CHAPTER TEN Y: THE MEETING IN THE HALLWAY
The board’s administrative office had arranged a short technical briefing before the public hearing.
Imani attended with Celia, Peter, and Daniel while Nora waited in the corridor.
A city clerk emerged carrying an updated agenda and asked whether Nora was the invited community witness.
Nora confirmed her name and received a copy of the speaking order.
She noticed that the redevelopment company had requested extra time to discuss economic benefits.
The clerk explained that the chair had granted equal additional time to the preservation committee.
Nora appreciated the effort to keep the process fair.
Adrian Kessler entered the corridor with two colleagues and stopped when he saw her.
He asked whether she had reconsidered the invitation to visit the company’s design office.
Nora said that she had already attended the public tour.
Adrian replied that the private office contained more detailed plans.
Nora asked whether the details could be shared with everyone attending the hearing.
He said that certain commercial discussions remained confidential.
Nora told him that she was not interested in receiving information the other volunteers could not evaluate.
Adrian looked past her toward the briefing room.
He said that she had become surprisingly influential for someone with no professional experience in preservation.
Nora answered that the people making decisions had more relevant experience than she did.
She was simply willing to ask questions they had not yet answered.
A woman standing near the water fountain turned toward them.
She introduced herself as Councilor Renata Shaw, who represented the harbor district.
Renata said that she had overheard the conversation and wanted to ask Adrian about the proposed community access agreement.
Adrian appeared startled to recognize her.
He explained that the company was reviewing its operating commitments.
Renata asked whether the review would be completed before the board made its decision.
He said that he could not guarantee the timing.
Renata replied that public officials could evaluate only commitments actually placed before them.
She thanked him for his time and returned to her seat.
Nora felt a brief surge of satisfaction, followed by unease.
She had not intended to draw a councilor into the exchange.
Renata approached her again after Adrian left.
She asked whether Nora had been pressured to support either side.
Nora described the conversation outside the diner without adding motives she could not prove.
Renata listened and said that community participants should not be made to feel their jobs or reputations were bargaining chips.
She offered the contact information for the city’s public participation office.
Nora accepted the information but asked that the councilor not treat her account as an official allegation without further discussion.
Renata agreed and said that Nora could decide whether to make a report.
The technical briefing ended a few minutes later.
Celia emerged with a revised safety summary and explained that the board would not receive a final engineering recommendation that day.
The investigation required additional testing.
Peter asked whether the uncertainty would automatically favor demolition.
Celia said that the board would have to weigh the available evidence and the cost of keeping the site secure.
She refused to predict the outcome.
Imani thanked her for refusing to invent certainty.
Daniel suggested that everyone find lunch before the hearing began.
Nora said that the library had sandwiches left from the rehearsal.
Peter laughed and told her that she had somehow become the person who fed everyone during the most difficult days.
Nora replied that the theater’s volunteers were perfectly capable of finding their own meals.
She nevertheless led them toward the library because she knew the sandwiches would otherwise be wasted.
