Welcome to TRACKER, the official show of the Bounty Hunters Guild. Garret Coliga here with the latest news, tips, and tricks to make your next collar safe and successful.
Normally, this show focuses on the nitty-gritty details behind bounty hunting, but today’s a bit different. Sometimes it’s important to change perspective, see the forest from the trees. That’s why I’ll be talking with Imperator candidate Paul LeSalle about his overall vision for the empire and, in particular, his proposed Safe & Secure Initiative, or as it’s come to be known, the SSI. I tell ya, I’m intrigued by this plan and can’t wait to hear more about it.
Candidate LeSalle is the chosen Centralist representative in this decade’s bid for Imperator, which makes a lot of sense since he spent the last eight years leading the party and preparing for this run. Before chairing the Centralists, he served as a Senator from Goss for two terms, and before that, he founded a hauling conglomerate that Covalex would eventually buy out for a pretty hefty sum. A darn impressive-sounding CV if you ask me. Paul LeSalle, glad you could join us today.
PAUL LeSALLE: Thanks for having me. Your campaign slogan is ‘The Right Leader for the Right Time’.
PAUL LeSALLE: That it is. So I’ll ask bluntly – why are you that leader?
PAUL LeSALLE: Not sure if you saw this, but the other day a rival referred to me as an “elder legislator.” That was Candidate Addison, right?
PAUL LeSALLE: Correct. I believe the intention was to paint me as a bit boring and out of touch, but I actually think it was a compliment. For me, the word ‘elder’ is associated with experience and ‘legislator’ synonymous with the phrase ‘interested in the details.’ Sure, that might sound a bit boring, but it also means that I have a wealth of experience that the other candidates lack. They all have either experience in politics or in the private sector. I have both. Let’s talk about some of that experience, beginning with how you got started. It was a small hauling concern in Goss, right?
PAUL LeSALLE: Correct. Started it right before Goss’s corporate tax rate jumped significantly. I forget how much, exactly, but I’m pretty sure we would not have survived the early years at that inflated rate. That’s just one of many reasons why, when elected, I will lower taxes, particularly for small business owners. I would expect a Iot of your audience falls into that category. Fair assumption. We definitely have a bit of an independent streak for sure.
PAUL LeSALLE: I really do believe the backbone of this empire can be found in independent entrepreneurs like yourselves; local people serving the needs of their local community. Large conglomerates have their place, but too often their one-size-fits-all solutions just leave everyone wearing shoes that don’t fit, so to speak. Take the Advocacy for example. You could consider them a conglomerate of sorts. Great at handling the norm, but when situations get tricky, we all rely on who? Bounty hunters, i.e. small businesses. And it’s only possible for so many bounty hunters to run successful small businesses because a healthy, dynamic economy encourages individualism and specialization. I have a whole plan for how to fix this economy so those who currently feel left out can reap the same rewards. But I should probably stop myself, since it’s easy for me to get lost in the details. I appreciate you keeping us on track, I know your time is precious. So to prepare for this, I read your Safe & Secure Initiative.
PAUL LeSALLE: That’s great. We need buy-in from everyone involved in the security of the UEE. Bounty hunters definitely fit the bill. Well, I found the proposals interesting but a little light on specifics.
PAUL LeSALLE: Perfect. The ideal dynamic to begin a debate with is a general census and interest in exploring the details. But first, let me provide a few broad strokes for those who aren’t familiar. The Safe & Secure Initiative focuses on three pillars: empowerment, engagement, and repayment. Let’s start with repayment.
PAUL LeSALLE: Bet you like to know the end of a vid before watching it too. Guilty, I’ve already got enough excitement in my life.
PAUL LeSALLE: The focus of the repayment pillar would be legislation that eliminates prison sentencing for all but the most violent cases. Instead, those found guilty of crimes would be required to pay back society in credits garnered from wages, not time served. A lot of funds the government spends on incarceration would be redirected towards employment programs that would match offenders with companies in need of employees. My hope is that by keeping folks out of jail we can significantly decrease the funds spent on repeat offenders. Do you know what bounty hunters call repeat offenders?
PAUL LeSALLE: What? Job security.
PAUL LeSALLE: [ Laughs ] That’s good. But I stand by the SSI. I fully expect that with my plan, your guild’s workload will increase. Someone still has to bring these individuals into the system, ensure they stay there, and catch them when they don’t. This way not only are you bounty hunters working, but so are the people we’re trying to reform. Taking someone out of the workforce for an extended period of time just sets them up for more hardship and makes them much more likely to offend again. I’m sure you’ve caught plenty of outlaws over the years only to see that same name reappear on a crimesheet not long thereafter? Happens all the time. Back when I worked Goss, one of those names was Alin Hastings. Who you’re familiar with since she provided you several loans during those first few, lean years your hauling concern was in business. She was snared several times but the charges never stuck. That is until she took things to the extreme to keep her syndicate in power.
PAUL LeSALLE: Sadly, I am familiar with that name and the regrettable, unlawful actions she undertook well after our business relationship was over. I promise that the legislation included in the repayment pillar of the SSI would still put serious offenders, like Ms. Hastings, away for a long time— You may not have been associated with Ms. Hastings then, but your association with her certainly paid off handsomely for both of you and aided each other’s rise in your respective fields.
PAUL LeSALLE: Business attracts all sorts, and one of its keys is knowing when to walk away from something or someone. Young Mr. Costigan has suffered similar associations with his business dealing. I assume you’re referring to the spectrum ad released this week?
PAUL LeSALLE: Yes, but how about we refocus the conversation on the SSI, and let the ad speak for itself? The ad makes some interesting allegations, including that Titus has deep financial ties to a multi-system drug syndicate. Any guess who’s behind it?
PAUL LeSALLE: I couldn’t say. So it wasn’t someone associated with your campaign?
PAUL LeSALLE: Absolutely not. I want this election to be about policies not politics. Just because the Costigan and Sharrad campaigns, along with the proxies, have begun to throw mud at each other doesn’t mean that l will join them down in the muck. We need to take a quick commercial break. We’ll be back shortly with more from Centralist Imperator Candidate Paul LeSalle. We’ll discuss the empowerment and engagement pillars supporting his Safety and Security Initiative, which includes his plan to loosen certain weapon restrictions. Sure some of you out there will be interested in hearing about that.
Don’t make a move, because TRACKER will be right back.