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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3871484" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-twenty-two, “The Mayoral Debate“, Sunday, June 18th, 7:00 P.M. Judge Nathan Isby welcomes everybody to the Mayoral Debate. He announces “The debate is scheduled to last for ninety minutes. For the first half-hour each candidate will be given ten minutes to outline their platform. The written text of each of their speeches will also be published in tomorrow’s newspaper. The candidates will then take questions from the audience for the remaining hour. All questions are to submitted in writing to the moderator. Please note that I will not take questions from other Candidates for Office, as we want time for genuine questions and answers from the public, not loaded questions designed for candidates to just repeat their previously stated positions. Nobody in the audience is to directly address the candidates and I ask that any conversations during the debate be kept at a whisper or taken outside. Thank you.” Kate tells Conrad, "I'm glad the text will be in the paper, I'm sure I'll want to go over it again. I wish i could think of some specific questions, mine tend to come after I hear what people have to say, rather than before." The Judge states, “As per alphabetical order our first speaker will be Mr. Frank Condon, Mayoral Candidate for the Law and Order Party.” Frank Condon steps forward and begins, “Hello ladies and gentlemen of Promise City. I have been an active member of this community since it was founded nearly two-and-a-half years ago. During that time my brother Morgan and I have established and maintained a viable business, Condon’s Bank, where all of our depositor’s money has been kept safe even through the robbery sprees of the James Gang and the New Douglas Gang. It is that same stewardship that I will maintain as your Mayor, keeping you safe. How can we do this? The answer is simple, by maintaining Law and Order and never wavering from that position. We want a town that is safe, where the businesses respect the townspeople and adhere to reasonable hours. For example, just last night many a good citizen was kept awake long after they wished by the rowdiness at several saloons on Main Street, which including drunken patrons firing off guns at three in the morning. We need for these streets to be safe for all, requiring a strong Town Marshal to maintain the peace. Captain Moss Johnson is just that man. He served this nation proudly during the War of Succession and in the years afterwards in keeping the settlers of this land safe from attacks from the Elvan tribes unwilling to share it peacefully. This town needs laws to maintain the peace, to ensure that children will not be attacked on their way to school, to ensure that women will be safe from being molested by strangers in their own homes, to ensure that the families in town will get some of the most basic of requirements of life, such as a full belly and a good night’s sleep. Our Law and Order platform has received much criticism, but it is what I truly believe in. Just as a parent must impose some strict rules upon a child, a young and maturing town too needs to be reigned in and tamed for peace and safety reasons. The Freedom Party claims to stand for the freedom of all, but another word for the type of freedom that they seek is lawlessness. They want no laws or restrictions on firearms, no restrictions upon the hours of operation of saloons, they seek to promote the practice of prostitution and encourage the practice of public indecency. Is that what we want? I think not! And of this Unity Party? At least the Freedom Party stands for something however misguided that may be, this Unity party by their very name stands for nothing. In claiming to stand for everybody they stand for nobody. Some of the candidates running for that party are good people who I consider to be my friends. Others are not, with questionable character. Among their candidates for Town Council is Vera Blake, a nice enough woman by all accounts, but still the owner of an establishment serving liquor at all hours of the night. Another of their candidates, Vidkin Gerhardsohn, does not speak one word or English or Spanish, the two principal languages of this town. So how can he adequately represent us? And their Town Marshall Candidate, Chester Martin, well him I can speak from experience about. He once worked for me as a bank guard and was fired by me for dubious actions under some very questionable circumstances. Without going into the sordid details let me say that I do not trust that man for one minute and would certainly not turn the safety of this town over to him. So I urge you to cast your straight-ticket vote for the Law and Order Party. We are comprised of people who have the best interests in mind of the citizens of this town. We will watch over the town and see that safety and personal well-being are maintained. We will protect you and your families and make this a community you can be proud of. I have proudly served you as an active member of the Promise City Civic Association and the