"I need some advice!"
The mayor standing on the podium rubbed his temples, "Right now, we have an increasing number of unemployed people in our city, the security is getting worse and worse, it is rumored that some vicious cases have already appeared in the cities around here, if there is no way to curb this situation, the city we have spent decades building will return to the primitive era!
Everyone knew that destruction could not bring prosperity, only construction could, but the current situation had forced some people to go the way they didn't want to go.
If it was possible to have food and clothing without committing a crime and still have some people in your hands, the vast majority of people in this world would still be willing to be a good person.
But the mayor's words also made some people cringe, because it hadn't been that long since they had donated, and now that the mayor had brought them together to talk about how to save the city, it seemed like he was trying to get some more money out of people's pockets.
It was a bad feeling, no one liked to be blackmailed, even if the blackmailer was the rightful ruler of the city.
There was no other sound in the silent room as the mayor looked at the men with expectant eyes, hoping that they would be able to find a way to solve the problem, but it was clear that his hopes were a bit too optimistic.
No one spoke, all remained seated like gentlemen looking at the mayor on the podium, they were placed like some sort of decoration used to make up the number of people.
The anticipation faded from the mayor's face as he scanned the faces of the men, people avoided his eyes at best, but he did not get the answers he wanted.
This was destined to be a failed meeting, in fact this incident was already predictable on Wednesday when Lynch pulled out a hundred thousand dollars, leaving many people feeling robbed when they had to pull out more money.
After that, they may or may not have investigated, and some may have concluded that Lynch wasn't a "trustee" set up by the mayor, but they were still robbed.
If this was a few years ago, $30,000 or $50,000 could be taken from them anytime, anywhere, and at that time everyone still had money in their hands.
Now everybody's having a hard time, and it's hard to get 30,000 or 50,000 out, and everybody's feeling some pain.
Now the mayor's purpose is to bring everyone together again, in fact the people in this room are very clear, they know what the mayor wants, but they are not willing to compromise again, at least not this time.
Endless compromises would only make the mayor blind and misjudge his influence, but in reality the people don't rely on him that much, and now they have an "example" to follow.
On Monday, Ristoan's share price started to plummet, and many people took it as an interesting news that sometimes the presence of such a dominant group of companies in a city is not good for other small companies.
Because the channels of upward mobility were basically semi-closed, the city government would prioritize a large number of policies for this dominant local pillar enterprise, instead of giving those developing small and micro enterprises to promote their development.
Only when this conglomerate falls will the majority of companies be favored with some new opportunities and some new policies, so they've been watching the jokes, watching Ristoan Group's share price go all the way down, and some have even dumped Ristoan's shares in their hands, aiming to give a push on the edge of the cliff.
That's one of the reasons why people were willing to spend money on Wednesday, people saw how scary City Hall can be, he just made a statement to the public and Ristoan Group's stock started to plummet, and it's rumored that Neo and the board couldn't change that by making some announcements.
Secondly, after Ristoan's fall, it was good for the businessmen in the city, they could buy Ristoan Group's properties at a low price, which was equivalent to them making a huge amount of money, so even if they were hard up, they had to shell out to support the mayor's initiative a bit.
But now things are a bit different again, as Neo has publicly stated that he intends to end Ristoan's operations in Sabine and move its headquarters to Conservative Party territory in the next state over.
The mayor of the capital of the next state also made it clear on Friday night that they would try to bring in outside forces to help their city through this difficult time, and they promised the community that the Ristoan group would provide no less than 3,000 jobs in their city if they could negotiate a deal to locate in their city.
The mayor of the capital of the next state also made it clear on Friday night that they would try to bring in outside forces to help their city through this difficult time, and they promised the community that the Ristoan group would provide no less than 3,000 jobs in their city if they could negotiate a deal to locate in their city.
This was just the beginning, and by next year or the year after, they would provide more than 5,000 jobs, which immediately made the citizens of the entire city rejoice.
In fact, in the context of the present era, people's needs are really simple: they will not starve to death, and they will have a job, especially a job.
