Commentary

My grandparents Ed and Arnell Streeter were not your typical doomsday preppers clad in camo living in a bunker. They were nice federal government retirees born in rural Arkansas, living for their gardens, grandkids and their daytime stories. They were also survivors of the Great Depression, stocking their Prince George’s County home with nonperishables such as canned soups, sardines and saltine crackers, and two full refrigerators and a giant freezer stocked with enough meat and fresh-caught fish to get through an entire winter. You weren’t gonna catch Granddaddy and Grandma unprepared.

One can scarcely blame Mayor Brandon Scott for having frustrations with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, the 501(c)3 nonprofit that functions as the city’s arts council, events center and film office. Ever attended Artscape, the Baltimore Book Festival, even the Baltimore Farmers’ Market or experienced the various landmarks, galleries and art installations it underwrites? How about the Inner Harbor New Year’s Eve fireworks?

If there are any readers who were surprised at the news that the Baltimore County Council voted unanimously Monday to condemn the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), the controversial 70-mile power line connecting northern Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, we would recommend new prescription lenses.

Most of my childhood was spent in nearby Silver Spring. While there is much about Silver Spring that I remember most fondly, when I was a child, I thought it was a rather bland community. I wished then that I could have lived in someplace interesting, someplace people went to as a destination, not by default. Ah, the ignorance of youth.

I was waiting in a fancy chair in a dark, exquisitely decorated room in Baltimore’s historic Clifton Mansion, taking a last-minute glance at the questions I had prepared for a VIP. I had been going back and forth with press people for months for an interview and credentialing and now it was finally happening. I knew I probably only had 10 minutes or so to talk, a limited time I’d usually protest.

When it comes to transportation — like most policy issues of importance — elected officials have basically two options moving forward: They can take the easy road or the hard one. The former requires no difficult decisions; often it just requires kvetching about how you’ve been shortchanged. The latter means challenging your supporters to make meaningful choices — cutting projects or raising taxes and fees.