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Authors: Jeanette Ingold
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Maitlen to find out exactly what department Landin had worked in, and now, scanning a lobby directory, I said, "Planning and Development is on the second floor. Do we just go up?"
"Let's first see what's on people's minds," Harrison said, heading for a bulletin board a little way down a wide corridor.
The board held public noticesâan opening on the city council, changes in the leash lawâand memos to employees. Someone wanted to start a lunchtime walking program. Volunteers were sought to organize a family picnic.
A woman in the office opposite called, "May I help you?"
Harrison introduced us both and then said, "Maggie's a high school intern with the
Herald.
She wants to learn what journalism is all about, so I thought I'd show her the inside of a city hall. This looks like a pleasant place to work."
"It is," the woman said. "Everybody gets along. Not that there aren't stresses." She pointed to a PAY TRAFFIC FINES HERE sign on the next desk. "Customers can be difficult."
"I can imagine," Harrison said, laughing. "But good co-workersâthat goes a long way. How about the elected officials? Are they a good group?"
"Pretty much," she said. "Though I don't have contact with them the way people in some of the other departments do." She picked up a pen. "You two are welcome in any of the public offices. You want directions, just ask someone."
Harrison took me into each office along the first-floor hallâAnimal Control, Streets, Parks and Recreationâand in each one he gave the same speech about showing the
Herald
's intern the inside of a city hall.
I noticed that he timed our entrances to coincide with moments when all the clerks in an office were either on the phone or dealing with other people. Which gave us time to study more bulletin boards, as well as to read any papers left lying about.
"So, did you get anything from all that?" I asked when we finally reached the staircase.
"A feel for who's who," he said, "and for how things are going. If I had to make a guess, I'd say the mayor is in over his head trying to run a town that's growing faster than anyone expected it to."
"You must have read something that I didn't," I said.
"No. I'm just making inferences from things like his proposal for a moratorium on new building permits pending a catch-up on the applications already in process."
The reception we got in the Planning and Development office backed up Harrison's assessment. The harried employee that Harrison approached told him, "There's nothing here for your intern to see. And if there were, there'd be nobody with time to show it to her."
Blowing right by the dismissal, Harrison said, "I heard one of your people got killed in a street shooting not long ago. Must be hard to lose someone that way. And, of course, there'd have been all his work to deal with."
"Landin had already quit," the man said. "But you're right about his work being a problem. He hadn't been replacedâstill hasn'tâand the rest of us are way too overloaded to take on his stuff."
"Tell me about it," Harrison said, all sympathy.
"It's only getting worse," the man went on. "The city council's planning committee has to approve any recommendations we make, and it's not moving on anything and won't before next week." He suddenly frowned. "You're not writing this up, are you?" he asked. "Because if you are, that was all off the record."
Harrison nodded. "Understood. But what's brought the planning committee to a standstill?"
"Missing a person and nobody in charge. Toby Yeager, the city councilman who ran it for years, died of a stroke a couple of months ago."
"And what happens next week?"
"The council, when it meets, will finally get around to appointing someone to finish out his term and, I hope, get some movement going here. Look, I really do have to get back to work."
Before leaving the building, Harrison and I stopped by the mayor's office to ask for a list of people who'd applied for the council
"Let's first see what's on people's minds," Harrison said, heading for a bulletin board a little way down a wide corridor.
The board held public noticesâan opening on the city council, changes in the leash lawâand memos to employees. Someone wanted to start a lunchtime walking program. Volunteers were sought to organize a family picnic.
A woman in the office opposite called, "May I help you?"
Harrison introduced us both and then said, "Maggie's a high school intern with the
Herald.
She wants to learn what journalism is all about, so I thought I'd show her the inside of a city hall. This looks like a pleasant place to work."
"It is," the woman said. "Everybody gets along. Not that there aren't stresses." She pointed to a PAY TRAFFIC FINES HERE sign on the next desk. "Customers can be difficult."
"I can imagine," Harrison said, laughing. "But good co-workersâthat goes a long way. How about the elected officials? Are they a good group?"
"Pretty much," she said. "Though I don't have contact with them the way people in some of the other departments do." She picked up a pen. "You two are welcome in any of the public offices. You want directions, just ask someone."
Harrison took me into each office along the first-floor hallâAnimal Control, Streets, Parks and Recreationâand in each one he gave the same speech about showing the
Herald
's intern the inside of a city hall.
I noticed that he timed our entrances to coincide with moments when all the clerks in an office were either on the phone or dealing with other people. Which gave us time to study more bulletin boards, as well as to read any papers left lying about.
"So, did you get anything from all that?" I asked when we finally reached the staircase.
"A feel for who's who," he said, "and for how things are going. If I had to make a guess, I'd say the mayor is in over his head trying to run a town that's growing faster than anyone expected it to."
"You must have read something that I didn't," I said.
"No. I'm just making inferences from things like his proposal for a moratorium on new building permits pending a catch-up on the applications already in process."
The reception we got in the Planning and Development office backed up Harrison's assessment. The harried employee that Harrison approached told him, "There's nothing here for your intern to see. And if there were, there'd be nobody with time to show it to her."
Blowing right by the dismissal, Harrison said, "I heard one of your people got killed in a street shooting not long ago. Must be hard to lose someone that way. And, of course, there'd have been all his work to deal with."
"Landin had already quit," the man said. "But you're right about his work being a problem. He hadn't been replacedâstill hasn'tâand the rest of us are way too overloaded to take on his stuff."
"Tell me about it," Harrison said, all sympathy.
"It's only getting worse," the man went on. "The city council's planning committee has to approve any recommendations we make, and it's not moving on anything and won't before next week." He suddenly frowned. "You're not writing this up, are you?" he asked. "Because if you are, that was all off the record."
Harrison nodded. "Understood. But what's brought the planning committee to a standstill?"
"Missing a person and nobody in charge. Toby Yeager, the city councilman who ran it for years, died of a stroke a couple of months ago."
"And what happens next week?"
"The council, when it meets, will finally get around to appointing someone to finish out his term and, I hope, get some movement going here. Look, I really do have to get back to work."
Before leaving the building, Harrison and I stopped by the mayor's office to ask for a list of people who'd applied for the council
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