This is probably going to upset one or two people as it seems to be a taboo subject in our world but I feel there is a need for it to be said right now.

There was a war... a couple of wars, a HUGE BLOODY WAR! The vast majority of the population were wiped out and we were down to the bare bones in terms of mobsters being able purchase a HQ. A few people stepped up to the plate so we could house everyone and we should all thank them for their noble actions.

However, times here change extremely quickly and we're starting to return to some form of normality. So we need to start moving forward and we cannot currently do that with some of the current crop of 'powers'. 

I need to make it crystal clear that by 'powers' I'm not just talking about leaders, but their 'most trusted' also, who stand to the left and right of them. 

Why can't we move forward you ask? 

Well it's quite simple really. Now that the war is over, quite a few of the people we are supposed to look upto for leadership have decided they've done their hard work and it's time for a vacation, showing their faces for a only a few minutes per day.

You can go now, step down, you're no longer needed. It was nice of you to help out but you're not helping anyone's cause but your own now.

You only have to use your own powers of surveillance to see this for yourself (click the 'details' section next to a leader on the crew info page), so please go take a look. Take a look at each family and see how the workloads pan out... you'll find some leaders doing all the work, while hands slack off. You'll also see one or both of the hands doing all the work and a leader slacking off.

A lot of you are in those positions because you were needed at the time and now whoever put you there doesn't want to feel awkward and maybe upset you by removing you from your position. So do the decent thing, take a long hard look at yourself and what you add to this world and more importantly YOUR FAMILY, if you're a decent person you'll quickly work out if you're one of the people I'm talking about. If that's the case, do the right thing... stand aside and let those who are working their arses off move our world forward because you're doing nothing but holding back the people you're supposed to care for and they're such loyal servants to you they will pick up your slack for as long as they are physically able to.

Tally ho!

Let's not beat around the bush Mr. Owens. Who exactly needs to step down? I don't spend enough time, or care to spend enough time seeing who is and who isn't active enough, so only you can answer this question for me?

You're a clever boy Raggy, go work it out for yourself... I've told you where the info is. 

smiles and ruffles Ragnarok's hair

But Kevin my friend, I can't read like this unmotivated leaders can't leave their HQs. I need someone to hold my hand and show me the way, much like they need someone to do their job for them.

Besides, what's a good witch hunt without someone to actually burn?

"Well it's quite simple really. Now that the war is over, quite a few of the people we are supposed to look upto for leadership have decided they've done their hard work and it's time for a vacation, showing their faces for a only a few minutes per day."

Ha. That would suggest they actually did some "hard work" during the war too. Some bloodlines are notorious for inactivity once they reach a position of authority in this place. 

Cin had been listening nearby to what KevinOwens was saying. She was nodding along and eventually decided to speak her mind.

While normally I would agree with you. Sometimes there are valid reasons for some absence here and there. If it were to happen for an awfully long period of time though I would say that perhaps looking at a change up would be beneficial.

At least for me it would me and I can only speak for myself.

Woah, don't diss Puffs. She's cool.

He isn't going to throw his own city under the bus. He's pointing towards the East Coast I do believe. Been wrong once or twice, so I'm not one hundred percent sure.

As I've said to Ragnarok, Tom. You can see for yourself, so you tell me. 

I'm not here to form people's opinions for them, I'm here to  bring information to light and give my own opinion on the subject, which I  chose to do without naming names. If that's what you'd like to do, then you do that Tom... it's your prerogative. 

Also, Cin... completely agree.

There are ALWAYS exceptions, there are people who legitimately need a bit of time away from our world and we're ALL entitled to that every now and then, but living in such a small community we generally already know if it's legitimate or not.

Those aren't the people this speech targeted.

Enjolras hurriedly opens out a foldaway deck chair and sets it up on the perifery of the discussion, before turning to a young boy on the street, handing him a buck and saying

"If you go to the nickle odeon down the street and get me one of their biggest boxes of popcorn, you can keep the change... I don't wanna miss a second of this!"

