Election 2090 - South End Q&A The fall air is crisp and clean, just perfect for a day out on Diagon Alley. Tucked in one corner of the Alley is a hastily constructed stage with several podiums set facing the street. Ribbons hang from every podium, each a different color and lined with the name and motto of one of the candidates.South End Candidates:
OOC Note: the structure of this thread is pretty free form. Ask questions, and the candidates will answer as completely as they can. Don't forget to indicate who the question is for, or everyone will answer it. |
Yay! A nice day for it. Althea Scabior was certainly ready for this event. She was one of the first to arrive and her campaign team were all milling about somewhere. Husband and children too. |
Nolan was excited and nervous. He was SOOO glad there weren't going to be any debates, but he was more than ready to respond to any critiques by the other candidates as well. This day could make or break his entire campaign - he HAD to do well. He HAD to impress. If he didn't he might as well bow out now. "Althea," he said in greeting with a smile as he approached his assigned area. He had already fielded a couple of questions at that meet and greet at the bowling alley - he could certainly handle anything that they threw at him today. In fact, he was anxious to get on with it already. BRING ON THE QUESTIONS! |
After a long day yesterday preparing herself, mentally and socially, Victoria was ready for the Q&A. For years she has been preparing to run for Minister. She has been working in the Minister's Office and that was one place you can see the behind the scenes at the Ministry of Magic. Victoria has been working there for the past couple years, although she doesn't like to mention how many (it makes her feel old at the age of Victoria's goal was to arrive early or on time today and that is what happened. She arrived perfectly on time. She saw two other candidate already here and ready for the questions. With a smile she nodded at Nolan and Althea, "Hello." She walked over to her assigned area. Once she was settled in she got herself prepared for the up coming questions the voters would ask her. Was she nervous? Honestly, yes. This was the first time she will be asked questions from the voters directly to her. BUT she was ready! |
hello you three :3 excuse him -__- The former Hogwarts Astronomy professor was running a bit behind schedule due to his interview being pushed back and back and back again by other candidates either taking too long or arriving late to their assigned times. Needless to say...the man was NOT in the best of moods. Which really made for the optimum atmosphere to drill his future Minister who, upon looking over the candidates biographies and their assigned podiums in Diagon Alley, was among those here. Well, in his opinion anyway. "Afternoon, candidates," Airey greeted, traditional Vulcan salute offered with his right hand. "Live long and prosper." Which was perhaps only something permissible at Hogwarts and now his appointed post with the UK Space Agency, but he was still very much a man of habit and it would take a bit to rewrite what he had conditioned himself to do for over a decade. "Airey Flamsteed, former professor of Astronomy and Gryffindor Head of House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and now current employee at the UK Space Agency," he introduced, offering each of the three a proper handshake like any normal human being. His blue eyes glanced over those present and naturally made a few flash judgments - although educated judgments. Althea Scabior, with whom he felt he had a well established professional working relationship with considering her position with the Hogwarts Board of Governors as long as he had been employed at the school, so he knew she was fully capable...even if she was still terrifying as ever. The lack of fiery red hair was helpful, however. Sort of. Nolan Reynolds. The man was TRYING not to make snap judgments, but his association with Divination already knocked the man down a peg. Or several. In the minuses really...so he had the LONGEST way to go...even with his work as Vice President of Hogwarts Board of Governors of which the astronomer had been able to experience the benefits first hand. But, because Calista would frown and fuss at him for being a black hole, he would try to remain impartial. Outwardly. ..... The final candidate present...Airey must have misplaced their candidacy portfolio or else the Ministry had neglected to include it when owling out information about the election, something none of his colleagues and So...did he just dive right in? He had been mulling over his thoughts quite a bit given his unexpected abundance of free time during all that waiting. |
