Sue seized the gavel and struck the sound block until the din began to subside. "Okay everyone -- and that includes you, Buster -- can we please keep this civil?"
Jones smirked, and nodded towards the uniformed police officer standing near the entrance. "Maybe you should have the disturbance cleared from the room so we can conduct business here."
Someone else in the back row, a woman in pink coveralls, called out, "You're the disturbance, Jones! The Occupy had permission to use that site!"
"She does have a point, Mr. Jones," Sue said.
"And I have a signed contract that says the building site was mine the moment that rabble vacated it -- which they did. You ought to know. You were there."
"You're right, I was there. So I'm perfectly aware that they didn't leave of their own accord."
"More like forcibly evicted for you by Mayor Svanstrom's mercenary army," Knox said, ruffling her sign. "There's nothing in the city code that permits private use of the police force."
"Nor, unfortunately," Sue replied conversationally, "is there anything in the city code that prohibits it. I do appreciate your position, Ms. Knox, but until the court rules on the validity of JonesCo's claim to that land, we have to at least entertain his request to have it rezoned."
Natalie Knox dropped her sign on her chair and stepped into the aisle. "On the contrary, Councilwoman Winston," she said. "Unless the court rules in his favor, Mr. Jones has no standing to request the rezoning. Otherwise anyone could come in here and ask the city to rezone their neighbor's property." She took a few steps towards the dais. "Wendell Jones is here asking the city to take unilateral action against another landowner, something that is clearly outside the purview of this body. This isn't Michigan, after all, and he's no Emergency Manager. He's already undertaken a questionable action regarding that building site in court. If you permit this action to proceed, you will all be in violation of your oaths of office and will therefore be unfit for office."
Just as Knox was finishing, the woman in pink joined her in the aisle. "And if we let you do it, if we stand mute and allow him to ride roughshod over our rights, we'd be in violation of our duty as citizens. That's a line we will not cross. We refuse to be silent any longer."
In response, several others around the room suddenly stood up and called out "K2!"
"Kaytu?" Buster Flange echoed in a bad imitation cockney. "What in the bloody "ell is that supposed to mean?"
Knox smiled. "My grandson, Councilman Flange. A ten-year-old with a better grasp of the responsibilities of citizenship than you appear to have."
"And the reason most of us are here," added the woman in pink.
"While I appreciate your solidarity," Sue said, her tone signaling a return to her role as chair, "I do have to ask that you all sit down and let us continue with council business."
"Not a chance," Knox said. "I wouldn't want to disappoint my grandson."
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