I don't know about you, but I was deeply disappointed to discover ComimssarZverev had withdrawn his competition from the Streets. He made some frankly cock and bull nonsense about City Hall involvement which resulted in him having no choice but to pull the prize money. He offered us all a blanket apology (didn't even have the decency to write a mail to the entrants) and claimed he wouldn't be bullied.

This didn't add up to me. More telling was probably his enormous Dice losses in recent days. The Commissar has been practically begging people to play in his casino, offering matched betting and large prizes to street contests and now...nothing. He won't give any matched bets. He took a House-pounding. Now, it seems, he can't even afford the $18,000,000 prize. How very convenient to then latch upon City Hall as a reason not to pay out. Pathetic.

Sally 'VIPCreditsGrin' Grinbini takes a breath to compose himself before continuing.

Anyway, I don't think we should accept this type of outlandish behaviour from him. This isn't like a tailor business which doesn't deliver on their suits, this is serious shit with a heck of a lot of money. I am therefore starting this petition to place pressure on the Commissar, and his backers, to not renege on his contest.

If you agree that CommissarZverev should pick a winner and pay them the prize money, please sign your name and offer any thoughts of your own on the paper provided.

Grinbini hands out the clipboard and pens for people sign.

Thank you all in advance for your support against this injustice. 

After Blackboard left his comments to the street alley where Commisarzverev made his recent proclamation, he saw a young but decently dressed chap with a sign and a petition board. Interested he walked up to the chap and listened to his speech

A noble cause young man, can i borrow that pen?

Blackboard took the pen and with a firm but elegant hand signed his name as first one on the clipboard

Failing to see the logic here.  

So let me get this straight... the contest has been cancelled prior to a winner being selected.  Therefore there is no debt owed to anybody.  So why would it make sense to then select a winner post-cancellation and pay out a very large sum of money anyway, when my suggestion was to forgo all of that and perhaps to appease everyone offer up a very small portion of the prize money to somebody who has already been crowned a past winner?  It makes zero sense whatsoever to declare a new winner to pay millions upon millions of dollars to when the contest has already been cancelled.

Signs petition with glee

Well PhillipMarleau it would appear to me and anyone else that's been following along that your opinion in this matter amounts to that of a hill of dogshit to the powers that be, as an an outcome has already been agreed upon.  

In the days following his announcement of his most recent competition, Zverev's barbaric policy of pickpocketing and shooting Philly associates cost him millions of dollars that could have been recouped if not for his brazen bloodlust. City hall's displacement of his poorly-worded announcement was just a sorry excuse to cover for his embarrassing loss of funds. And with the Iron Bank embroiled in a hotly-contested harty battle, Zverev's liquidity was at an all-time low.

I agree that Zverev should pay out to a winner. But after trying to weasel out of the competition, I'd wager he'd simply select a winner from the ranks of the Iron Bank and negotiate a settlement.

When he chose to abandon his contest he forfeited any semblance of fairness. And if he can't offer a fair shake, why bother participating with a sad, broke, and spineless man?

Destro, obviously, the settlement agreed between yourself and the Commissar smells so fishy I feel like I'm in the fucking ocean. I strongly suspect that CommissarZverev agreed a $500,000 pay off to you because that was all he could afford. His Dice losses and own conduct as Brute points out, are clearly hurting him. Harty anyone?

So just because you two have seemingly tied it up all up in a neat little bow doesn't mean the rest of us are so accommodating. This contest should be judged and decided as intended. 

VIPCreditsGrin, as an impartial journalist, should you be voicing an opinion on this?

First it was adding a judge & not disclosing this to anybody, & now, it's spending public funds & lack of transparency?

Off with his head! We want his head! Let this be a lesson to all these currupt people in places of power!

Destro shakes his head.

This is still being discussed???  Was everybody here born without the ability of moving on?  The contest was cancelled.  It's done.  This horse has so long since been dead that it baffles me that people would rather spend their time beating it's rotting corpse than getting over it and maybe doing something else more productive?  Helping their crewleaders perhaps?  Contributing to their families?  I'd imagine anything would be more productive than this carrying on.

signs petition.

It seems ComimssarZverev can bluster loudly all over the streets but can't give a defense here. That, in itself, says it all.

Biggie walks over to Grinbini and signs his name on the clipboard.

"I support your case Sir, and I hope this competition can be finished for the respect of the mobsters that took their time and entered this writing competition. I also hope it can be conducted like the original rules were set out to be, where all Crew Leaders are entitled to vote on their favorite story."

NotoriousBIG - the competition HAS been finished, and I don't want to hear anything else about it.

There will be another one, relatively soon.

Who made you BoB ComimssarZverev? Who are you to tell anyone they should shut up.

Fuck off you daft prick. You do not control speech.