*waves at all of you* Having re-checked her appearance about five times, Josephina was running late. Although she wasn't late, but she wasn't early either judging from the fact that three of her running mates were already there along with one of the voters whom she would recognize from a mile away; she only sat NEXT to him for YEARS at Hogwarts. And honestly, if she could tolerate that, she could be minister, right? Stepping up behind the podium that had her name, the former Hogwarts Professor was readier than she'd ever be for questions and answers. All she would need was for some general public who cared enough to ask what she was about and what she would do for them. The answer, well she WAS a Hufflepuff and that meant she'd do just about anything. She smiled at two of the running mates who were also former professors. Professors just made good ministers. And a smile for the other girl - Victoria was her name - who Fina did not know but knew she already worked for the ministry. |
The candidates were gathering on the stage, but Carrigan Howard lurked in the back of the growing crowd. It was important to be here, part of the whole political process, but maybe it wasn't so important for her to ask a question directly. Right? Standing at the back of the crowd was fine. Being present was the point. It would help if people jumped in and started asking questions, though. Would make it feel less like Carrigan was shirking her duties as a citizen... Fine. Just one easy question, then, since no one was even paying attention yet. Carrigan slipped to the front of the crowd and raised her hand. "Excuse me? I'm... Carrigan Howard, Department of Accidents and Catastrophes. Candidates often lay out their most important goals as the things they want to accomplish in the first thirty or sixty or one hundred days in office. What is your one hundred day plan if you get elected?" |
In attendance, in support of Althea, and keeping an eye on her watch, Blaire stood towards the back of the crowd. She wasn't big on mingling and while she'd said her polite HIs and HELLOs, she was more interested in hearing what the candidates had to say for themselves. The first question was a good one and the blonde assumed clear, concise, and passionate answers would gain the most favor with the crowd. They'd also spark more inquiries, she was sure. Piercing blue eyes settled on the podium of her preferred choice, she waited and watched eagerly. This is where the race started and she was excited. |
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Althea, of course, greeted her fellow candidates as they arrived, but she wasn't here for them. So after a polite nod to Nolan she was focused on the questions that began to come their way. |
The astronomer quickly took notice of his former colleague and bowed his head slightly towards her in greeting. Formalities and small talk would need to wait for another time as someone had finally gotten the ball rolling. Taking a file out of his enchanted breast pocket, Airey carefully leafed through it to revisit the platforms and promises of each candidate. There were a few things in particular, given his field, that were of especial interest to him. "To add to Miss...." Er...what had her name been? ".........Ho-wa-rd's question..." Nailed it. "...I am particularly curious how candidates Scabior and Nairne seek to implement plans towards combating climate change during those initial 100 days." Or was it perhaps more of a backseat platform to more pressing issues on their agenda? The other candidates, as far as he had read, had not listed this particular issue on their biographies but were welcome to address it as well. |
Willie set her pet crup on her lap as she sat down amongst her fellow candidates. Wonderful weather they were having today. Felt very nice on her skin and by the look of her crup's face, he was enjoying it too. All smiles, she sat quietly, listening to Althea's response and petting the crup's soft fur. Oh, what wonderful weather! |
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Kyroh was SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING!! He had never been able to witness a q&a sessions before and especially not when it came to who would be the next Minister of Magic. But MORE exciting than that was- LOOK at how professional his mum looked! She looked like she could destroy everyone in her path with a nice curt smile and then go right back home and make him some delicious cookies. He shifted Jade off his back and he placed her in a chair before sitting down himself. His dad was here somewhere too but Kyroh wasn't sure exactly where. He couldn't focus on that anyways. Almost as soon as his mum had answered a question Kyroh raised his hand (did you raise your hand in these things? He wasn't sure). "What are your thoughts on Dragons and possibly intergrading them more into the Wizarding community? Er- this question is for everyone. " The first year university student beamed. |
