Posted Sept. 25, 2023, 4:16 p.m. by Civilian Kenzo B'tren-Hyrushi (Governor) (James Sinclair)
Posted by Civilian Eddie Caldwell (Media Personality Journalist) in Interview with a Governor
Posted by Civilian Kenzo B’tren-Hyrushi (Governor) in Interview with a Governor
Posted by Civilian Eddie Caldwell (Media Personality Journalist) in Interview with a Governor
Posted by… suppressed (14) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Most every day it was on the schedule of the day that Ana see the Governor. Business as usual, another day at the office. Until an enterprising journalist contacted her. He wanted an inroad, some way to speak to the ever elusive Governor. On one morning Ana arrived with a few minutes early. She was allowed in straight away and told Eddie “Wait here.”
“Can do.” The reporter responded.She went into the office and greeted the Governor as usual. “Good morning Governor. I hope you’re well today.”
-Chief of Staff
Hyrushi looked up and nodded once. “Good morning, Ms. Caputo. I am. I trust you are the same?” he asked sincerely.
“I am indeed.” Though we’ll see how long that lasts
Hyrushi leaned back in his chair and said “So what do we have on the agenda for today? Oh, and I am canceling the meeting with the Corporation Assembly. I have made my stance quite clear: this administration sides with the union. Their demands are reasonable, and there is no legal or economic reason to justify not agreeing to the terms of the proposed contract. And I made it very clear that if they want to push back to the point of a general strike, we will hold the corporations accountable for all losses and delays associated with any government contract; not the workers.”
Hyrushi, Gov.
She jotted down what he said. “In the case of a general strike, we may want to offer an emergency fund from which workers can draw. A little extra support. Beyond that, the Finance Minister is stopping by this afternoon, probably to try to persuade you to take the corporations’ side. You have a public address for this weekend, which given how little your communications staff is doing, I assume you elected to write yourself. There’s a message from the Federation Council, asking you to back down the OED independence rhetoric. And there’s a meeting this morning.” She hesitated. “Gentleman by the name of Eddie Caldwell.”
-Chief of Staff
To his credit, Hyrushi didn’t even flinch. “Agreed. Let’s get the fund set up. Coordinate with Zerbo and tell him before our meeting that will be discussing how to support the workers. And I wrote the rough draft and they put their finishing touches on it. It should be fine. Please respond on my behalf to the Council that I would be happy to… as long as they abide by the terms Oed put before them. And give Mr. Caldwell my sincerest apologies, but I will not be speaking with him. I applaud his tenacity, though. Anything else?”
Hyrushi, Gov.
Ana sighed. She had anticipated some difficulties along this path. “Governor, your policies are broadly popular, your staff is well liked, but you have a problem. You remain a mystery to the people and the press. The more you hide from the press, the more they’re going to think you have something to hide. An hour, for a low-key profile that will put a large group of people off your tail a bit. If you do have something to hide, it’s an easy way to get people to think you don’t and if you don’t then you don’t have anything to lose. His work with Lieutenant Governor Dasca was never anything less than respectful.”
-Chief of Staff
“So my policies are popular, my staff liked, and no one has tried to kill me in well over a year. Compared to my predecessors- and by Oed’s own historical standards- I am likely one of the most well-regarded Governors in the colony’s history.” Hyrushi replied. “And I managed to achieve all of that without giving interviews… especially personality-based ones. I answer the presses questions at every conference and public appearance. I reply to requests for clarification and inquiries about events and proposed Colonial matters in a timely fashion, Ms. Caputo. That is far more than almost any other Governor or administrator in the Federation does. My work can and will speak for itself. If anyone has an issue with how I conduct the colony’s adminiatration… they are welcome to challenge my work. But I will not lower myself to the conducting cult of personality politics. Understood?”
Hyrushi, Governor
“Governor, may I be exceedingly honest with you?” Ana asked, lowering her PaDD and all pretense of being a member of the Governor’s staff. “You’re a pain in the ass. I spend whole days fixing it after you snub a cabinet officer, or have a member of the press ejected from the building. The longer this labor situation goes on the more your policy speaking for you will have me trying to keep the corporations here at all while you’re busy doing the right thing. And you are doing the right thing. But when the dust settles it’d be nice for there to be an economy to return to normal. The mystery to me is how so few people are trying to kill you. There’s bound to be people out there who only know that they’re going on strike and the company they work for is threatening to take their ball and go home. At minimum you’re either ambivalent about the idea of continuing to get elected, or you’re stupid. Define for me the harm in sitting down with a journalist to make clear that you’re trying to govern for the people, that you’re not ambivalent to their concerns, that you’re not a shadowy figure running the colony from atop your tower absent oversight or accountability. Who gets hurt? Unless you. Do. Have. Something. To. Hide.”
-Chief of Staff
Kenzo did something he had never done in front of Caputo…
He laughed.
“Elected? Are you serious? I’m an appointed administrator, I’m not elected. And the post is mine until one of three things happen: the Council removes me for cause. I’m killed. Or I quit or retire. That, Ms. Caputo, is the basis of my role here. Would I prefer a general election? Yes. Yes I would. But that would mean the colony is a self-governing one in the legal sense, not just because we are in a position that we have to be.” He took a deep breath and settled back into his chair, looking at her intently. He could feel the frustration in her, even some resentment for the extra lengths she had to go to behind the scenes to smooth things over. He took another breath and said “The ‘economy’ will be fine if MasCorp leaves. We have dozens more jostling to take their place… and they know that. Oed is in a unique position right now, Ms. Caputo. We have leverage. Power where he had none before. And it is up to us, the administrators and cabinet, to put that power to effective use. And I simply do not care about who or what company or special interest group who feels they are entitled to some of that power. Because, very simply, they are not. ” He paused and leaned forward, placing his hands flat on the desk.
