3 What are Krista Acklen's options for responding to Mitchell's decision? What should she do now? Why? Krista Acklen was the 'golden girl' of local government in a North Queensland town. The top graduate of a local high school, she studied in France and interned at Vogue in Paris before returning home to get an MBA, and she landed a position with a top Sydney PR firm. She knew everyone, and chatting with or 'doing lunch' with the rich and famous was a normal day for Acklen. The only child of a single parent, Acklen dropped it all and willingly returned to her North Queensland hometown when her mother's health suddenly declined. She had barely settled in and established home care for her mother when the mayor's office contacted her with a job proposal. Would Acklen consider a position developing and directing a public arts program for the city? She enthusiastically accepted the job. With her winning connections, drive and abilities, she quickly expanded her mission to develop a range of arts programs. Donations and grant money poured into programs under her established non-profit organisation developed to support city parks. Headquarters for Acklen and her staff was a comfortable, unused third-floor space in the city library that used to hold books and magazines that were now stored digitally. Then John Mitchell, director of parks, summoned her to a meeting 'to learn of a decision I have made that will affect your group'. Acklen was curious to find out what was going on. Knowing that budget factors recently forced reduction in staff and office space throughout local government, and aware of the importance of dealing carefully with public opinion, as well as the feelings of employees and other stakeholders, Acklen felt that she was prepared for any decision Mitchell might have reached.