her voice is quiet, of course. She's not yelling this across the room

It's a nice complex question, is what it is; Talbot spends a good five minutes unpacking it, even as he mostly sticks to high points. State legislature this, drunk and disorderly that. It's followed up by a neckbeard asking something about the city's various official web sites, while the leaflet crew mostly switch to going around the crowd and asking if anyone else wants to go up and toss in a subject of their own.

Candace smiles and politely declines if one of the crew members happens to invite her to get directly involved. The meeting drags on. She pays equal attention to the social demographics of the individuals that pose questions to the councilman as she does the nature and content of Talbot's responses.

Velok stares at the line of people, all posing questions. He tilts his head and then leans forward. The phone is pocketed as he signals towards one of the leaflet crew. "I'm sorry, I don't...really know how things work. Is there a department within the city that deals with beautification projects?"

"I can relate to that, I suppose," Jessica murmurs to Aiden, lowering her tablet for a bit to pay a little more attention to the debate itself. Even then, her fingers keep tapping against the edges of the tablet, though softly. Her gaze is briefly drawn in the general direction of Velok; maybe she overheard his comment, maybe it's just a coincidence, who knows. Either way, her gaze doesn't linger long.

Elise's temporary interest was on the issue of law enforcement, though there is little difference in the blank look of polite focus she keeps on her face as the town hall meeting veers to other subjects. She looks up as she is approached by a volunteer, but gives her head a brief negative shake, and returns to her stiff poise.

Aiden nods to Jessica, peeking over at the screen again, turning hers over briefly. Her eyes lift when Jessica's do and she gives velok a smile, should he look her way, before she's back to listening once more

Velok gets a handwaved 'Yea go up and ask' from the leaflet people and he smiles, nodding as he stands up and heads towards the line. He looks slightly uncomfortable standing there as NPC's come and go. During the line he manages to find Aiden, smiling towards the woman and raising his hand, waving. It's such a small, coy, 'look at me I'm a normal person!' wave. Jessica gets it as well, though she might not understand the subtle language. When he actually gets up to the microphone and it's his turn, he adjusts it a bit since he's all tall. "Hello!" He greets, choosing up front confidence over being nervous. The stark British accent the man talks with is fairly clear. "I'm not entirely familiar with local government and everything, but I've noticed that there's a lot of places that are...unappealing. I was wondering if there were any grants available to people who are willing to beautify the city with murals and such and, if there weren't, would you be in support of it." Yea, so that's why Velok came. Maybe. Can he even vote? Go back across the bond stupid queen lover.

"I'd definitely be in support of looking into it," Talbot replies. Yeah, never quite a straight answer, go fig. "Of course, there are many demands placed on the city's budget as it is, but a project like that could also be a foot in the door toward growth-- so a few years from now, the pie might be a little bigger."

Candace snorts softly to herself. The art of saying "no" so that it sounds like "yes." She glances briefly at Velok and then to whomever is in line behind him.

Velok purses his lips, staying there and staring at Talbot. Oh yea, he knows how this works, and he doesn't actually leave the microphone yet. He waits, then waits, then decides nope. Not worth it. He smiles and nods his head, turning around and walking back towards his seat. He pulls out his cell phone and starts texting again, plopping down in the chair and letting the next person go. He does look far more comfortable now though.

Murals? Elise's eyebrows come down almost imperceptibly, her forehead tense for a moment as she listens to the exchange between Velok and Talbot. The outward signs of disapproval are gone, as if they were never there, a couple of seconds onward, but those cool blue eyes follow Velok to his chair.

Inside the high school gym, chairs are lined up and the meeting is well underway. A few people are lined up and asking questions, most of them are just hanging back and listening.

Jessica is seated pretty much right in the middle of the seating area, tablet computer on her lap. Though she is taking the occasional break to play a few turns of Civ5, she does still spend MOST of her time actually paying attention to the meeting. She's not asking any questions herself, though; she's already ON the City Council, after all. She's just here to keep an eye on things, really.

Velok is there too. He's in a chair near the back, dressed pretty casual. He has his phone in his lap and is texting away.

Elise is probably here to keep an eye on things as well. In her case, it's all she does, with no distractions to keep her from wallowing in the profound boredom of it all. No games, no texting. She is staring at the man up on stage and at the various constituents and not-quite-constituents posing questions.

Candace has been listening off and on, does not appear to have come with any specific agenda. She glances to check on how many people are still queued up with questions for Talbot.

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End Log