I’m not surprised.
I mean, in a place like this, you do what I did, and it’s all but clear that there will be … well, a reaction.
A statue is a simple thing a community can do for one who has been taken from us so oddly. I ask you, dear reader, to simply look at it from my perspective:
My job is to bring this town together, level the playing field, and then solve the real problem around here.
Thus far, the reaction has been, well, rough.
Cassie has said nothing, it seems, to me or my office at least. The McMurtrys have their own fish to fry, what with the house being wrecked. Wanda has made her points, though I have trouble taking her seriously. She’s wanting to be “inside” a little too much, and that gives me pause.
The agenda, it seems, has more to do with keeping her job and staying relevant rather than helping the community.
But we’ll deal with that later.
I’m more concerned with the Sheriff, who hasn’t been present in days. I’d ask Bernie, but then that becomes a negotiation – will I sit for an exclusive with him in exchange for information? There should be some apparatus in place for me to understand where Sheriff Paul is and, more importantly, why he isn’t showing up for work. My conversation with Carson aside, there was no other way this statue was going to get funded unless we unleash some sort of social media viral campaign. That might do it – but I don’t know how.
I am also wary of what that might mean for Middle Valley and, of course, River Road. My adviser, Nicholas, has suggested we embark on a door-to-door campaign along the riverside, mansion to mansion, and I think that’s a splendid idea. Old-school fundraising may just work around here – and that might be the chip I need for Bernie to tell me where Sheriff Paul is.