Entry 13:  Mckinley Morganfield’s First Year of Office

It has been a year since the Town of Lake Maureen was chartered with McKinley Morganfield as mayor.   It is time to see how his first year has gone . . .

You will recall that his first major action was to build a schoolhouse in the town center.

He also made a nice little park across the street.

He has also set up the Lake Maureen Business association.  

You may recall that Mckinley himself own’s a store in town.  This new business association is a gathering of all store owners and business owners in the town to promote the starting of new businesses, the attraction of outside investment in the town, and cooperation between businesses where applicable.  Mckinley sees this as a crucial way to compete and feed off of the monopolistic Solace Bay co to the north.  interestingly enough, Mckinley has given over operation of his store to his oldest son, Junior, because he felt it unfair to make such profits while also being mayor.  This way there will be no opportunity to criticize him as having his own interests ahead of the town’s.

Mckinley used some of the treasury money to buy up land on the edge of town, and some farms that are on the edge of town or between Solace Bay and Lake Maureen, in hopes of developing them, or keeping them from being developed.

  The Golding and gorbach/Effie Purchases were bought to keep the Solace Bay Co from building any factories or slums within the Lake Maureen City Limits.  It is yet unclear as to what each f these other purchases will be used for . . .

Another thing done by Mckinley was build an extension of Lake Rd. North across the small causeway that separates lake Maureen from the Ocean.  This allows for cart and car/truck traffic to not have to travel all the way around the lake to reach the east side of the lake.  

Speaking of cars and trucks, these newfangled “horseless” carts have been increasing in popularity in the region over the past couple of years. 

Most of the wealthiest in the region have them now, and recent developments in car manufacture techniques first developed in SimNation, but quickly imported here to Inakaye, are dropping the price of the car so that soon even poor farmers will be able to afford them.

(a secret rumor that has been spreading around Lake Maureen is that a famous Auen car manufacturer, by the name of Hans Julian, has shown interest in building a factory in Lake Maureen.  He might have even come here himself and had a conference with Mckinley about it.  It’s just a rumor though, don’t tell anyone.)

(but if he did build a factory here then maybe cars would become even more numerous!  Still, we shouldn’t spread rumors, shhh!)

Back to the Update . . .

On the topic of car transportation, most of the cars in the area are owned by the wealthy of Wyant landing, on the east side of solace Bay to the North.  A cheap dirt road has been made more out of necessity than anything to that neighborhood.  And, interestingly enough, despite the tension between Solace Bay and Lake Maureen, the wealthy people of Wyant’s landing often joyride to Lake Maureen and shop in the nice shops and dine at the restaurants.  The Wyant Brothers themselves never come here though.  Too much crap between them and this town.

The last major project undertaken by Mckinley in his first year in office is not completed yet.  The isthmus that Lake Maureen and Solace Bay sit on is the only thing separating the oceanic trade routes from the Lake Audra trade routes.  This isthmus has often been traversed by fur traders in the past, but any other traffic is too large to navigate the forests.  Mckinley in the hopes of opening up more trade and busniess for his town, has begun building a road through the woods to the small settlement of Havalina on the shores of Lake Audra.  

This project has proved tedious, because it required him to purchase the land that the road will be built on and hire a crew to clear the land for the road.  Yet, with all the previous land purchases, the schoolhouse, the park, and the construction of the causeway road, he pretty much used up the first year’s tax money.  He then took it upon himself and some of the Business Association members to fund the Havalina road project. 

It should be finished by the end of the year, and should be level and sturdy enough to allow light truck traffic.  McKinley eventually wishes to pave it to allow heavier traffic.  He hopes that it will not only bring trade and business to the region, but also inhabitants.  Only time will tell . . .