Iwin had been here the entire time, hands in his pockets as he watched and listened. Emmalee had the girls, which allowed him to come alone. He had thought about asking his Gran to attend with him, since all of this was her cup of tea as well, but she had been busy today. He had read extensively on the candidates. He was informed. His eyes were set on Althea Scabior, just to be honest, but he didn't mind asking the other questions. Or listening. Just to be here and listen...was....well, he liked it. And thinking of the Ministry was no longer painful for him. Emmalee was a department head here, and he was actually very glad they hadn't done much along the lines of hanging out with coworkers. Thank Merlin for her separation of...work and home life, or whatever she used to say. Because he didn't know anyone, and it was delightful. But he finally had a question and he raised his hand slightly. "I see many of you have plans to increase the minimum wage-" he raised an eyebrow. "How do you plan on doing so--with what means?" As a rather wealthy fellow, he took interest in this issue. And to be honest, he was a bit on the fence in regards to whether he thought it should be done or not. |
SPOILER!!: Victoria Nolan smiled at Victoria as she entered the area. She was nice - too nice, really, and not a threat to him in his opinion. "Hello, good to see you...and good luck," he added with a playful grin. Had to keep up the positive attitude even though this could all very well turn into a bloodbath... SPOILER!!: Airey! Nolan grinned and accepted Flamsteed's handshake. He knew the man from his time of the Board of course, and Scarlett had simply raved about him when she came back from break. He was a good professor and he was sad to hear that he had left, but he understood that they couldn't all be professors their entire lives... "Very nice to see you again, Flamsteed," he told him. Genuinely, it was. Although he was...uncharacteristically quiet at the moment. Hmm. SPOILER!!: QUESTION TIME! OH FINALLY, question time! Nolan could feel his heart begin to race as she addressed them, and once her question had concluded, he waited as Althea immediately jumped into her own plan and laid out her ideas. He expected nothing less from her, really - he still considered her his biggest Once she was finished, he turned to the Department Head and smiled. "Excellent question, thank you. My first and most important goal as Minister would be to rework the foundation of Hogwarts to assure that it gets the funding it deserves. This is the first time in years that the school has been fully staffed, and the fact that it has taken that long to get to this point is unacceptable. As a former member of the Board of Governors, I know first hand how hard it was to get the necessary support from the Ministry to assure that the school is run the way it should be. Therefore, it is extremely important that we look at the budget for the Ministry and fix how money is distributed in our world." "Now don't worry - I don't plan on taking money from places that need it, but simply moving the budget around so everyone gets their proper share. The way it is currently set up places too many programs above others and they have money coming out of their ears. If we work together to come up with an equally divided budget, we won't have to increase taxes and will be able to provide all departments with the appropriate funding, therefore making them more efficient, and making our employees more money," he explained. He would need a good team to help him do it, which he knew there would be no shortage of in the Ministry. It wasn't just Hogwarts he was going to make sure got the proper funding they needed - EVERYONE would be on his list, and he would stay up many nights if he had to analyzing the budget in order to make it work for as many people as he could. "In addition, once we have the budget figured out and have more opportunities for our employees to be successful, I want to work with St. Mungos to have a plan in place to allow employees access to mental health care if they feel they need it. Work can be extremely stressful and demanding - I gave up probably one of the most enjoyable careers I've had in my life because of it," he admitted. It was no secret that his anxiety and panic attacks caused him to step down, but had he been able to handle it, along with the other issues he'd been facing, and not just shut down, he might have stuck around Hogwarts longer. "I want the Ministry to be a fun place to work - if you don't feel like you're wasting your life away in an office, you're happy outside of work as well. Studies have shown that having good life balance with work increases productivity, and as I stated earlier, that is a big part of my plan to increase revenue without having to increase taxes," he explained. "Finally, my third and final goal for those 100 days would be to develop legislation to create more national parks across Great Britain which would subsequently be wildlife preserves for our magical creatures that have been forced out of their natural habitats by wizards and muggles alike," he added, since environment seemed to be a key issue that many of these people were driving at. "It's a large agenda, but with the help of Ministry employees and the wizarding community, I KNOW we can change things for the better around here and assure that all wizards in Great Britain, from school age to the retired, are living their life to the fullest, hand in hand with the Ministry," he concluded. There. His platform was made known - which he had already sort of touched on earlier in the bowling alley event, but it was nice to have