Commentary

It’s not easy running a beach town. Each summer, Ocean City explodes from a relatively quiet town of about 7,000 year-round residents to more than 300,000 people on busy July and August weekends. Hundreds of seasonal police officers, lifeguards and boardwalk shuttle drivers, along with thousands of temporary tourism industry workers manning the motels, shops, bars and eateries, are hired to handle the daunting task of managing an anticipated collective total of 8 million visitors each year.

When I tell friends and family that my husband and I have bought a house in Baltimore after 15 years in Europe, the response is mostly muted, followed by the polite “Why Baltimore?” or slightly more colorful “Why the hell Baltimore?” A chuckle often follows; I smile before answering. My daughter sent me the crime stats. My other daughter sent me endless housing listings in Chicago, the city of my youth.

Time for updates on three stories that first appeared in this column, starting with the battle in West Baltimore over a proposed fast-food restaurant that nearby residents opposed with a passion. This goes back to March 2021, when about a dozen amiable but highly committed Baltimoreans surrounded me on the median at Gwynns Falls Parkway and Tioga Parkway, near Mondawmin Mall, to express their displeasure with the idea.

The announcement by Greater Baltimore Committee CEO Mark Anthony Thomas and representatives of BUILD Baltimore that business and faith leaders will work together to reduce the staggering number of vacant and derelict houses in the city is one all of Baltimore should welcome. But any welcome must come with caveats. The first is that this latest initiative, cheered on by Mayor Brandon Scott to tackle an old problem, does not delay establishment of the Land Bank Authority of Baltimore City as proposed by Baltimore City Council Bill 23-0363. Anything that the coalition of business and faith leaders decides to do must complement the role of the Land Bank because it cannot replace it.

Hooray for President Biden, who has finally set a deadline — next month — for federal workers to return to the office. It has been nearly four months since the president ended the national emergency to combat the coronavirus outbreak. His own staff at the White House has been working in person for two years. The rest of the federal government needs to follow suit. The benefits of bringing workers together in an office abound: easier communication, more ability to brainstorm, better mentorship and a heightened sense of mission, especially for new workers.

“Are you ready to do this?” my friend Chrissy asked me as a guide clipped me onto a zipline high above Panama’s Gatun Lake. Cables, a helmet and the giant version of the carabiner I hook my keys into were the only things protecting me from gravity and hitting every crunchy branch in the tree line below. “Well,” I replied, wondering if Chrissy and our guides could hear my heart pounding like a Questlove beat. “I guess I better be!”

The public has been waiting for Gov. Wes Moore (D) to end the Hogan administration’s ill-conceived toll lane plan and choose better alternatives for the I-495/I-270 corridor. The project’s original private partner, Australian toll giant Transurban, has walked away. A Washington Post poll shows majorities in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties oppose the toll lanes. The inherent inequity of the project conflicts with Governor Moore’s stated values.