Sanctuary is the only democratic town in the Underdark, a bastion of freedom and liberty in a dark and dreary place. A town with a government that gives the people the right to have their voices heard. First Citizen Bhast sought to stifle our voices -- threatened our liberties, freedoms, and our very existence. He has failed, and now it is time for you to reclaim your voice. I urge the good Councilor Adelia Tyrell to take her spot as Mayor, to ensure that Sanctuary’s noblest of traditions endures for another hundred and fifty years. It may not be perfect, but it is our greatest strength.
Unfortunately, most Sanctuarians are struggling to make their voices heard every day. Since I’ve arrived in Sanctuary, I've listened to the dozens of people I've met: Unemployed workers who’ve lost sons, relatives, and even their homes to the Sslal'teesh menace. Watchmen who are forced to scrounge for every scrap of food to survive because of poor wages. Elderly couples who survive their children, and are too weak to work. Their struggles and their stories have reminded me what the Council is really all about. It isn’t about religious extremism, foolish optimism, or blind greed, it’s about making changes for you, for the people who’s problems have been ignored too long by the corrupt, bored, or merely lazy.
For more than a decade the Council has failed to allow the growth of business, the growth of economy, the growth of security. Now, the very future of Sanctuary is at stake. Unless we decide we want a different kind of Council with very different economic and military policies -- unless we decide we're going to be more responsible as citizens for our common problems, we're in for more trouble.
Government isn't the only institution that has to change. If we're going to overcome the old economic arrangements that are holding Sanctuary back, Sanctuary’s citizens need to be open to change, whether that change is in the Council, the Spellguard or the Watch.
Our town doesn't need a new organization for every problem, but we won't change simply by spending more on the organizations we already have. I want to be a part of a government prepared to end spending that doesn't work and reinvent programs to make sure they will. We need to change the way things are run, remove the veil shrouding the decisions of our leaders, and make the citizens of Sanctuary truly responsible for the decisions being made, that the good of us all is maintained.
In a world in which resources and populace are scarce, the skills of our workers and the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs are what have to drive us ahead. To revitalize our economy, restore our defenses, and boost our productivity, we need a economic strategy that will fundamentally change the way Sanctuary’s businesses and defense organizations operate.
We need to invest the time, the patience, and the gold to rebuild our economy and make it grow again. The only way to build in strong economy of our own citizens is to invest in ourselves.
We also need to invest in the common economic resources, rothe and weaponry, clothing and our bank, that enable every person and every business to create wealth and value. Our productivity and economy have been growing so slowly because we've stopped building the economic infrastructure that binds our markets and businesses together.
We need to demand change throughout our society -- from our defense organizations to the Council -- and work together to achieve economic growth.
Together, we can build a community that encourages security and economic growth, government efficiency, and military strength rather then fear, superstition, and demagoguery. The new community of Sanctuary will summon -- by example, encouragement, by exhortation, and sometimes by law -- a new spirit of service at every level of our society.
And when we build this community, this mutually reinforcing fabric of rights and responsibilities, challenges and commitments, Sanctuary will rise above the perils and uncertainties of this moment, and become safer, more productive, and more prosperous then it’s ever been before.
I believe that we are lost here in Sanctuary not physically, but ideologically, but I believe that we shall be found. This belief is for me -- and I think for all of us -- not only our own hope, but Sanctuary’s everlasting, living promise.