Sitting in his chair, the young gentleman reclines and smiles.

"Please, don't mind me, my gramophone is broken and I do enjoy a public tete-a-tete."

Personally, I believe if you only leave the family head spots open to those who have a lot of time to devote to making their face known in the streets, you will be left with a very select number of people who will meet whatever definition of active you have set forth, while also still meeting some basic expectations of what attributes someone should have to be in the upper echelon of a family.

If we left it to face time with the day-to-day mafioso, we would be very challenged to find adequate leaders who are level headed and disciplined in their use of violence.

Fortunately, my own contacts have been monitoring the activity of leaders too, KevinOwens.

So, let's go over what my team came back with about Detroit.

Rusty pulls out a small sheet of paper, on it are scrawled a few notes.

The_Hitcher - Considered the powerhouse within Detroit and has strong contacts within each district. His activity is up and down and he tends to be around an average amount. His hands have both made their bones, although his right hand man is rarely around it tends to be KevinOwens who is around the most and even then he is around just as much as The_Hitcher.

CalogeroDiSalvo - Well known for being one of the oldest families around this thing of ours, Calogero doesn't seem to be around an awful lot. Admittedly, he has been between here and the old country, sadly he seems to spend most of his time there. Although his right hand man RickJames is around a lot, the left hand is also barely around.

a-true-soprano - Another old family line, ats is around as much as The_Hitcher, again the right hand seems to be the more active person within the upper hierarchy but the left hand is barely around.

The phrase those in glass houses seems to apply here but I will add that while a family needs a figurehead and it's upper structure to remain protected, there are ways that a family can run without them being around a massive amount, such as having a rigid structure and hierarchy. Something that this place probably hasn't seen in a while.

I understand what Kevin is getting at here and agree to a large extent; when the bullets are flying and every handed is needed on deck, visibility on our streets is more easily achieved than when they are not. Those who may have found themselves readily available in the bad times, may be struggling now things have settled. There are wartime leaders and peacetime leaders, with a few capable of both.

I also believe that part of the problem here is how our contacts classify the information you're referring to. A dossier on yours truly was leaked to me that was compiled by a rival organisation who deemed my activity to be average. Personally, I think more than 5 and a half hours of visibility on the streets and in my offices every day over the last week should be more highly regarded than that. 

I actually think Kevin needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.. then point and laugh.

Really, you think you get to decide when someone is busy or not? Nice.

Only those people inside each family know exactly how much work is put in by the individuals that matter. A timesheet that the Gods have for us to view isn't exactly very accurate. Its a very rough estimate of the amount of time the person has been awake and working, not a factual example of the work they put in recently.

I'd personally say that people should simply look towards their own familys first and foremost and ask themselves does something need to change. Is your leader inept? Are they asleep more often than not? If the answers to that are Yes, then obviously the question falls to you; What are you going to do about it? Sit back and accept the fact your leader doesn't bother their arse, or speak up.

I'd hazard most wont bother their arse to check whether their leader is active or not. Despite what Kevin may think, people on the street 9 times out of 10 don't give a flying fuck. Unless of course it means they can cause issues for someone that they don't like, then of course they make a fuss about it. (not insinuating that Kevin had this as a reason for the speech.. but not saying i'd be shocked if it was the reason either).

In short; Focus on your own back yard and get that sorted before you try and look at the entire worlds problems. Especially when you have zero idea what the rest of world are actually doing anyway.

If you were gonna ask people to step aside just because of not being overly active then probably 70 percent of the upper structures would have to be replaced. But really I don't even get this, or the point of it. Crewleaders decide on their hands etc. If they're not strong enough to switch out people who are failing in their duties then natural selection will eventually take it's course. But either way, it is up to the leader to pick their hands and if they are happy with who they have then whats the problem.