A job means a stable life for everyone in a family, a job is a necessity, and nothing can be more important than employment opportunities at a time like this, absolutely nothing.
Looking at it again now, it doesn't seem to be as simple as one might think at first, Ristoan might not be without a way out, it's possible that they have been looking for one for a long time, that's why the mayor and the governor have expressed their displeasure with them.
The power of an example is infinite, Ristoan told the people with living experience that if they want to solve some of the problems in their hands, the best way is to switch to the Conservative Party, nowadays the Conservative Party is facing the same problems as the Progressive Party, but they are a little better to talk to.
The people sat on the stage and looked at the mayor, and the mayor looked at them, finally the mayor had to take the initiative to speak, which made him feel humiliated, "I need more jobs from you".
"That's impossible, Your Honor!" Someone directly interrupted the mayor's speech, and at the same time, this guy got everyone's attention.
Lynch also couldn't help but look curiously at this warrior with a brave heart who interrupted the mayor in the middle of a meeting, what kind of chest did he have to do such a thing?
It was a young man in his early thirties, maybe thirty-two or thirty-three years old, he even took the initiative to stand up and it had to be said that he had a good sales pitch, but of course it was no match for Lynch.
He was calm, not manic, which meant he knew what he was doing.
Under him, I have a small metalworking shop, I employ /27/ workers, and that's about as big as I can keep it.
"Since the second half of last year, it's been hard to sell what I produce, so to speak, but I still maintain this scale unchanged, and I pay my workers, and even though it might be an immoral act in the eyes of some people for me to pay them at the minimum of the hourly wage law, at least I make it so that these workers are still able to get a paycheck from me every month! "
"This year, since May, I have not received a single penny back for three months, I can no longer afford to support this factory and the wages of these workers, let alone hire more workers, and if I do not manage to find a way out by October, I will have to shut down my factory, so it is simply not possible for me to expand the workforce any further! "
"And!" The mayor's voice snapped up, making the mayor's scalp tingle, he pursed his lips and looked at the man while the young man continued, "And I do not think that the current problem in Sabine can be solved by adding more jobs, our problem is that we do not have an outlet for our products, and what His Excellency the mayor, as well as the state government and the federal government should be doing is helping us find outlets for our products, instead of putting us on the hook for something we should not be on the hook for!"
These words were said in a very grandiose manner, at least in Lynch's opinion, and the others began to applaud, and soon the applause joined in, making the mayor's face even more sour.
In fact, there were many things in what he said that were very true, if you can't sell something, and your business can't get profits and returns, it's impossible to feed your workers.
What was the difference between allowing factory owners and entrepreneurs to create new jobs at that time and robbing them of their money?
His words represented the truest feelings in the hearts of many businessmen at that time, and they would rightly support him.
The mayor looked at the young man and memorized his appearance, but the young man didn't seem to be afraid of the mayor's "malicious" look, he wasn't afraid at all.
This made the Mayor wonder what was behind him, perhaps it came from Ristoan and Neo's arrangement.
The applause soon died down, they knew that if it lasted too long it could make things worse, they had to show their attitude, not confront the mayor.
Not everyone could leave the city like the Ristoan group.
Going to another city would certainly get rid of some of their current problems, such as the workers' wages, but the new city would have tougher competitive behavior and political pressures, and if they were not able to affect the lives of the majority of the population the way Ristoan had, they would be better off staying put.
The mayor pinched the bridge of his nose as he raised his hand in a false press for the youth to sit down before apologizing, "I neglected to mention the pressures you are under in this area," it was the most apologetic apology he could make and it was gladly accepted by all.
"So is there anyone who can give some solutions, I'm not asking any of you to solve the current problem that even His Excellency the President can't solve, but at least alleviate it, we're in a bad situation!"
In the face of the mayor's question, the people remained silent; whoever had a solution at this point would make an enemy of all the capitalists of Sabine.
Looking into the conference room where no one was answering, the Mayor realized for the first time that some things weren't as easy to solve as they had been, his face grew worse, and in the roving of his gaze he saw Lynch sitting in the corner.
It brought back memories of what Lynch had said when he and Lynch had dinner last week.