W: The Planner, The Chosen Read online

  “Ms. Mitchell, Director Scott will see you now.” The receptionist rose from her desk and directed Kris down a hallway and into a small conference room. Kris had barely taken her seat when Leonard Scott entered the room followed by Pat Kilmer. Scott was a balding, fat, unpleasant man of average height and about forty-five years of age. His suit was about two sizes too small, and the jacket buttons strained against his stomach. But it was his eyes that really bothered Kris—they were tiny, hard-looking lashless eyes that gazed upon the world without interest or expression. If the eyes really are the windows to the soul, Kris suspected that Leonard Scott might actually be soul-less.

  Behind him followed Pat Kilmer. Pat was older than Leonard—maybe late fifties. She had probably worked in some sort of private enterprise, most likely a sales job, before going to work for the federal government. That would explain her exaggerated attempt to be friendly and her smile that was a little too big. Pat was an average height and weight, with an average hair length of an average shade of brown, but something about her appearance told Kris that in Pat’s younger years she had actually been very pretty, and her overall behavior seemed to indicate that over the years she had used her appearance to further her career and to seduce the Leonard Scotts of the world in exchange for jobs, promotions, and pay raises.

  “We have completed all of the background checks,” Pat began, “Everything came back fine. Tell me, Kris, why are you interested in this position?”

  Kris had felt certain that this question would come up, so she had really thought about her answer so as not to blurt out the obvious, “Because I’m broke and I need a job.” Instead, she gave the answer she had rehearsed alone in Nick’s townhouse, “You know from looking at my resume that I have spent my entire career in real estate. The posted position for this job describes it as an opportunity to work with the community in a ‘ground-breaking’ new program. I was intrigued. The job description says that it requires an ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both one-on-one and in groups, and the ability to problem solve. I have spent nineteen years in sales, so I know how to talk to people one-on-one, and I was in theatre and on the debate team in college, so I am comfortable speaking to people in groups. I have strong written communication skills, and I can stay with a project from beginning to completion. The skill sets that you described fit my experience exactly. Although I have to tell you,” Kris paused and smiled, “I did as much research for this position as I could on-line, and I still don’t know what a Level I Planner does exactly.”

  “That’s because both the job title and the job itself have never existed before. We used the term ‘ground-breaking’ to describe this position because that is exactly what it is.” Leonard Scott leaned forward. “The current Administration is committed to solving the greatest problems of our time—climate change, sustainability, the deficit, the impending crisis stemming from shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare, healthcare, and the problems that our nation faces as a result of an aging population. We are implementing a plan that will address all of these issues and will revolutionize the way that this country looks at retirement. Rather than continuing on in a bankrupt, broken system that meets the needs of no one, we are going to introduce American seniors to a new way of life—a holistic community that will engage them like nothing ever has before. The position we are interviewing you for is a Level I Planner for Division 1 of Section W. You will be responsible for holding group meetings for seniors to explain how the new retirement system will work. You will help them complete all of the paperwork, and you will assist them as they transition into the new Smart Seniors Communities. You will be their liaison after the transfer—making sure that they understand the rules of the community and helping them resolve any issues that come up.

  “Are you familiar with Smart Growth and New Urbanism?” he continued.

  Kris nodded, “Yes, it is based on the idea that rather than building out we need to restore the inner cities, make better use of land area, and incorporate more parks and green spaces. I actually represented a Scottsdale builder who had designed a community based on Smart Codes. It was a very eco-friendly project.”

  “We are taking the Smart Growth concept one step further. The Retire America Act of 2013 established the Federal Municipal Planning Division to create a new type of retirement community based on Smart Growth principles. We are calling it Smart Seniors. Does that sound like something that interests you?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  “This is not just your normal federal job, Kris,” Pat spoke up. “This position has incredible opportunity for growth and promotion. Section W is the first community of its kind anywhere in the U.S. After fifteen months of planning and research, the Department chose Arizona because the wind and sunshine make it a perfect place to begin to strategically utilize clean, renewable energy in a meaningful way on a scale that has never before been tested. Scottsdale is a retirement area—we have a large block of seniors here, and that was also a consideration. The Level I Planner position will require a person who can sell seniors on the benefits of living in the Smart Seniors community—people are naturally afraid of change, and as we age we tend to fear change more. One of the most important aspects of your job is to help seniors allay those fears and embrace the incredible opportunities that these communities afford. Once this community has been filled and is running smoothly, the Administration will be setting up sustainable communities patterned after it all over the U.S. Level I Planners who excel will be promoted to Level II and eventually to Level III and transferred to other parts of the U.S. to supervise setting up those communities. The experience you gain here will be invaluable as you move forward in other parts of the country.”