a large, public, professional setting to set forth his agenda in as well. SPOILER!!: Airey again Hmm, climate change. That was a good one. He knew that Flamsteed had not addressed him, but he waited to hear what Althea had to say before making his move. "If I may, I know you did not specifically address me, Mr. Flamsteed, but I do want to weigh in on this. As I stated previously I'm looking to make national parks more prevalent in the area, which will also require help from the Muggle Prime Minister. Once I have established a good relationship with the Minister we can work together with the muggle community to advocate for climate change, as many muggle inventions can both help - and hurt - the environment. Without the help of the muggles there really is no way we can make the great strides we need to make, but I firmly believe we can start heading down that road and we can do it during my time in office by taking this first step," he pointed out. The muggles really were the key to pretty much everything climate change related, to be honest. They got them in this mess, they were going to have to work with them to get them out. SPOILER!!: D'awww Kyroh Nolan squinted a bit into the audience. Was that...Althea's son? Was he allowed to be at these things and ask questions? If so Nolan was TOTALLY going to employee all six of his children - even the little ones - to be there, mostly to be cute and make him look good of course. Regardless, he had asked a question, and a good one too, and he had to focus on THAT right now. "Dragons are tricky creatures," he said with a chuckle. "But with my plan to increase national parks across Great Britain, they will have more areas to roam free and will not be forced into lands occupied by muggles or wizards in order to stay alive and hunt as they should. More education needs to be added to the curriculum at Hogwarts as well, as much of the illegal trading of dragons is based off lies and myths about their care, tricking naive wizards into thinking they can handle them as pets" he answered. "They're amazing creatures and should be treated as such." SPOILER!!: Iwin Ah the minimum wage question again. Nolan knew they'd likely be bringing this up a number of times during the election circuit. People were concerned with money, more importantly, THEIR money, so of course it would be a popular issue. "As I stated earlier, the minimum wage can be increased if we have a stronger economy and allow businesses and the Ministry more funding to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Once the budget has been reworked and all areas of the Ministry are receiving enough money to do their jobs correctly and regulate businesses in a way that will help them become more profitable, the problem will work itself out," he explained. That was how economics worked, after all. "A tax increase will not be necessary in order to compensate for the increased wages. We simply have to move the money around so that it makes sense and everyone gets their fair share, but also what is appropriate. For example, the budget for Environmental Protection will be much different than the budget for Magical Law Enforcement, and this has not been addressed under the current administration. I intend to fix that," he told him confidently. |
Marilyn checking in! #TeamScabior Politics. More often than not, they could be quite messy, but Marilyn had to hand it to Althea. She was truly grace under fire, tackling every question being thrown at her with intelligence, class, and quick wit. It was an impressive spectacle to behold. And much the same could be said for Mr. Reynolds. Though, Marilyn wasn't working on his campaign, and couldn't comment further. Settled towards the back with a stack of parchments clipped to a board, the blonde was steadfast in her appraisal of the crowd; marking their public demographic and jotting notes on comments being made. There was still a lot of work to be done, but she was confident in the team they'd handpicked. Very much so. It was a beautiful day, as well. Pleasant atmosphere, no troublesome witches or wizards to speak of. They were right on track. |
Of course Skyler would attend an event like this. For one, it was an excellent topic to write about; and second, this was the sort of thing that interested him regardless of his job anyway. He was not interested enough to run - not that he was old enough to anyway - but he certainly wanted to keep up as best he could in order to make informed decisions. Having found a nice spot around the back of the crowd, he set his enchanted quill to work copying down each question and the answers the candidates gave. He also had an additional notepad on which he himself could copy whatever caught his interest. It was easier to gather his thoughts this way and perhaps form them into questions of his own. For now, though, he was content to listen and observe. |
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Oh Kyroh. Sweetheart. Of course he was asking about dragons. Althea thought it was best she didn't answer her own child's question however, unless someone else specifically requested to hear her answer, in which case she happily would. Quote:
