Balti-less?

The self-titled "Greatest City in America" is probably more aptly described as the crime and disease capital of the world (Actually, it's D.C. - our national joke). Anyway, Otter's post below got me thinking about my experiences with the government in Baltiless.

First, this is the city that fines everyone for parking anywhere, but a couple years back, it was discovered that Baltimore was improperly using it's parking budget - not providing parking (sorry, no link). The city is also noted for other such corrupt practices like the one linked here. There is also this:


"While there will not be much construction of office space in downtown Baltimore,
there will be other construction activity in the city. A recent report indicated that the
downtown area requires at least 3,500 additional parking spaces; this shortage is now a major concern of downtown employers. Currently, at least four parking garages are at
various stages of planning, which are expected to add over 1,700 spaces by the end of
2001. A number of hotels for the city continue to be discussed, although not as many as
at this time last year. The 750-room Marriott Waterfront Hotel in the Inner Harbor is about
half complete, and may be finished by the end of the year. There is growing pressure to
begin work on a hotel at a Pratt Street site near the convention center and Oriole Park.
The City recently broached the idea of publicly funding the hotel so as to get work
underway."

Notably, if you don't want to spend $20 - $30 a day on parking, the parking garages are not a great idea. Baltimore has also taken to putting up parking booths to charge people more for parking in what were once metered zones. So, for example, in the Inner Harbor - where parking is almost impossible to find - it now costs $8.00 to park for more than one hour, when it used to cost two. I guess you know what an all-day trip will bring. The lack of parking and the use of parking as a revenue source for the city really inhibits the growth of business in what are otherwise pretty nice areas. Nonetheless, the "Greatest City in America (not counting all the other cities)" continues to fine and harass citizens who want to go there to frequent its businesses.

The best is that, as the post below demonstrates, the City is almost completely incompetent when it comes to anything administrative. The way they combat their idiocy is to place the burden on you the citizen to determine whether the City has cited you for something. Additionally, even if the City totally screwed up, due to some devil's agreement with the City and State courts, you are held responsible for the City's errors.

I know this is anecdotal evidence, but the City once wrongfully booted my car, and although they immediately acknowledged their (idiotic) mistake, they didn't send a crew out to unboot it for 4 days. They also owe me $85 dollars for overpayments of two tickets, but they made it so difficult to collect that I eventually just gave up. Oh yeah, and two and a half years ago I moved out of the city.

Martin O'Malley, our esteemed Mayor, is more concerned with fining his political opponents for improper signs and playing in his crappy half-ass band than he is with administering the City. He hired a great police chief for the City, who, when he moved to be the State's top cop, was found to have been siphoning the public funds. Notably, whenever something terrible happens in the City, O'Malley is always on hand with the repair crews. "We're working as hard as we can to get _______ back to the families of this community," seems to be his mantra. What is always left unspoken is that the City was aware of the problems for years and never did anything about it. He fancies himself as the next Kennedy - unfortunately, that Kennedy is Teddy. Too bad I don't still live there to vote against him.

Hey Baltimore, here's a slogan: "Baltimore, Grab Your Ankles"

Kid Handsome