Promise City Vigilance Committee and will continue to do so as your Mayor. Elect me as your Mayor, and give me a Marshal and Town Council that I can work with, and we will make you proud. Thank you.” Kate leaned over to Conrad and whispered. "That was a whole lot of nothing. I didn't hear a word about how he's going to accomplish all that. If he actually knew what went on in this town..." Conrad whisper back, "A whole lot of nothing...yes, that sums up Frank Condon nicely. The next speech should be far more impressive. We both know that Fisk is scum but there is a reason he became a lawyer, he definitely has a silver tongue." "Everyone has a talent," Kate said in a rare bit of sarcasm. "I hope Emery has something brilliant up his sleeve." Condon takes his seat at the side of the stage and Judge Isby goes to the podium. The Judge states, “Our next speaker will be Attorney Hamilton Fisk, the Freedom Party Candidate for Mayor.” Fisk approaches the podium and begins, “Hello good citizens of Promise City. It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I stand here before you to make firm promises to you of how your lives will be better with myself as your leader. Some of what my esteemed colleague has just told you is true. He was indeed one of the first citizens in this town, he did establish a fine business and he served on the Promise City Civic Association. Each and every one of those statements can be said of me as well. He also spoke of the Unity Party and how they stand for nothing, which I also wholeheartedly agree with. They might as well call themselves the Wishy-Washy Party or Ambivalent Party instead. But what my opponent said to you just now regarding the Freedom Party are nothing but blatant lies. The Freedom Party does not stand for lawlessness. We seek to elect a Town Council that will establish laws, fair laws, that are in the best economic interests of this town. If you want lawlessness you need to look no further than Galeyville to the east of us, where lawlessness reigns supreme. That place is a ghost town, a very pale imitation of what that town was no more than a year ago. I have no desire to ever see Promise City become like that. To be fair, I am sure that Mr. Condon does not want that to happen to Promise City either, but if he and his cronies are elected I fear that will be the result. The so-called Law and Order Party propose to put such a stranglehold on this community that it will drive away the ranchers and miners who have turned this into a prosperous town. They seek to restrict the saloons to the point that they will no longer be economically viable and will be forced to close. That will in turn cause those seeking a short weekend reprieve from their long and difficult jobs to go elsewhere, to Wilcox, to Tombstone, to Tucson. Why would these hard-working men come to a town with such harsh restrictions, making it nothing more than a prison without walls? Why risk coming to a place where the slightest infraction from what the Mighty Lords of Law and Order have decreed will land them in jail. They won’t come here any more, no sane man would. These Law and Order Lords are cut from the same cloth as the politicians, academics and privileged upper class that many of us who settled here in the west sought to get away from. The west offers a freedom not found back east and that is what the Freedom Party stands for. The Law and Order Lords take a Paternalistic approach, feeling that they know what is best for the common man. Well, I for one consider myself to be for the common man, because I am one. The members of my party are all hard working men and women who aren’t just friends of the common man, they too are the common man. The Freedom Party proposes as councilmen Tim Gorch has put the roofs on most buildings in town and Tector Driscoll whose tanning operation helps supports all of the ranches of the region. I challenge any of you who question the work ethic of either of these men to spend just one hour alongside them doing roofing or tanning work. And the other three of my Town Council candidates own saloons in town, Steve Lord at the Alhambra, Evan Adair at the Palace and Kate Higgins at the Long Branch. Their customers are the very people who have made this town what it is today, people willing to spend their time and money here so that the community will grow. Their businesses have thrived without any harsh restrictions which in turn has helped the town prosper. Those businesses are not the great evil that my opponent makes them out to be. They exist today without those proposed restrictions and what has this town done during that time? Why we have built a great church, we have established a fine multi-racial school, and we have created a fire department which just last weekend prevented this town from becoming the raging inferno that Tombstone became twice in the last year. All of those prove that the proposed harsh restrictions are totally unnecessary, our town is and will become a safe and decent town without that! As for the Town Marshall position, the Freedom Party candidate Prosper Deacon McCoy knows how to enforce civility and lawfulness. In the last