Wagner’s gaze drifted involuntarily out the window, toward the City Hall building across the street.

"So."

Leo spread his hands.

"Since it’s not your fault, and it’s not my fault, why are we making things difficult for each other here?"

"Why don’t we toss this hot potato to the person who’s actually responsible?"

Wagner put down his bottle of water.

"You mean..."

"Procedure."

Leo uttered the word.

"Isn’t procedure the essence of any bureaucratic system?"

"Since the City Council demands that every budget item undergo strict approval, and since they claim to be responsible to the taxpayers."

"Then let’s give them the chance to approve something."

Leo stood up, walked to the door, and beckoned to someone outside.

Ethan Hawke walked in with ten young interns.

Each of them was holding a laptop.

"Steve, I’ve loaned these people to you from the Mayor’s Office."

"They’ve all been professionally trained in writing administrative documents."

"You don’t need to go out and fix the roads yourself. You don’t even need to leave this office."

"You only need to do one thing."

Leo picked up the crumpled report form from the desk.

"For every complaint, every pothole, every broken streetlight on this list."

"Draft a standard ’Emergency Supplemental Appropriation Request’ for each one."

"Stamp your official Director’s seal in the applicant section."

"Then, forward every single one of these requests to the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee."

Wagner was stunned.

His mind raced, calculating the consequences of this move.

Four thousand appropriation requests.

Each one would require the City Council to receive, register, conduct a preliminary review, schedule, discuss, and vote on it.

At the rate those old suits on the City Council processed five documents a day, these four thousand requests would keep them busy until the next century.

"Will... will this work?" Wagner hesitated. "Moretti will kill me. He’ll think I’m deliberately looking for trouble."

"No, Steve."

Leo patted Wagner’s shoulder.

"How could you possibly be looking for trouble?"

"You’re strictly fulfilling your duties as Director."

"You received complaints from citizens and discovered safety hazards, but you have no money."

"So, you’re following legal procedure by submitting appropriation requests to the City Council, which holds the power of the purse."

"It’s completely compliant, completely legal, and completely in line with the procedures that Council President Moretti is always emphasizing."

Leo said slowly, "As long as you’ve submitted the requests..."

"...whether that pothole gets fixed or not has nothing to do with you anymore."

"If the City Council approves the money, you fix it, and that becomes your achievement."

"If the City Council doesn’t approve the money, or just drags its feet..."

"Then if someone actually breaks their leg in one of those potholes someday, you can confidently pull out the acknowledgement receipt for that request and tell the judge, the media, and the injured citizen:"

"’Look, I applied for the funds long ago. It was the City Council that wouldn’t provide the money.’"

"’The responsibility isn’t mine.’"

"’It’s theirs.’"

"I’m helping you build a firewall, Steve. I’m helping you absolve yourself of liability."

Wagner looked at Leo.

He suddenly felt that this young Mayor was far more formidable than he had imagined.

Using bureaucracy to defeat bureaucracy.

Using procedural justice to suffocate procedural justice.

But he had to admit, this plan was his only way out at the moment.

Even if it was a trap, he had to jump in.

’Getting on Council President Moretti’s bad side? That would certainly be troublesome.’

’Moretti controls the purse strings. He can humiliate me at hearings, block my department’s budget, and even make my life a living hell, forcing me to beg and plead every day for a few hundred US dollars in office expenses.’

’But Moretti can’t fire me.’

’The City Council is the legislative body. They only have the power of approval and oversight, not the power to hire and fire.’

’Even if Moretti hated my guts, all he could do is curse me out in a meeting room or give me a hard time with the budget.’

’But this Mayor Wallace in front of me is different.’

’Pittsburgh operates under a strong-mayor system.’

’As the chief executive, Leo has absolute authority over personnel. The position of Director of the Bureau of Street Maintenance is, at the end of the day, a political appointment made by the Mayor.’

’Leo Wallace doesn’t even need a complicated hearing process; he just has to sign an executive order to have me fired immediately.’

’If I refuse Leo today, I’ll have a termination letter in my hands before tomorrow morning.’

’If I cooperate with Leo, I’m just passing the buck to Moretti, and I can even use ’adhering to procedure’ to clear my name.’

’Getting chewed out by the Council President is a work problem.’

’Getting fired by the Mayor is a survival problem.’

’Anyone who isn’t an idiot can tell which is more serious.’

’Since someone has to take the fall, it might as well be that old geezer who’s been sitting in his air-conditioned office for too long.’

’Better you than me. That’s the first rule of bureaucratic survival.’

Having thought it through, Wagner took a deep breath.

He re-buttoned his shirt and adjusted his tie.

The Director’s authoritative air had returned.

"Alright."

Wagner nodded.

"Mr. Mayor, you’re right. We must be responsible for the safety of our citizens."

"I’ll have my secretary coordinate with your people."

"We’ll start work today."

"Excellent."

Leo nodded in satisfaction.

"Ethan, let’s get to work."

The Bureau of Street Maintenance’s conference room was temporarily commandeered.

Ten laptops were lined up in a row.

Two high-speed printers were brought in.