Urban Renewal.
Eiko rose as the door opened. "He'll see you now." She straightened her skirt, picked up her briefcase, and walked into the office.
The mayor of Philadelphia rose from behind his desk, coming around to shake her hand. "Dr. Takashima," he said, "a pleasure to meet you outside of a civic event. What brings you to my office this fine day?"
Eiko gave her 'public' smile as they sat. "Well, my company has a proposal for the city, and I thought I'd come and try to talk you around to it before taking it to the City Council. It's somewhat radical, but the benefits to the city would be considerable."
"Your company's work in this city has turned it around. Some people would give it to you if it wasn't against the law, as long as you didn't want to tear down City Hall!"
"Actually, we were thinking about the Municipal Building."
He paused. "You're serious."
Eiko nodded. "While we have manufacturing facilities in Jenkintown and Bethlehem, I think we need to have our corporate headquarters relocated here, in downtown Philadelphia. And for that, Random Access Technologies requires a building that is both headquarters and showpiece." She opened her briefcase, pulling out a folder and handing it to him. "That's our current plan. It includes," she continued as he leafed through it, "as you can see, a large portion of the building used to house the current facilities at the Municipal Building, access to the Internet, parking facilities, tunnels to connect to Suburban Station, a three-story shopping plaza, and the use of our technologies to make it an environmentally-neutral building." He nodded thoughtfully. "The last half-dozen pages are our proposal to the city for the company to handle all relocation costs, all office storage costs, and all legal issues related to the moves in and out of the building."
"In addition," she continued, "This building with be larger than the current Municipal Building in terms of floor space, and the ten floors in the replacement building should be able to handle the sixteen currently present. Part of the plan also is to include the current art installation as part of the ground floor."
The mayor nodded, then blinked. "This can't be right."
Eiko tilted her head. "What can't?"
"One dollar for the city to lease the offered space for the lifetime of the building? Are you sure about this, Dr. Takashima?"
Eiko nodded. "My company's charter states that our goal is to improve the world. That includes trying to help governments act in an ethical manner. With physical plant costs reduced, that allows the city to use tax income in other projects. In addition, you can see our projected additional tax income into the city." She paused. "This is a first stage, Mr. Mayor. Our long-term goal is to turn Philadelphia into a showcase of what a twenty-first century city can be." She reached into her case again, presenting another folder. "This is our second stage plan: Solarums throughout the city for power and trash control, upgrades to the power grid in concert with the power authority, updating the sewer and water infrastructure. We're also going to bring in facilities to repair and upgrade housing citywide, and that will bring jobs to the city, for the city."
The Mayor nodded, her sense of enthusiasm growing on him. "And you'll need to bring in supplies, which means you'll need to upgrade the port."
She nodded back. "Working with city boards, other corporations... we're thinking about renting the port from the city, in order to put in manufacturing facilities to upgrade the buses and trains"
"Well, Dr. Takashima..." He closed the folders. "I'm going to want to read these in detail, but I think you've got my backing in this."
Eiko smiled. "Please, go ahead. If we can get his going, by 2025 Philadelphia will be the star of the century."
"Oh, two things I noticed about your new building," he said as they rose.
"Mm?"
"First, that it'll be taller than Comcast Tower."
"Well, yes," she said impishly. "Might as well."
"And the other is that you plan to top it with a copy of the statue of William Penn."
"He deserves to see his city from above again, doesn't he?"
The two chuckled, shook hands, and she departed his office.
It was with a small amount of pride she pulled out her phone and tapped a button as she stopped for a moment just outside City Hall. "Hi. It's me. Yeah." She smiled a bit more. "He went for it. We're moving forwards. Get the paperwork in order." Then she tucked it away and went down into the train station. With a little luck she'd catch the R2 and make it back in time to see Amelia before she went back to school in the afternoon.
The mayor of Philadelphia rose from behind his desk, coming around to shake her hand. "Dr. Takashima," he said, "a pleasure to meet you outside of a civic event. What brings you to my office this fine day?"
Eiko gave her 'public' smile as they sat. "Well, my company has a proposal for the city, and I thought I'd come and try to talk you around to it before taking it to the City Council. It's somewhat radical, but the benefits to the city would be considerable."
"Your company's work in this city has turned it around. Some people would give it to you if it wasn't against the law, as long as you didn't want to tear down City Hall!"
"Actually, we were thinking about the Municipal Building."
He paused. "You're serious."
Eiko nodded. "While we have manufacturing facilities in Jenkintown and Bethlehem, I think we need to have our corporate headquarters relocated here, in downtown Philadelphia. And for that, Random Access Technologies requires a building that is both headquarters and showpiece." She opened her briefcase, pulling out a folder and handing it to him. "That's our current plan. It includes," she continued as he leafed through it, "as you can see, a large portion of the building used to house the current facilities at the Municipal Building, access to the Internet, parking facilities, tunnels to connect to Suburban Station, a three-story shopping plaza, and the use of our technologies to make it an environmentally-neutral building." He nodded thoughtfully. "The last half-dozen pages are our proposal to the city for the company to handle all relocation costs, all office storage costs, and all legal issues related to the moves in and out of the building."
"In addition," she continued, "This building with be larger than the current Municipal Building in terms of floor space, and the ten floors in the replacement building should be able to handle the sixteen currently present. Part of the plan also is to include the current art installation as part of the ground floor."
The mayor nodded, then blinked. "This can't be right."
Eiko tilted her head. "What can't?"
"One dollar for the city to lease the offered space for the lifetime of the building? Are you sure about this, Dr. Takashima?"
Eiko nodded. "My company's charter states that our goal is to improve the world. That includes trying to help governments act in an ethical manner. With physical plant costs reduced, that allows the city to use tax income in other projects. In addition, you can see our projected additional tax income into the city." She paused. "This is a first stage, Mr. Mayor. Our long-term goal is to turn Philadelphia into a showcase of what a twenty-first century city can be." She reached into her case again, presenting another folder. "This is our second stage plan: Solarums throughout the city for power and trash control, upgrades to the power grid in concert with the power authority, updating the sewer and water infrastructure. We're also going to bring in facilities to repair and upgrade housing citywide, and that will bring jobs to the city, for the city."
The Mayor nodded, her sense of enthusiasm growing on him. "And you'll need to bring in supplies, which means you'll need to upgrade the port."
She nodded back. "Working with city boards, other corporations... we're thinking about renting the port from the city, in order to put in manufacturing facilities to upgrade the buses and trains"
"Well, Dr. Takashima..." He closed the folders. "I'm going to want to read these in detail, but I think you've got my backing in this."
Eiko smiled. "Please, go ahead. If we can get his going, by 2025 Philadelphia will be the star of the century."
"Oh, two things I noticed about your new building," he said as they rose.
"Mm?"
"First, that it'll be taller than Comcast Tower."
"Well, yes," she said impishly. "Might as well."
"And the other is that you plan to top it with a copy of the statue of William Penn."
"He deserves to see his city from above again, doesn't he?"
The two chuckled, shook hands, and she departed his office.
It was with a small amount of pride she pulled out her phone and tapped a button as she stopped for a moment just outside City Hall. "Hi. It's me. Yeah." She smiled a bit more. "He went for it. We're moving forwards. Get the paperwork in order." Then she tucked it away and went down into the train station. With a little luck she'd catch the R2 and make it back in time to see Amelia before she went back to school in the afternoon.