Leslie tells her mother, Marlene Griggs-Knope, an official with the county school system, about her subcommittee for Lot 48 and invites her to the public forum she's holding tomorrow evening. Leslie meets with her subcommittee members, Mark, Ann, April, and Tom, and Mark. Mark warns her it might be too early for a meeting with the public, who could opt to vote the proposal down if they are unhappy with it. Leslie, however, remains confident about the meeting and says the group will be doing neighborhood canvassing to try to win support.
Leslie assigns teams for canvassing the local citizens to inform them of the meeting. Leslie and Ann take one side of town, while Mark takes April and Tom to the other side. Leslie and Ann meet with various citizens, many of whom are against the lot being turned into a park, while those who support the idea can't make the meeting. Mark's team has no success, and Tom heads off on his own. He calls various business contractors, inviting them to the meeting.
When Ann mentions Andy, Leslie decides that they should bring Andy with them, as he is a symbol of what they are trying to do. Meanwhile, City Manager Paul requests that Ron fast-track the project and promises to attend the meeting tomorrow night. When Leslie and Ann arrive at Ann's house, they find Mark and April playing video games with Andy. Leslie returns to City Hall and asks Ron if she can postpone the meeting, but he refuses.
At the meeting, Tom meets up with the various businessmen he has invited. Ron, City Manager Paul, and Leslie's mother are in attendance, as is Andy, on crutches. Leslie, getting very nervous, puts April in the audience so she can call on her for a positive comment if necessary. One of the women Leslie met with the day before strongly voices her opposition to the park, resulting in audience applause and some of Tom's contractors leaving the meeting.
During a break, Ron warns Leslie against calling for a vote. She tries to filibuster the meeting, but one woman (whom Leslie previously made angry while canvassing) calls for a vote. Leslie tells everyone to come up to the microphone, one by one, to say what they think. During one of the complaints, the clock shows 9 PM - the meeting is over, and Leslie avoided having to take a vote. She promises the citizens they will be holding several meetings in the future for this project. Marlene, who privately described the meeting as a "trainwreck", nevertheless expresses her pride for Leslie with a smile. Although frustrated with the meeting itself, Leslie says she is happy to have hosted her first subcommittee meeting. When one resident named Lawrence says, "Hey park lady, you suck", Leslie says with pride, "Hear that? He called me 'park lady'".
Tropes
- Apathetic Citizens: Most of the time, the citizens of Pawnee are this until one small and insignificant thing gets them fired up.
- Comically Missing the Point: When one citizen says, "Hey, Park Lady, you suck!", Leslie is pleased to be called "Park Lady".
- Dramatic Drop: Leslie throws her binder on the floor when she sees Mark and April goofing off playing Rock Band with Andy rather than doing their work.
- Holding the Floor: Leslie tries to stall the vote until 9 PM when the meeting is over.Paul: My God, she's filibustering her own meeting.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Leslie's pushiness almost puts the project in jeopardy.
- Oh, Crap!: Both Tom and Mark get one of these when they realize one citizen they're talking to is a child sex offender. His previous comments are disquieting, but the last one...Man: Is this park going to be 1000 feet away from my house? Because I really can't move again.Mark: ...April, please stand behind me.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tom is in no mood to go canvassing.
- Shout-Out:
- In her binder for the canvassing, Leslie put in a spin on Jack Nicholson's well-known line from A Few Good Men.
- During the filibuster, Leslie reads The Phantom Tollbooth.