  “Kris,” Leonard Scott looked at her from across the table, “we are hiring a group of people who will take part in helping the U.S. achieve the most radical change it has ever seen. This is not just change you can believe in, it’s change you can touch and see and feel. We are ready to make you a part of this team, if you are ready to join us.”

  “I’m ready.” This was the moment she had been waiting for. She still knew just about as little about her future employment as she had when she first entered the room, but it was a job and a paycheck, and that was what mattered. Selling housing is selling housing—no matter how Leonard Scott tried to dress it up and make it sound radical and transformational, it was still the same profession she had always worked in. The only difference was that instead of working for weeks without any commissions and nearly starving to death, she could count on getting paid.

  “There is one other key part of this position, Kris. And, I have to tell you—this really separates the people we select from the hundreds of people, some of whom are actually very well qualified, who apply. Because what we are doing is so innovative, we require that all Planners lead by example. That means that in order to get this job, you are required to move into a Level I Smart Growth Community yourself.”

  “You mean I have to move to the retirement community?” Kris was surprised. At this point she really didn’t care since she was currently pretty much homeless, but it did seem a little odd to force a forty-one year old to move into a community of retirees.

  “No, not at all,” Scott answered smoothly. “The Smart Seniors project is located in the W section. W is only for specially-selected, previously-identified population groups—in this case seniors. But your employment will require that you immediately—and by immediately I mean within one week of your hire date—take up permanent residence in a Smart Community for federal employees. That community is located in Section FE. We require this because you are going to be living essentially the same lifestyle you are selling. You can help the seniors make the transition to healthy, environmentally-responsible, stress-free living by showing them through your own example that Smart Communities provide a superior lifestyle for all generations. Is that going to be a problem?”

  “It’s not a problem for me. My lease on my townhouse is over,” Kr
is lied, but she told herself that she wasn’t really lying since Nick had kicked her out. “I can move immediately to wherever I need to go. Where do I get a copy of the lease application?”

  “Your signature on this employment agreement is your lease application,” Pat handed her the form. “Your housing unit will be assigned to you, and the monthly lease will be deducted from your pay. That’s part of what is so great about this. All you have to do is unpack.”

  “That won’t take long,” Kris thought, but she didn’t say it. Instead, she asked, “Where do I sign, and when can I start?”

  “Sign on the last page. Be sure to sign the confidentiality agreement. Our work here, while certainly not classified, does require discretion. You will be dealing with intimate aspects of people’s lives and personal finances. You will also be exposed to confidential information within the FE community. Specifically, the confidentiality agreement states that you will not report the details of your work on any social networking sites and that you will not discuss specific aspects of your job with any person except your immediate supervisor—Pat. You will not make remarks, positive or negative, about the federal government or the current Administration or any policy or person connected in any way to this Administration on-line or in conversation. You will not at any time make disparaging remarks about the Smart Growth Community concept, or Smart Seniors, or any individual living within your community. To violate this agreement will result in the immediate termination of your employment and will require that you pay back all sums you have received as a federal employee in this project. Do you understand?”

  “I’m not a gossip. If I were, I would never have lasted nineteen years in Arizona real estate. Discretion is a big component of the real estate business, in both the public and private sector. I don’t have a problem with your conditions.”

  “Fine,” Scott picked up the signed forms. “Time is of the essence. The Administration wants to get Smart Seniors underway immediately. Unfortunately, because what you are going to be doing is complex, you need to undergo training before you can start. Normally, for training of this magnitude for a project this important we would send all of the Planners to the Federal Municipal Planning Division headquarters in Virginia, but because we have so many new hires, and we need to get everybody on the ground running, we have brought the trainers to you. Training sessions will last three weeks; during that time you will receive your materials, you will learn every aspect of the Smart Seniors Concept, and you will familiarize yourself with the exact requirements of your job. The day after the classes end, we expect you to be able to go out into the field and start selling the community. The first session begins tomorrow at 7:30 A.M. and goes until 5:00 P.M. with an hour and half break for lunch. Give these forms to my executive assistant, and she will give you a badge that will admit you to the class. Representatives of the Federal Office of Personnel Management will be here on the third floor every day from 11:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. to assist all new hires with setting up your payroll and explaining how your benefits package will work.”

  “Great. Thank you—very much,” Kris stood and shook both their hands. “I am looking forward to starting.” Leonard and Pat returned her handshake stiffly and without much enthusiasm. Kris felt self-conscious. She reminded herself that she had never worked for the government before—in a few weeks she would know the appropriate tone for these people, but, for now, her old private sector enthusiasm was spilling out a little.