This was interesting, and relevant to her. Althea waited for others to respond first, and listened closely to Nolan Reynolds as he spoke and also gave his response to the 100 days question. She had thoughts about some of those things but they could wait for certain. Her trump card would remain unrevealed for now. However she also wasn't the sort of person to run her campaign by tearing others' campaigns to shreds (not that she thought Nolan's was a bad one, he was a very good candidate whom she approved of and would consider endorsing if she herself fell out of the race). So far it seemed the candidates were polite and supportive of one another, or at least she had been lucky to be with this group, who knew what was happening at the other end of the street right now. |
As the questions began pouring in, Josephina had been listening to her fellow candidates and former colleagues speak first. Having worked with both Nolan and Althea, she knew firsthand that the both of them would make stellar ministers, and had she not been running herself, they definitely would have had her support and she'd have had a difficult time choosing. But she was running and she was not going to let two viable candidates deter her or knock her down. She was a strong candidate in her own right and though she would be diplomatic Quote:
"As you all know, I'm educator at heart, so when elected, I do hope to continue that education path with initially opening the channels of communication between the ministry and the community. You can't have quality education without first knowing what the community wants and what the ministry wants. My first thirty days will therefore be spent mostly surveying the community and the ministry, finding out what is the current situation and taking detailed inventory into the current happenings. My next thirty to forty days will then be spent formulating a plan of action for how I can improve the current situation." Now that she had studied the happenings and planned what she would do... there was only one thing left. "And finally, I'll begin in my third month of office now that I've formulated a plan, of taking action and working toward a better, brighter Ministry. One where people can be proud to work for and enhancing our current system." Quote:
"Ah thank you, Mr Flamsteed for that question. Climate change is inevitable but I think we can all make an effort to minimize our impact on it by analyzing our daily activities and how much energy we use just by simple light fixture changes. Perhaps seeing if adjusting simply the lighting in the Ministry to something more, magical, can reduce our energy use." "This goes hand in hand with advancing the wizarding transportation system because so much energy gets wasted on simple outdated transportation methods. We are capable, educated witches and wizards who should be able to get from one place to the next with use of minimal energy on both our part, but also electrical energy in the atmosphere." Quote:
Kyroh Scabior was an ADULT?! She'd taught the boy back when he was a first and second year and remembered him even before he started at Hogwarts when he was at school with his father. And yet here he was, adult!Kyroh, standing before them and asking them such intelligent questions. Swallow your pride, Josephina, the brunette scolded herself mentally as she focused more on the question. "Good question, Kyroh and I think that dragons should be integrated but also on the same token we need to protect them as a species as well. We have many skilled dragon tamers and I'm not saying we should all have dragons in our backyards, but perhaps having dragons be not ... hidden would be to our advantage. When properly tamed and with the right restrictions in place, dragons could definitely become an integral part of our world and even help to educate the wizarding community more on the species." Quote:
"I don't think a minimum wage increase is the issue. It's lack of higher paying jobs for well qualified individuals that is more of an issue. Which is where my platform comes into play on closing the income gap; I don't intend to do this by increasing minimum wage, because I think that would have a negative impact on the economy and small business. I do think that what we can do is provide educational resources to those of lower income status to help them achieve higher paying jobs. Educate people on entrepreneurship and research and sports programs. Help people learn and expand their skill set so they can find work that pays them more. Minimum wage jobs aren't meant to be living wage jobs, but they are a stepping stone to get people to a better place. And we need to educate the public more about that better place and what options they have. We need to create more higher paying jobs. Which we can do this by opening the channels of communication and working together toward a richer, more sustainable future. " |
