Municipal magical thinking

Recently I attended a Federal Hill neighborhood meeting concerning the planning and execution of special events in our neighborhood.

The approximately 25 attendees included three pastors of local churches, representatives of local neighborhood organizations, business owners and others who have responsibilities to the group. I, for example, chair our safety and security committee.

Representatives from the Baltimore City Police Department and the city’s permit office for special events, as well as the mayor’s liaison for the community and the deputy director of the mayor’s office of neighborhoods, were also supposed to attend.

Yet I was surprised, annoyed and frankly insulted when all the city government people turned out to be “no-shows,” having been withdrawn by the mayor’s office at the last minute.

The astounding assertion that our questions “had already been answered” was offered as a rationale for their absence.

Given that I and many others weren’t given an opportunity to even pose a question, I was quite impressed by the city’s psychic ability to nonetheless provide answers to all our questions beforehand.

The problem is that unlike the mayor and her staff, I lack the psychic powers to receive unwritten and unspoken answers to questions I have not yet asked.

Instead, I must instead rely on my eyes and ears to interpret a response. May I have one?

H. Valeri, Baltimore