I decided to attend Ken Ulman’s community forum last month
not because I had a particular gripe. I was just curious about what other people’s
gripes were. Mama Wordbones sometimes has a hard time understanding that. She
tends to view these exercises as a colossal waste of time.
On the other hand, I had nothing better to do that Monday
night. I also knew that, at a minimum, I’d run into some people I know. As it
turns out, I inadvertently grabbed an open seat next to Howard Johnson, president of the
Greater Elkridge Community Association and one seat away from Marc Norman.
Despite our opposing views on the intermodal issue Howard was very cordial.
Marc on the other hand said I looked like crap. Marc is such an eloquent man.
I actually sat down the second time I entered the room. No
sooner had I arrived in the meeting the first time than I realized I’d left my
glasses in the car. At this point in my life I’m pretty much useless without my glasses. It’s not like I’m blind or anything but taking notes without my
glasses is an extremely slow and frustrating process. I opted to go back to the
car to retrieve my spectacles.
Ken’s meeting was being held in the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia . For those who have yet to visit,
the nature center is a showcase for environmentally sensitive development. This
means that the automobile is tolerated rather than accommodated with a parking
lot that is tucked up and away from the building instead of being right next to it.
The point being that walk to my car and back was not exactly a short one.
I don’t think I missed much. When I first arrived some guy
was complaining about amount of money spent on defense. I’m not talking about a
local issue here, like say defending against stink bugs. He was talking about
the federal budget. I guess he felt getting any elected officials ear was
better than nothing.
When I returned with my errant glasses another person was at
the microphone complaining about speed cams. At least that was within the execs
sphere of influence.
All in all, the concerns of the HoCo petitioners were
predictably mundane but I guess that’s what is to be expected in the second best place to live in America .
You can read this month’s column here.