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While there were a few things Althea didn't precisely agree with when it came to her former colleague's platform, particularly in regard to education (the woman should run for the board NOT minister, in Althea's opinion, like many the candidates who seemed to think this election was about Hogwarts and other privately run institutions for some reason), mostly Althea chose not to respond or bring those up things just now, but there was one thing that had her raise her eyebrow and speak up. |
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Though this was not a debate and Josephina did not really intend to make it one, she did do a double take when Althea commented on her answer about climate change. Looking down at her notes briefly and then back up at the woman, she shook her head. "Ah right, my apologies, but yes, I had merely meant to insinuate that we should continue to use our magical abilities to aid in minimizing our carbon footprint." Her sister did work as a climate controller, and while she wasn't fully aware of all that it involved, she knew there was more to it than simply maintaining room temperatures, but had to do with pressures and other stuff too that Alex didn't really like to speak of. "But I do believe we can, as you had insinuated, use the Department of Environmental Protection and Regulation to our advantage in minimizing our carbon footprint even moreso and learning more methodologies." |
It seemed all candidates had quite different answers to his question. He was pleased that a few of them seemed to think it was...not the best idea. Or, they at least had their own spin on it. He kind of liked the way Josephina Hadley worded HER answer, and he was always impressed with Scabior. But the other candidates were performing well, too. Hmph. He listened to some child ask about dragons--please, really? He looked at his nails as they focused on some other questions. He was listening. Taking mental notes. He had no other questions yet. The brief back and forth between Scabior and Hadley was distracting, but it was fine. |
SPOILER!!: Kyroh Willie perked up at the young man's questions. "DRAGONS!" Scooter, the crup, jumped slightly haven been awaken by Willie's exclaim. "Dragons are just MAGNIFICENT creatures, aren't they?!" She raised a tattooed arm to shield her eyes from the sun to get a better look at the boy. "Of course as magnificent as they are, I would love for the wizarding community to learn about them more." She remembers her encounter with dragons in Romania. "Dragons are also as dangerous as they are incredible, which is why I'd like to consult with various professional dragon keepers and look for a safe way to conduct this." BEAM. "Thank you for the question." |
Comments to Althea :D Quote:
There was one thing that Althea had said that Nolan wanted to touch on, though. Once the other candidates had spoken, he cleared his throat. "If I may, Miss Scabior, comment on your notes about employee turnover. I agree that this is a waste of money and something that is continuously throwing our economy out of balance. However, I don't think wage alone can combat this. With the Department Heads alone we see a very high rate of turnover, and they're getting paid more than your average worker, so we cannot say just an increase in wage would be effective." "This is where my idea to increase mental health support from St. Mungos comes into play. While wage is a big issue for many when deciding to leave their job, happiness is by far the most important factor. To truly stop employee turnover, we have to work to provide employees with more mental health resources to assure that they're not being consumed by their work and allowing it to affect their daily lives. We have to also work to increase efficiency, so that one person is not doing the work of ten and actually able to leave work on time and they can take that paid vacation time without feeling like they're letting their whole department down by taking some time off," he explained. This issue was very close to his heart - so he had quite a bit to say on it. "Work life balance is key to creating a happy, harmonious work environment. Yes, minimum wage will help, but if you can't use that money to create a stable home life or invest it in the things you love, what is the point?" he finished. He finished by flashing a grin at Althea, to show once again that there were no hard feelings between them - even though he was sure she already knew that. This was a game and he had come to WIN. |
Of course. Althea nodded at Josephina's response. She'd outright said that about the Environment department, not simply insinuated. If Josephina wished to simply insinuate in her campaign that was fine, but Althea would continue to make her stance very clear. Quote:
That was MRS Scabior but Althea didn't correct him, obviously her goal was to be MINISTER Scabior soon enough anyhow. She listened as Nolan selectively pulled out one of her comments and used it as a segue into an unrelated concern. Cleverly done and yet she was sure she wasn't the only one who noticed that. All the same, the mental health issue was one that she did care about, her own son was reason enough for that. |
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