Page 54 of Daddy's Game

“Hello, Nate.” I sighed. “What’s happened down at city hall now?”

He shook his head sadly.

“I really must visit you when nothing bad is happening, my dear. I’m beginning to feel like the harbinger of doom.”

“Nonsense. You’ve been a friend to me since I started this crazy dream of mine. Just lay it on me straight. I can take it.”

He pushed his spectacles up further on his nose and set his jaw hard.

“I’m sorry, Grace. I wish I had better news. At the zoning board meeting today, we granted a hearing to a rep from TGRIU.”

“A rep from who? Never heard of them.”

“Technical Global Research Institute, Unlimited. They began as a tech company but now they’re a multinational with their fingers in, well, everything.”

“And what did they want a hearing about?”

He heaved a long sigh.

“The TGRI rep pitched changing the zoning of the entire city block your center sits on to commercial.”

“Oh no.”

My heart sank into my feet.

“How did the board seem to feel about that?” I asked at last.

“Many of them were rather…intrigued by the thought of how much tax revenue turning that block commercial will garner. I’m sorry. Of course, I’ll vote against the resolution, but I might be very much in the minority.”

I sat down heavily in a battered chair with torn vinyl covering. A bit of stained stuffing popped out and fluttered to the floor, but I made no move to clean it.

“Then all of my fundraising, all of the parking lot repairs, it was all for nothing. If the zoning board changes this block’s designation, will I really have to move? I mean, aren’t there grandfather laws or something to protect me?”

Nate shook his bald head sadly.

“The grandfather laws won’t protect you from Imminent Domain.”

“That’s ludicrous,” I sputtered. “Imminent Domain is supposed to be for projects that help the community. It would be one thing if they needed to build a power plant or a water station, but–commercial purposes? How can this be legal?”

“Unfortunately, there was a supreme court case a while back that decided Imminent Domain could be applied to commercial ventures.”

“On what possible grounds?”

“On the grounds that they will stimulate the economy, create jobs, and in general benefit the city and its citizens.”

I snorted with utter contempt.

“Yeah, I know WHICH citizens are likely to benefit.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do. I just don’t know what we can do about it.”

Nate apologized again, and took his leave. He could tell I was in a mood. I sat in the lobby for a while, then moved into my office.

I picked up the phone to start calling and mobilize my usual volunteers. I knew that protests and demonstrations could put pressure on the zoning board. I’d done it before.

But this time, the multinational corporation had appeared to have outmaneuvered me. I started to consider the idea that I might not be able to win.

At least, not on my own.

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