Marcella walked to the podium with the framed certificate under her arm. She adjusted the microphone. She had the composure of somebody who'd done this many times, and she had.
"Thank you, Madam Mayor, members of council. I'm Marcella Vasbinder, president of the Bittern Ridge HOA. On behalf of our hundred and thirty-one households, I'd like to present Chief Breedlove with our Community Partner Award." She turned and held up the certificate, and Breedlove half-rose and waved, and there was applause. "Under Chief Breedlove's leadership, and with the support of Deputy Chief Kessling and Sergeant Dobrowski, our partnership has transformed Bittern Ridge. Four years ago, we had blighted properties, absentee owners, and a real sense that our neighborhood was sliding. Today our property values are up thirty-one percent. That's not an accident. That's what happens when residents and police work together."
More applause. Kessling nodded, small and pleased.
"I do want to use the rest of my time," Marcella went on, opening her folder, "to raise a concern about the future. We understand the council has selected a new chief from outside the community. We have no idea what this person's priorities are, and we're very concerned that the partnership program and the nuisance ordinance could be weakened. I'll give you a real example of why it matters. In the last three weeks, Bittern Ridge has had a new resident move into one of our formerly blighted properties, at 212 Plover, and in that short time we have had a commercial-grade vehicle in visible disrepair parked overnight in violation of covenant, an unapproved exterior structure, a resident who was openly hostile when informed of the rules, and an unsupervised individual wandering the streets in the middle of the night, which required a police response. Already. Three weeks. This is exactly the kind of slide we cannot afford to go back to. I'm asking council to direct the new chief, whoever they are, to maintain the program and the ordinance as they stand. Thank you."
There was a moment of polite, uncertain applause. My father, beside me, said in the carrying whisper of a man whose hearing aids were turned down, "Is she talking about me?"
"She is, Daddy."
"Hm," he said. "I'm not unsupervised. I'm retired."
A few people near us heard that and laughed, and turned, and saw who'd said it, and saw me, and stopped laughing, because they didn't know who I was but they could see from my face that I wasn't laughing.
Mayor Underhill thanked Marcella, took two more public comments, one about a pothole on Tanner Road and one about the library's hours, and then she said, "Members of council, we'll now move to item six on the agenda, the appointment and swearing-in of the Chief of Police. Mr. Rafferty."