[conjectures]

Unfortunately this assumes that the politics of the city council is somewhat outcomes focused. If the mayor is intent on awarding the contract to her uncle no amount of 'soft skills' will help (and attempts to apply them may be counter-productive).

It's usually helpful to have an internal locus of control, and look for things in oneself (here, soft skills) that can be changed. However, sometimes reality just doesn't afford opportunities in a given situation. Accepting where that is that case means being able to extract oneself from a situation rather than wasting time on it.