Ana chuckled. “The number of friends you’ve got on the Federation council right now, I forgot that your continued employment wasn’t contingent on their support. Add that to my to do list.”
“I do care, however, if I make your job more difficult than it has to be, Ms. Caputo.” he said with a slight apologetic tone. “So if you can tell me, with full certainty and belief, that doing this interview will help you and the people of the colony… then I will do so.” and he held up a finger, “Under certain conditions. First and foremost, the interview will be recorded, not live. Second. If I say a question is off limits, it is and that question and refusal to answer will be erased from the interview. Third, Before the segement airs, I will see it as it will be aired before it is released. I have final approval. If your reporter agrees and is recorded agreeing to those terms, send them in. Otherwise, let Mr. Zerbo know I will speak to him after you are done. Is that acceptable?”
Hyrushi, Gov.
“Recorded was the plan anyway, that’s no trouble.” Ana literally hand waved the notion away “Governor, getting him to let you not answer any question you’d rather not is not likely to be an issue. Editing that out, may be. Consider that unless you’re certain that both you and Mr Caldwell sit perfectly still, edits may be apparent. It may be wiser to let people hear you say ‘I cannot speak on that matter.’ than to have them suspect you’re suppressing anything you don’t like the look of. For an exclusive with you… I can make final approval happen.”
-Chief of Staff
“He is a professional. He can either edit it to make it smooth or he can make it apparent things were cut. That’s up to him. My conditions stand.” Hyrushi said firmly. “So go see if he agrees, and tell him he has one hour, no more.” He looked down at his desk and began reviewing his notes from Zerbo on the disconnect between the Corporation and their workers, silently dismissing Caputo as he did when they were at odds. Internally, however, he smiled. For as antagonistic a relationship he and his Chief of Staff had, it worked very well. And she was more than capable of handling the position. Allowing an interview such as this was a huge show of faith in her.
Hyrushi, Governor
Ana nodded and exited the room, returning to where she had left Eddie. “Mr Caldwell. The Governor will see you. On a couple conditions.”
“Okay, what are the ground rules here?”
Ana wished there were none. “Hard one hour limit. If you strike a topic where the Governor cannot speak, it has to be edited out. And the edit has to be sent to the Governor for final approval.”
Eddie stood and paced back and forth. “Absolutely not. The government doesn’t get to decide what journalists can publish.”
“The edits-“
“Aren’t the problem. Nobody’s interested in hearing the Governor say he can’t or won’t say anything. I have a problem with the Governor having final approval on an interview- does it only seem like the media likes him because he has all works of opposition scrubbed from existence?”The door to the Governor’s office was still open.
-Chief of Staff/Eddie
“If you think I have that much of control over the people of this colony, Mr. Caldwell, then you are a poor journalist indeed.” came the familiar voice of the Governor. He then appeared in the doorway, hands clasped behind his back. “And if you believe I would even try to exercise such control, then you have not researched my background. Either way, it seems you may be under-qualified for a piece like you are requesting.” He looked at Caputo and said “Contact Gal’r Davf.”, knowing the two journaliats had a kind of professional feud. “She has requested the same thing, so perhaps she will be more prepared.” and he turned and walked back into the office, but the doors stayed open.
Hyrushi, Governor
Eddie looked to Ana and said “You couldn’t warn me he was coming up behind you?” Then he followed the Governor in. “That was a nice touch, mentioning Gal’r Davf. And I don’t think you understand my meaning from before. I referred to the media. You referred to the people of the colony. Not entirely separate but you’re talking about the whole population and I’m talking about the media- particularly news that they consume. And since you are demanding that level of control over an interview, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder what the hell else you won’t let out the front door.”
-Eddie
“Quite a bit, actually.” Hyrushi replied flatly as he walked around his desk and took a seat, gesturing for Eddie to sit in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “And I referred to the people because I serve them… I do not serve the ‘media’. Now then, if my conditions are acceptable to you, we can begin. If they are not… I was not being flippant when I mentioned Ms. Davf. Ms. Caputo convinced me that I need to do this interview, so I will. Either with you or with Ms. Davf because the two of you the only ones that I believe are professional enough to ask the questions that the people would want to ask me themselves if they had such a chance. So are we agreed?”
Hyrushi, Governor
“We are.” Eddie took out the recorder and sat down where Hyrushi indicated, but held back from hitting record for just a second. “I think this’ll end up helping you out. The people you serve don’t attend the briefings you do. A little transparency goes a long way. You know as well as I do there aren’t a whole lot of OED Governors who retire voluntarily and buy a villa. At some point serving the people involves trusting that we’re professionals too.”
Hyrushi inclined his head and said “As I said, there are some who I do so.”
Eddie hit record. “Governor Hyrushi, thank you for sitting down with me this morning.”
-Eddie Caldwell
“It is my pleasure, Mr. Caldwell.” Hyrushi said, his voice even and smooth as it always was when he spoke in public. “I appreciate your tenacity in pursing this opportunity… for you and I both.”
Hyrushi, Governor
“It’s a unique opportunity to interview you.” Eddie admitted. “Sir, you sent the Federation Council a message outlining the path the colony wants to take in its relationship with the Federation. Has the Federation Council made any direct or indirect response?”
-Eddie
Hyrushi nodded once and said “An excellent question. We have received no official statement from the Federation Council… but we did not anticipate one. The message we sent was not a request for a dialogue; it was an establishment of expectations. A clarification, if you will. That being said, there have been many unofficial responses to our statement. Council members, members of Star Fleet, other colonial governments, and even some non-Federation individuals have responded to myself and to Lieutenant Governor Dasca. And I will say that the vast majority of those responses have been very supportive and positive.”
Hyrushi, Governor
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