two years he has been head of security at Palace Saloon and has kept the employees and patrons safe. The only harm to befall that establishment was last Sunday, when the Law and Order Party’s hand-chosen Town Marshall candidate Ashley King attacked it alongside his lawless vigilantes! Ladies and gentlemen, actions speak louder than words. Condon’s Party claims to want law and order, while the single worst example of lawlessness to ever strike this town came right from within their own inner circle! They now disavow knowledge of King’s actions, but he was the one who they selected as their candidate! And it was hardly a secret that the man had previously murdered his very own wife! Is that the disposition and moral fiber that one would choose for Town Marshal? Well, it is exactly what the Law and Order Party thought we needed! I’ll be the first to admit that some of my friends and fellow candidates may cuss, may gamble and may occasionally drink to excess. But what we do not do is murder innocent men and women in their homes! We do not dynamite occupied buildings and mines! We do not go around trying to intimidate voters and candidates of other political parties! And finally we do not attempt to blow up the very best school in town just because the students there embarrassed the other school’s children by winning a game of baseball! That ladies and gentlemen is exactly what the Law and Order Party has done. They claim to be for Law and Order and against lawlessness, well I claim that they are hypocrites! What the Freedom Party stands for are the Freedoms that the people in Promise City have always enjoyed and should be allowed to continue to enjoy. We are common people who believe in putting in a hard day’s work and then relaxing afterwards in pursuits that harm no one. I urge you to elect us on Tuesday morning. Thank you.” "How disturbed should I be that until the end, there wasn't a whole lot I disagreed with?" Kate whispered to Conrad. Conrad whispers back "I told you he was good. You've got to love how he's never done a single thing to support your school but still managed to verbally link it to his party." She says, "That was one of the things I disagreed with. But in the context that the town as is made it possible, he wasn't wrong. Truth spun to his advantage is what I don't like." Judge Isby returns to the state and says, “And our third speaker is Mr. Emery Shaw, Candidate for the Unity Party.” Shaw approaches the podium and with a warm smile says, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming to tonight’s debate. Let me start by clearing up a misconception perpetuated by my opponents, namely the philosophy and intent of the Unity Party. We stand for a united vision of Promise City of both inclusion and freedoms for all, in a society that respects laws and seeks order but not with broad constraints that prevent social and economic growth. I have lived here longer than any other human, having settled in these lands not long after the Gadsten Purchase made what is now the Arizona Territory a part of the United States. Back in those days there was no Promise City, no Cochise County, not even an Arizona Territory, this land all being called New Mexico. I looked out at this lush and green land between the three surrounding mountain ranges and saw a great future, one that is just now starting to fully materialize. My first friends in this land were the wood elves that had made this their homes for centuries, people such as the Escobar family, the Valez family, the Perez family and the Tolucca family. With their permission and assistance I established my Lazy-S Ranch. It thrived as did some other ranches, but it alone survived the Apache raids led by Cochise. That Chief targeted not only at the humans of this valley but the wood elves as well. After that time I helped my neighbors, the Morands and the Kings, establish their own ranches in this land and just recently founded the Sulfur Springs Valley Cattleman’s Association to assist the other ranches of this region. Following the discovery of silver and the establishment of the Silverbell Mining Company a town grew on the spot where we now stand. I was present at the meeting with Elton Hubbard, the Condon Brothers, Attorney Fisk, the Watkins Family and Mrs. Higgins when it was decided to turn this into a real town. A street grid was laid out and building sites established. A number of names were considered for this community, Silverbell and Hubbardville were the two most popular choices, until I proposed the name of Promise City. I came up with this name because I saw this location not as a small town situated between a few mine heads but instead as the thriving city it could become, one of promise that could grow to become the best in Arizona. Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you of vision, because that is what is needed of the next mayor. For this town to truly become a City of Promise we need a person with that vision to take it to the next step. Somebody like myself who can look out upon a grassy plain and see a great ranch or look upon a town that only existed as a grid on a piece of paper and see a great city. My esteemed colleagues here on stage with me lack this vision that I am talking about. Mr. Condon is a fine businessman and administrator and we when come to elect another mayor in two years those skills may be just what the town needs, but that is not today, when we need to establish and grow rather than just maintain what we already have. And Attorney Fisk, well, I would never say that he lacks the vision to see things as bigger than they are today, but his vision centers around his own personal ambitions and himself. Nothing is wrong with that perspective from a businessman, but that is not what we need in a Mayor. Our next Mayor needs to be somebody who puts the town first and himself second, who makes decisions for the betterment of all. The Unity that I seek is to turn this into a great community where people of diverse backgrounds all feel welcome. The candidates who I have asked to run as my Council members represent that, I have proposed a party with an excellent mix of races, genders, ages and occupations. People who have diverse interests but are willing to work together for the betterment of all. I do not see that level of diversity and acceptance among the other parties, in fact, part of why the Unity Party came into being was because the other parties did not want or respect such diversity. The people chosen for the Unity Party are known as good people who are dedicated to make this a great community. And while I would love to serve with my chosen party’s Council members that may not be the case. There are nineteen candidates running for Town Council positions, five among each of the three parties as well as four excellent Independent Candidates. I promise you right now that I will effectively work with whichever five of those nineteen the electors choose to elect. Let me ask you, do you believe for one minute that Mr. Condon will work cooperatively with any Freedom Party member who might be elected to the council? Or that Attorney Fisk would cooperate with any of the Law and Order party councilman? Or will either work with any of the independent candidates who neither of my opponents even acknowledged as being on the ballot? The other key position spoke of was that of Town Marshall. I see that as a vital role to maintaining this community. Let me tell you something about my friend and candidate Chester Martin. He is a man of high ideals and integrity. He has already put himself on the line countless times for this community. In January his actions were instrumental in helping bring about the Peace Treaty with the Apache. Would Moss Johnson have done that, absolutely not, in fact Mr. Johnson’s actions two decades ago were the very impetus behind the Apache going on the warpath! Under the guise of a peace treaty Captain Johnson poisoned the Indians, killing many including Cochise’s family. It was only then that the Apace leader went on the warpath. Electing Johnson as Marshall will only serve to incite the current Apache leader Geronimo. Last March Mr. Martin and I rode together against Johnny Ringo’s Cowboy Gang after cattle were rustled from my own ranch and several other local ranches. Ringo’s gang had also managed to steal a Gattling Gun from the U.S. Army and I hesitate to think the terror that they could have brought to Promise City with that armament. But before they could they were stopped, by us! The Earps initially took credit for stopping the cowboys rather than us, which was fine as far as Chester and I were concerned as we were not seeking glory, only justice. But you should now know the truth about the people who seek to be your leaders going forward. A very short while after that Chester stopped Pony Deal from shooting up the town, which is what earned him the Deputy’s Badge in the first place. And Deputy Martin has worn that badge with honor. Ringo then attempted to murder the visiting Arch-Bishop and destroy our Festival to the Gods, but once again he was stopped, by a Posse led by Deputy Martin. And in the last few weeks Martin has done much to bring about peace. Hank Hill of Arcade’s Gang has taken much of the credit, which works against Chester’s sense of humility because the clues that led Hill to the Hooded Riders and to Earp were obtained by his working together directly alongside Chester during these investigations. But you don’t have to ask me which to vote for, ask our current Marshal, the much respected Attorney Mitchell Berg who he plans to vote for and why, he can tell you better than I. So in conclusion, I want each of you to ask yourself what you may want from a Mayor. I offer you somebody whose personal bond is his word, who sees this community as a shining star of the Arizona Territory where prosperity is open to all, where people of diverse backgrounds can live together in harmony and where the community’s good will be first and foremost on my agenda. Thank you.” Kate was quiet for a moment. "I hope that will be enough," she finally whispered. "Certainly stirring, and far more positive than the others. Although perhaps that's just because I wanted to like Emery's remarks."</blockquote>

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