  After picking up her badge, she stopped by Westmore Real Estate to pick up her final check from the cash sale that had closed the week before and to explain that she had gotten a new job and would be starting immediately. Carol, the receptionist-bookkeeper was at lunch, and Kris had to wait for an hour for her to come back, since she did not want to tell Doug that she had a new job until she had her check. As soon as she had it in her purse, she broke the news to Doug and then rushed straight to the bank to cash the check—just in case he decided to stop payment. She probably had nothing to fear—he seemed not to care one way or the other and probably didn’t since she had closed so few sales since coming to work there, but Kris wasn’t taking any chances.

  She had enough money to pay her credit card bills, rent a room for five nights at the Super Sleep, and buy food if she shopped carefully. That would take her through the end of the week. She wondered if her new government-furnished housing would require any sort of a deposit. She would work something out—now that she was officially employed she could get a very short-term loan from her parents if she absolutely had to until she got paid.

  As she lay in bed that night, it occurred to Kris that for the first time in years she would not have to worry about where her next payday was coming from. No more struggling to find a place to live or dodging phone calls from persistent bill collectors. No more putting up with some low-life like Nick because she had no choice. Tomorrow she would start training, and in three weeks she would actually be working in a new career with a regular salary. She would have a retirement plan. She would even have an apartment. It would be a very modest apartment, no doubt, but that was fine. It was hers—she did not even have to go looking for it. The long, stressful nightmare that Kris had called her life for the past four years had finally ended. The future was going to be great.

  Chapter 3

  Seven-thirty the next morning found Kris sitting at a small laminate table in an uncomfortable plastic chair in the training room of the Federal Municipal Planning Division Building. Being on time for a 7:30 class meant arriving at 6:30 to get through the army of unsmiling faces and the line of metal detectors which stood between her and her classroom. What’s more, unlike the other early morning meetings and training sessions she had spent years attending which rewarded those who got up before sunrise with sweet rolls and juices, FMPD did not furnish trainees with so much as a piece of toast. There was not even enough coffee, and there were only a few small paper cups. “Quit whining,” Kris chastised herself at her own disappointment when she discovered that she would not be getting a hot beverage—or any beverage at all except possibly a drink from the water fountain on the break. “You can do anything for three weeks. You’re lucky to be here at all.”

  As the training attendance roll made its way around the room, Kris examined the glossy red, blue, and white brochure in front of her. On the cover was an extremely attractive silver-haired couple seated on a wooden bench atop a grassy hill canopied by stately old trees. In the background other couples could be seen—walking dogs, chatting with friends and enjoying the outdoors. The couple in the foreground held hands—the man rested his head lightly on the woman’s shoulder. In her other hand she held an electronic reading device as she enjoyed a book or magazine on what appeared to be a perfect summer day in a beautiful park. The picture was captioned, “You Worked Hard Your Whole Life. Now it’s Your Time to Enjoy the Stress-Free Future You Deserve.” Inside the brochure was another photo of the same couple sitting at a table in an elaborate dining room. A wait staff person dressed in white had just set a plated meal in front of them. The woman had dressed for dinner in a royal blue blouse and skirt and her husband was wearing a sports coat and dress pants. At other tables, similarly-attired couples were laughing and talking. On each table a candle flickered atop a decorative centerpiece, adding just a touch of romantic light to stage the scene for what appeared to be a delightful evening. The caption on this page read, “Savor the joys of worry-free living.”

  The attendance roster was finished. “Good morning, everyone, I am Janice Highwater. I am the assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the FMPD, and I want to congratulate all of you on your new positions as Planners. You have joined our Agency at an amazing moment; you are going to be a part of the most ambitious, innovative project that our government has attempted in over two hundred years. For the next three weeks, I will be your trainer, and I will teach you everything you need to know about how to present this exciting new plan to the community.”

  Janice Highwater ha
d been a professor for most of her life—that was her primary qualification for her job as the assistant to the Assistant Secretary. So she began this class as she had begun all her classes during her twenty-year teaching career—by asking each participant to introduce himself and describe briefly his work experience prior to starting with FMPD.

  When that exercise was finished, she began. “I was a professor of social sciences for twenty years. I have lectured and written extensively on the needs and challenges that our society will face due to our aging population. When the Administration asked me to join the FMPD, I was thrilled. This was a chance to work with a great team to put into action everything that I had written as theory. You are now part of that team.

  “I want to start by giving you some background about what we as a country are facing. Our population is aging at a faster rate and as a faster percentage of the population than ever before in human history. In the 1930’s, only seven million Americans were fifty or older—under six percent of the population. About three years ago, we began to see the over-fifty population swell as the first wave of Baby Boomers reached retirement age. In 2012, the U.S. population of persons age fifty and over reached one hundred million people. Studies by the U.N. Population Division indicate that by the year 2035, twenty percent of the U.S. population will be over sixty-five years of age.

  “Obviously, this has created great challenges for our society and for our government. When the Social Security system was introduced, the average life span was about sixty-seven years. If Americans retired at sixty-five and started collecting their benefits then, they collected for an average of two years.