fxrnandochavez:
He sits down, unbuttoning his suit, but still feeling too stiff. He knows that, right now, the Cabinet is not at their best reputation — perhaps this was why Walker was so eager for him to put his work forth right now — so he made this visit as public as possible, letting his public schedule very open, saying why he was here in the first place. He didn’t day that to her, but made sure his Chief of Staff let that very clear to her staff; he wanted to show the lengths he was willing to go, hoping that this would make her trust him too.
She knows about it, even if superficially, and it’s good. If she’s at least ready to listen to him, he is already halfway there. “Yes.” He nods, going on the planned way, to sell the project as this wonderful community revitalization proposal. That was the idea in his head, but it was still unclear if the real life would follow along.“Obviously, the program is in bad shape right now, but we are making efforts to improve its… reach.” He sounds apologetic, because he can see that this is the first significant thing he has done in almost three years now; those are excuses, of course, but he isn’t above playing the humiliated pitiful man in order to get her on his side.
He begins again, careful, “I have collaborated with the government of Illinois in the past, and I’m sure we can do it again.” This was the main reason Fernando had come knocking on her door: he knew that didn’t matter how good of a project and how much funding they had; unless they could establish a strong partnership with the local government, this was a pointless suggestion.
“What I want to ask, is that Illinois be my pilot project.” He says, finally. “And I want you to be my partner in this.”
Juliette listened intently when he spoke. if there was one thing she learned as a staffer it was that people assumed women weren’t listening unless they were very clearly paying attention. The last thing she would want is to accidentally slight someone by appearing like she wasn’t listening. After all, there were millions of people in Illinois counting on her doing things the right way.
But Fernando’s proposal was something she could understand and get behind. Of course she wasn’t surprised he asked for Illinois to be involved. That was the easiest way to get politicians on board with projects. It needed to have an incentive for their constituents that would benefit them in both the long and short term. This idea could, theoretically, check off all of those boxes.
She laced her fingers together and placed her hands on her desk as she leaned forward just a bit. It was tempting, but she needed more information. “And what would you need from me, Secretary Chávez?” She needed details, the pros and the cons laid out both for her personally and for the impact on Illinois. Areas of Chicago would, no doubt, be the focus and she had to know how that would play in the press and with the people.
