Chapter 1: Mayoral responsibilities
The mayoral campaign was just the beginning. Faiza's loyal soldiers were assembled in the briefing room so that they could get some planning for the weeks ahead. She wonders how many will chip in 99 gold to get the campaign going. At this point, all the other candidates are getting ready to build their platforms, but they have yet to know whether city council candidates will rally to their cause or not. And, while Faiza is expected to get a majority support among the army, no one in the army knows who the civilians will side with. With some of the low-ranked soldiers ready to get Faiza some suggestions, they stand ready to do their part for the city campaign.
"Commander, before we establish our campaign, please, let us go to the library and, hopefully, get volunteers for the upcoming mayoral campaign; you may also want to tour the city and ask some residents about the main non-security issues of the city other than corruption" Jaid told Faiza while still in the barracks.
"In fact, for corruption, we are going to need some spies, some magic users to accomplish that. Magic users that can do audits. Because there are those magic users that can read accounting documents... I sure hope that we have our auditors at the ready. By the way, Jaid, Melda, do you have any idea where one can find the text of the edict?"
"The Tower of Thabes ought to have a copy posted outside. The King resides in the Tower, and royal edicts are normally posted at the entrance of the tower, But the King posts a couple of copies at strategic points in the city: city hall, marketplace, as well as the gates and the public fountains" Melda answered.
"Melda, assemble some men; we're out on patrol and we are also looking for one of those areas where the edict has been posted" Faiza ordered.
Melda assembled four more musketeers to go out on patrol with Faiza and she took out a plank of wood so that she could write the essentials of mayoral responsibility on it. And so, the patrol navigated through the streets of the inner city, asking passersby about what they expect from their future mayor, with expectations ranging from better access to education to better enforcement of banking law, but Faiza has yet to gauge the realism of the citizens' expectation with that of the post she runs for. For her, security was something she valued, but she had little knowledge of city issues other than corruption and public security. Upon arriving at a public fountain, Faiza and Melda stops at the ornate, stone-hewn board, on which the edict, which also acted as the city charter under which Thabes will be operating after the election, was pinned.
"Look at the text of the edict... here is a list of the extent of the responsibilities of the city council and that of the mayor" Melda said, with Faiza still drinking from the fountain.
"Article 5: The responsibilities of the mayor. Section 5.1: The Mayor shall henceforth hold the power to veto legislation passed by the city council; however, that veto could be overriden by a 2/3 vote of the city council" Faiza began to read.
Faiza learned that the city bore much responsibility although the mayor did not have the power to reverse a judicial decision. She learned that education, public works, law enforcement (and therefore the military, through the city garrison), sewage, fire departments, as well as some entertainment responsibilities and public health responsibilities and a level of taxation. In essence, the mayor, as defined in the edict, was much like a lord, albeit without any judicial power, and without the ability to go to war against other entities. But what puzzled her was that the king would willingly let the people rule over the cities. In her mind, that meant that the mayor would be part of the nobility while in office; in fact, the king knew that the people did not want elections too often.
"That's a big bump in responsibility from my current position; Thabes is one of the major cities on this continent and no other city of this size ever elected its mayor before" Faiza declared.
"Is there anything you'd promise the voters at this point?"
"Stricter enforcement of banking law, as well as a raise in taxes for the banks. I come to the realization that, while banks are not the root of the corruption by themselves, the banks still play an important role. Plus banks are that sort of business that has to be present anywhere where trade is present; there has to be some way to levy higher banking taxes without raising interest rates to the point of economic collapse"