Connellsville - Episode 1
"The Vote"
On the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA. lies a small town. It’s a community built upon certain traditions: Hard work; God and Country; family and friends. But what was once is no more. Industries that had been the foundation of a thriving economy have come and gone. Today it’s a quiet town. That’s about to change.
Mayor O’ Williams slammed the gavel down, it had been a very long night. But finally, after hours of debate, the town and its board settled on what he hoped would be the start of a new chapter. A chapter that would provide the answer to a dilemma that had been put aside for far to long - how might a small town with limited resources turn-back the steady decline of their economy and community?
It took a several more cracks of the gavel to bring the over–capacity crowd to silence. With their attention once again focused on him he read aloud the results of their labor. The town, in the hours that passed, put forth to the Board for approval one out of the three following motions:
Motion #1: Find a corporate sponsor interested in building a theme park. Sell the naming rights of the town to the corporate entity.
Motion #2: Change the town by-laws allowing for gambling, prostitution, gay marriage and growing/smoking/possession of marijuana.
Motion #3: Build a stadium, offer its use for no-charge, and together with a large sum of money wait for a desperate sports franchise owner to take the bait.
Motion #3: Build a stadium, offer its use for no-charge, and together with a large sum of money wait for a desperate sports franchise owner to take the bait.
After deliberating, the Board was unable to decided on one motion, and, in order to keep the process moving forward, elected to bring it back to the people in the form of a referrendum. Mayor O’ Williams answered a few rather insignificant questions and much to his relief it appeared that the recommendation of the Board was well accepted. Three weeks from this day the people of Connellsville would go the ballot box to elect their destiny.
The three weeks set aside for discussion breezed by quickly. Finally, the day for the big vote came with an astounding 90% of all registered voters hitting the polls. It was a turn-out that the vote counters had not been prepared for. As the town anxiously waited, a few hours turned into an entire evening, and more. Although early results showed motion #1 far ahead, this would change, and eventually it was to close to call. As the evening passed there was talk of vote rigging, that voting ballots had been to difficult to understand. Others complained that they were unable to make it to the polls on-time. Finally, at 5pm the next day, Mayor O’ Williams heard from the commissioner of elections. It was not the news he wanted to hear. Apparently, although there was a winner by popular count, the town bi-laws required the winner be by a majority. Furthermore, the results were not yet official. Many of the votes were too difficult to read, it was impossible to tell whether a vote had been cast for motion #1 or motion #2. Experts would have to be called in.
What a cluster-fuck he thought. The town people were sittin', waitin', and wishin' for a result. He would have to go before them with something, but what? It appeared that, despite the willingness to change, they had failed to find a path to a new beginning. He knew that a without a real solution a deep sense of hopelessness would overtake the town. He asked himself the same question that others would ask of themselves - had a future of slow decay been set in stone?
posted by John T. Byrne @ 1:48 AM
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