The mayor showed up at the farmers market with his two professional mugs in tow. He had just received a call from the market manager. The manager looked flummoxed trying to explain how a new tent showed up with no permit with a big sign that said “Come see Federal Way’s future 2054,” but the man in the tent would not let anybody but the mayor in.

The police chief who arrived at the scene first had already talked to the manager and told the mayor he had spoken to the professor outside the tent and learned that nothing would be revealed until the mayor arrived to unlock the seal. The mayor and the chief conferred to see if a violation occurred or if it was better politics to go along with the charade.

Just know that when the mayor shows up with his mugs in tow, everything usually has been scripted to showcase the best of our city’s political face. Essential to the process are properly planned photo ops and canned talking points designed as moments for all to clap and cheer.

But this is not that type of moment. Today’s unscripted moment feels out of place and wildly out of control. There is an odd energy in the air. This could be good — or bad — and the mayor knows it.

The professor, dressed in a futuristic iridescent suit and bow tie, came out of the tent to greet the mayor and growing entourage. He raised his hands and said, “Welcome to your future. Forget about your past and present. Those are things you cannot change and they were barely in your control. And, if you keep doing what you are doing your future will feel much the same.”

What you need to know is that the path you are on, you will follow without a doubt because it flows within the context of the reality you know. Now, Mr. Mayor, and only you, please step forward and enter my tent and see the potential your future holds. None of this is right or wrong, but represents a few of the possibilities you and your peers face as you make your choices today for tomorrow’s future. Just know many of the results you wish to achieve are not in your control.

Thirty years hence AI will be in control, labor will be more automated, the economy and wealth possession more stratified, climate change will continue moving populations from regions on the earth that have become less habitable, governance will be more authoritarian, and personal freedoms and intellectual tolerance less appreciated, and those without place or purpose will increase poverty, homelessness, and be the cause of much civil unrest.

That is not a pretty picture you say, but that is the path our current populism, extreme capitalism, corporate oligarchs, mindless consumerism, and divisive news and social media are taking us. When there is no trust in the institutions we have built then the vacuum that is created gets filled with powers that corrupt. That is the precipice where we stand and as a mayor in our great land, you get to see that the wall to climb is bigger than us all.

The question is, can you lead with intent to build an inclusive city, knowing the forces against you are very tall? The infrastructure you have will have to adapt to climate change and figure out how to be AI purposeful without draconian intrusion to protect our privacy, as you manage an airspace and streetscape filled with package and people delivery drones.

While everything will appear more modern the human issues and behavioral challenges of today will remain and possibly be greater.

As a generation, the boomers will be at their end, and generation alpha followed by beta will begin taking charge because their skills will navigate comfortably in a virtual reality world where conspiracies blend into daily living at light speed. Those who can navigate multiple abstract realities in real time are the ones who will succeed.

Your efforts to revamp the downtown will have lost the feeling of being new. The community will again be in search of the next best thing. Light rail will be functional and doing its best to keep us moving to other nodes of importance and confused reality.

Federal Way never appreciated its blue-collar mid-management workforce roots or being a collector of migration, immigration, and cultural integration. Rubbing shoulders with the high-tech Eastside cities and the University of Washington north Seattle universe may have been your aspirational choice but your founders cut down trees and saw the world with a tradesmen’s voice with a logistical eye toward world supply.

The importance of Federal Way should be in your ability to become a service center to all. Define yourself as a high to low-tech resource facilitator whose workforce is second to none. Our future will require hands-on trades that combine robotics and the knowledge of how things get done. The workforce will be more nomadic and work itself sporadic, but quality tradesmen will be essential to all.

As AI and robotics take on more human responsibility, humankind will have more time to refine its mind and enjoy the fruits of leisure time. Arts, culture, physical activities, education, and building a sense of community with purpose will be essential to keep idle minds defined. Bored people quickly disengage from the purpose of society and often become disruptors due to their lack of inclusion driven by a sense of unfairness. Mr. Mayor, my time with you is done.”

With a puff of smoke, the man was gone and the images presented as well. The Mayor gathered his thoughts, left the empty tent, addressed the crowd with a flourish, and spoke. “The professor was full of positive thoughts about our direction. His words are wise and he suggests the path we are on is close to perfection. I assure you that our future will be bright and secure in Federal Way.”

The crowd cheered and went about their day.

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Keith Livingston is a retired municipal management professional, lifelong artist and Federal Way resident. He can be reached at keithlivingstondesign@gmail.com.