I have a scar.
I’m not speaking metaphorically or being melodramatic for the sake of it. I genuinely have a scar, buried beneath my bundles of hair. It’s not very large, and I have to try really hard to find evidence of it, but it’s there. It’s the only physical evidence of the surgery that was carried out to save my life after an assailant put a bullet in my skull in a cowardly attempt to silence the truth.
But the truth is patient. Even in a city that never stops moving, where time feels compressed and our lives move at supersonic speeds, the truth is happy to wait the opportune moment. Maybe it takes a few days. A few weeks. A few months. A few years. But eventually, it will leap out and surprise you.
The historical crime rates in San Andreas often prolong that wait. For investigative journalists focusing on the seedy underbelly of our state and our city, this wait can feel unbearable. With law enforcement stretched on a daily basis, the more cunning of misfits and crime bosses can take full advantage of the blaring distractions to slip through the cracks and live to scheme another day.
This cycle is unsustainable and the events of September bore the end result. Our Mayor. The heart of our democracy. Gunned down by the very man whose office was raided under Mayor Sinclair’s instruction on his first day in City Hall. The very man whose affairs I have spent two years investigating and publicly casting doubt upon. The very man who only twenty minutes prior was sitting in police custody – as witnessed by my own eyes. What cracks in our system allowed this to happen in the wake of the September 8th assault on our city?
A question that demands an answer. One that will come in time. But it will make the bitterness no easier to swallow. The criminal economy in our state thrives whilst those caught in the middle pay the price – all too often with the livelihoods, if not their lives.
My position in City Hall has previously come under scrutiny due to my affiliation with Weazel News. In truth, I never believed that I would find myself working for this organisation. I established JWN as a direct competitor for WZN in Los Santos. But when life throws us these curveballs, we must seek to use them to our advantage. Whilst our company has been shaken by the loss of George Sinclair, it will not be undeterred. Indeed, in the wake of recent events, I am more empowered than ever to double down on the work I came in to this business to do.
One day, my second stint at City Hall will come to an end and whether under the Weazel or Jaywalking News banner, I will reaffirm my commitment to unearthing and uprooting the corruption that endeavours to creep through our city’s foundations. Regrettably, the next Oliver Patterson may not be too far away. But never again can they be allowed to flourish under our gaze. Never again can they be allowed to reach political office unchecked. Never again can they be allowed to walk free courtesy of an act of terrorism.
I have often considered whether I would better serve myself returning to the United Kingdom and starting my career anew. But in truth, I owe this country. I owe this city. Los Santos is my home now and I will fight for it – our freedoms and democracy – in my own way.
There is reason to be optimistic in that fight. As I said at the opening of the Rockford Hills Police Department, where we were knocked down we will rise back up higher than before. We will build back up, better than before. We will stand together, stronger than before. Those currently on the run for their crimes will find that there is no hiding place from the justice that awaits them. Like truth, justice is patient. Justice waits for the opportune moment. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? It matters not. Eventually, it will catch up to the cowards skulking in the shadows to evade the consequences of their actions for a few moments more. That promise of justness is what heals old wounds.
It is darkest before the dawn, they tell us. With Mel Rose as Mayor, perhaps that dawn has broken.
Mayor Rose exhibits the fair and honest leadership I called for in my Rockford Hills remarks. It was a privilege to accept her offer of remaining in my role in her Administration. Mayor Rose has been at the heart of the Los Santos community since Accession Day. A successful entrepreneur with a wide and diverse portfolio of volunteer work across the public and private sector, there is no doubting her credentials for identifiying and responding to the needs of our citizens, business owners and public servants.
Once implemented, her manifesto will help the most unfortunate of our citizens rebuild their lives after gruelling hospital stays. It will empower our local businesses more than ever before – building a lasting bridge between them and City Hall. Mayor Sinclair took our support of businesses incredibly seriously – even making the court house his de facto Chamber of Commerce – and Mayor Rose will more than continue in that spirit.
Although our political ambitions briefly ran along opposing lines, I have first and foremost been honored to call Mel Rose a friend for the majority of my time in Los Santos. I am both professionally and personally steadfast in my belief that we can thrive under her Mayorship. But we cannot allow her to do the job alone. We must remain vigilant for those who would seek to do us further harm and stand together when the time comes to expose them.
I have a scar. But it is simply a sign that an old wound has healed. One day, Oliver Patterson will be brought to justice. The truth of he and his closest allies will finally be told.
But under Mayor Rose, Los Santos will have healed long before then.
