Read Online No Ordinary Day by Polly Becks - Free Book Online Page A

expansion of the lake, who spoke passionately about the danger of not undertaking to protect the eastern side of town near the river and lake. One of the town board members, George Durant, was enthusiastically on this side of the issue, with the last one, Phil Schirmer, running hot and cold between the two sides, but leaning with the west.
    Fights and hostile word exchanges seemed to break out after every other speaker.
    Finally it was Lucy’s turn to address the Town Council and the attendees of the meeting. She came to the microphone stand and cleared her throat, feeling the intensity of the anger behind her back.
    “I’m Lucy Sullivan. I live in town, I teach kindergarten at Obergrande Elementary, and the first thing I want to say is that you should all be using your inside voices. We are adults, and rather than squabbling like we’re on the playground, we should be making reasoned arguments—in a calm tone—instead of screaming at each other. If you folks were kids in my classroom, we’d have a ton of people in Time Out.”
    A chuckle and some muttering rumbled through the room.
    Lucy cleared her throat again. “I do not favor the dam,” she continued. “I’ve only lived here for a few years, but I love my little house in East Obergrande. For many of the kids in my class, this part of town, which contains many of their homes and their school, is the only place they’ve ever known. How can you take away their security? I think the town should be looking at the alternative suggestions that the Corps spoke of that do not include building a dam and flooding East Obergrande. I’ve worked very hard fixing up my house, as have many of my neighbors, and you are talking about drowning a lot of dreams, hard work, and investments in time and labor when you suggest drowning half the town. I voted no on this ballot initiative, along with seventy-two percent of the electorate. I think the Town Board should take the hint and do so as well.”
    Lucy sat down to thunderous applause, and a good deal of harsh grumbling. She was pretty sure old Mr. Credman winked at her.
    Professor Isaac Byrnes, a stately gentleman who taught Philosophy and African-American studies at the State University of New York at Albany, and the father of one of her students, came to the microphone next.
    He introduced himself by name in a voice that rang pleasantly through the room, reminding Lucy of James Earl Jones.
    “My fellow citizens,” he said, looking around him at the crowd, “I would like to build on a point that Ms. Sullivan just made.”
    Upon hearing her name spoken by the sonorous voice, Lucy jumped a little.
    “Seventy-two percent of those who pulled a lever in the voting booth did so against the proposition,” Professor Byrnes went on, “but I believe it is important to note that only sixty-one percent of the population of Obergrande resides on the east side of town.”
    The room fell suddenly silent.
    “This would seem to indicate that, at bare minimum, eleven percent of the town’s population that lives in West Obergrande also voted against the proposition. I, in fact, was one of those voters.”
    The silence grew heavier.
    “In addition, the possibility exists that some people in East Obergrande might have voted for the proposition,” the professor went on. “While I did not personally choose that option, I could certainly cite some aspects of the plan to be fair ideas, including the removal and renovation of the areas with empty factories and mills, which are, to my mind, not only unsightly but actually hazardous.”
    “My request of my fellow citizens, therefore, including those esteemed folk sitting before us this evening, would be not to let this discussion become polarized, but rather to look at the plan as objectively as possible, with safety being the primary focus. Thank you.”
    Professor Byrnes sat down to generous, polite applause, having established peace in the room.
    Which lasted long enough for the next