Cliff's Good Deed

41 - The Presentation

"Quit checking your phone while driving," Izzy scolded. "I haven't crashed your car, so please don't crash mine."

Cliff was driving Izzy's Audi to the meeting in Allentown because his Corvette was still in the shop getting a complete makeover after he and Hannah had muddied up the interior.

The source of his anxiety had little to do with the upcoming meeting. "Hannah hasn't responded yet to my text. It's been more than two hours."

"Doesn't mean she won't," Izzy said trying to reassure him. "Take it from me, a girl needs time to process. When she responds, she'll want to use exactly the right words to express her feelings."

"Do you ladies really obsess over wording?"

"OMG, Cliffy, we obsess over everything where the heart is concerned. You should know that by now. By the way, you're guilty of obsessing too. Stay focused. You're about to have the most important meeting of your professional career, so put your phone away, or I'm going to take it from you."

He knew his little sister was right. He slid the phone into his front shirt pocket.

The Allentown Public Works director was a man named Hans Gruber, a native German. He had blue eyes, sandy blond hair, and had not one ounce of excess fat around his middle. From his neck hung a pair of reading glasses. He ushered Cliff and Izzy into a conference room and asked them to sit at a table.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us," Cliff said. He introduced his sister and of her position within the family business.

Hans wore a puzzled expression. "I'm somewhat at a loss as to why you wanted to meet with me at this time. Your contract will not be up for renewal until the end of the year."

Cliff opened his briefcase. "I can explain." He pulled a spiral bound notebook from the briefcase but didn't hand it over yet to Mr. Gruber. "I would like to offer the city a lucrative proposal to renew our contract early and at a significant savings to the city."

The German sat up straighter in his seat. "Please continue."

"Let's review the current situation. Trash collection is handled by your public works department and with city employees. The city also owns the equipment. Our job on the current contract is limited to managing trash operations for the city such as scheduling, payroll, and handling customer complaints for which we collect a fee."

"That is correct," Hans said.

"My sister is a finance expert, and she's run a cost analysis." He turned to Izzy. "Tell Mr. Gruber about your projection."

Izzy took over the conversation with no hesitation. Cliff was proud to have her by his side on this, her first major presentation. She asked Cliff to give Mr. Gruber the spiral bound notebook. The man grabbed his reading glasses and set them on his nose.

"The spreadsheet on page five presents your operating costs projected out to the end of the fiscal year. You'll note how costs will exceed your trash collection budget for this year."

"Yes, we are aware," Gruber said sounding impatient. "Our business office staff has already raised red flags."

Unperturbed by his demeanor, Izzy continued, "Factoring in a modest five percent increase to next year's budget, trash collection makes up the city's greatest expense next to personnel costs. Bottom line..." Here Izzy paused for what Cliff figured was dramatic effect. "Your city council will be forced to significantly raise taxes."

"And it's an election year," Cliff added, to drive home a point.

Gruber waved them off. "Yes, yes, we know this is a problem and are looking into a solution."

Cliff tapped the table with his forefinger. "You can stop looking. We have a solution."

Gruber regarded both Cliff and Izzy. "What you have said is true. It is an election year, and the council has been frantic about lowering operating costs. Polling numbers suggest little tolerance for another tax increase. Voters would likely turn against the council and vote them out."

Cliff asked Mr. Gruber to turn to the next page of the proposal. "Here we have documented our solution to your problem. To summarize, the city should follow a model successfully implemented by other cities your size by spinning off trash collection from public works."

Gruber frowned. "You mean we should privatize?"

"My company will take over trash collection. None of your existing workers will lose their positions because we will hire them and even give them a raise. We'll purchase all your trash trucks and take over maintenance. The council will be able to divest themselves of trash collection and scrub it as an expense on next year's budget. No tax increase will be necessary, just the opposite, a tax savings."

Mr. Gruber took a moment to read the summary. "Your company will directly bill our residents and businesses for trash pickup services?"

"Yes. It will result in a new expense for your constituents, but so would a tax increase. Let my company take the heat instead of your council members. They can be voted out, but we can't."

The man removed his glasses. "When you purchase our vehicles, it will also result in a significant windfall on the income side of our budget."

Izzy took over the conversation. "Just to be clear, we are not going to write the city a huge check as a one-time payment for all your trash trucks. I propose buying them out over time. I'll work out the terms with the city's accounting department. We need to consider the present value of each vehicle and their depreciation schedule."

"One more thing," Cliff interjected. "On the next page you'll find a description of an option near and dear to me. I've always had a vision to implement a community outreach project. I know firsthand from working on the trucks the number of appliances and equipment discarded that can be reconditioned and made serviceable. My sister is working with an NGO on a grant application that will fund the project. If successful, we can collect those items, train young people on appliance and equipment repair, and then offer the reconditioned items for free or just a nominal cost to those in need."

"Interesting," Gruber said. "You would be training an army of handymen." He glanced at Izzy. "And handywomen. A skill they can use to support themselves."

He took a few minutes to finish reading, closed the notebook, and rested his arms on the tabletop. "You present a compelling argument, but in Germany we have a saying, Der Teufel steckt im Detail. The devil is in the details. What you have shown me will require a lot of fine tuning."

"Of course," Cliff said. "We will work closely with your staff to iron out a contract. All I'm asking for now is for you to be an advocate on our behalf to city council."

Mr. Gruber paged through the proposal again while Cliff held his breath. When the man looked up, he nodded. "I will present your offer at the next meeting."

If you were Mr. Gruber, would you think Cliff and Izzy make a good team?