Forging America: My Campaign Manager is Roosevelt

Chapter 288 - 145: Just Half a Mayor

"What’s more dangerous is that if you try to purge the entire council, you’ll trigger a survival crisis for every member. They will immediately form an unbreakable anti-Mayor alliance, and you’ll find yourself in a full-scale war that could have been avoided."

Leo nodded.

He understood that all-out war was the worst-case scenario. He needed people to get work done, not nine sworn enemies.

"The second path," Roosevelt continued, "is buy-offs and deterrence."

"Since you can’t replace them, you must remold them."

"You need to learn the art of political patronage."

"Those nine people—each has their own needs, their own weak spots."

"Take Gavin Stone, for example. She’s not just Morganfield’s person; she’s also someone who craves more recognition in the business world. You can give her power."

"You could establish a ’Business District Beautification Committee’ and make her the chair. Let her decide which streets get which trees, let her decide which contractor gets the job."

"This will greatly satisfy her vanity and make her appear more powerful to her constituents."

"Then there’s Linda Rossi. She hates you because you moved her cheese. So, cut her a new slice."

"You can hint to her that City Hall is preparing to expand the staff of the Administrative Services Center. You can give her a share of the right to recommend personnel for this new department."

"Let her stuff it with all her relatives and cronies. As long as her people are drawing a paycheck from you, she won’t dare to speak out against you in the council."

"Pete Miller."

"Give him equipment. Give him those SWAT armored vehicles that look impressive but aren’t actually that useful. Let him go and brag to the police Union that he’s the one who got the Mayor to deliver."

"You need to make them understand that by following you, they can get more than they ever did before. Not just kickbacks, but also prestige in their respective districts."

"You need to turn them into parasites that depend on you. When a parasite grows fat enough, it won’t want to leave its host."

Leo listened to these tactics.

It was dirty.

This was a blatant exchange of interests, a private trade of public power.

But he had no qualms about it.

Ever since he took that step at the Allegany Mountain Summit Club, he was no longer the politically fastidious student he once was.

As long as he could achieve his goals, he didn’t mind feeding this pack of hungry wolves.

"But that’s not enough."

Leo spoke up.

"These tactics can only get them to cooperate with us on specific projects. But as long as the system remains, as long as the approval power is still in their hands, they can turn and bite us at any moment."

"What I want is systemic control."

"I want it so that even if they want to oppose me, they can’t find a place to sink their teeth in."

"Clever,"

Roosevelt said admiringly.

"That is precisely the third path I was about to mention."

"To start with the structure and reshape the entire political and administrative logic of Pittsburgh."

"You need to make this machine complex—so complex that only you can understand what the system is doing."

Roosevelt deliberately slowed his pace, afraid Leo wouldn’t understand.

"First, you need to change the descriptive style of your budget proposals."

"The current budget proposals are too clear. ’South District Fourth Avenue road maintenance: five hundred thousand US Dollars.’ Writing it like this is just handing the council members ammunition."

"They can fixate on that five hundred thousand, asking why you’re repairing Fourth Avenue instead of Fifth Avenue, asking why you used this contractor and not that one."

"You need to learn to use broad-based budgeting."

"From now on, stop listing specific projects."

"For example, you should establish something like an ’Urban Infrastructure Resilience Enhancement Fund’ with a total of fifty million US Dollars. As for which specific road that fifty million gets spent on? That’s an administrative detail at the executive level; it doesn’t require council approval."

"You need to turn concrete numbers into vague concepts."

"You need to have the council approve a broad framework, and what gets put inside that framework is entirely up to you."

"And then there’s the power of internal reallocation."

"You need to add a clause to the appendix of the budget proposal: ’Provided the total budget amount remains unchanged, the executive branch has the authority to reallocate funds between different sub-projects, not exceeding thirty percent of the total amount, based on actual needs.’"

"With that clause, you’ll have a magic wand."

"You can turn the money approved for park maintenance into funding for community outreach. You can take the money meant for administrative offices and use it to hire your political consultants."

"The council approves A, but you end up doing B, and all of it is perfectly procedural."

Leo’s eyes lit up.

This was the real masterstroke.

This was tantamount to completely neutering the council’s approval power.

They could only approve a vague concept, unable to interfere with the actual execution.

"And then there are the agencies," Roosevelt continued.

"You need to learn how to layer the bureaucracy."

"The current structure of City Hall is too simple. Department heads report to the Mayor and are simultaneously supervised by the council. That won’t do."

"You need to create all sorts of special task forces, ad hoc committees, and special offices of the Mayor."

"For example, to advance the revitalization plan, don’t use the Public Works Department directly."

"You need to establish a ’Pittsburgh Revitalization Executive Agency.’ This body wouldn’t be part of the regular administrative structure. Its budget would come from a special fund, its personnel would be appointed directly by you, and it would report only to the Mayor."

"You can transfer all the core power and resources into these newly established bodies."

"Turn the old departments, committees, and offices into empty shells."

"Let the council members discover that the departments they’re supposed to be overseeing have no money left. The ones actually doing the work are all in your special offices."

"This is called the externalization of executive authority."

"By creating complexity in the administrative system, you shield it from legislative interference."

"When the system is complex enough, the power of interpretation rests in the hands of the person who designed it."

"But I must remind you, Leo, this is by no means some kind of permanent magic."

"This is an exceedingly complex, one might even say exhausting, logic of administration."

"Your opponents aren’t fools. Moretti will study your moves; Stone will hire lawyers. When they find you’ve blocked the door, they’ll try to climb through the window. When you board up the window, they’ll try to dig a tunnel."

"You will need to constantly adapt and modify. You’ll need to watch this machine every day, countering every move they make."

"Today you establish a special committee; tomorrow they might try to limit its power through a public hearing. Then the day after, you’ll have to upgrade that committee into an office directly under the Mayor’s authority."

"It’s a cat-and-mouse game with no end."

"Only by maintaining this high level of pressure will you have even a slight chance of completely controlling Pittsburgh."

"This is a massive undertaking,"

Leo said.

"It will require amending numerous administrative regulations, rewriting financial rules, and even challenging the boundaries of certain laws."

"Ethan will go insane."

Leo chuckled, but the light in his eyes grew even more intense.

"But I’ll make him do it."

"Because this is the only way I can truly secure my position in this chair."

’Mr. President,’ Leo thought, ’I’m ready.’

’I’m going to start rewriting this city’s instruction manual.’

Roosevelt’s voice was filled with anticipation.

"Then begin, Philosopher King."

"Make this city an extension of your will."

"Let those who try to stop you lose themselves in the labyrinth you build."

"When they finally emerge from the labyrinth, exhausted, and stand before you,"

"they will find they have no choice but to submit."