“Our” Government

Posted by Carol Coletta on August 01, 2009 |

I remember my reaction the first time I encountered a security scanner at City Hall in Memphis.  I was furious.  I had once worked on the third floor of this building in the CAO's office.  Besides, this was my City Hall.  I paid for it with my tax dollars.  I elected the people who worked in it.  But now, I was being treated like a would-be criminal, an alien.  As I was screened for the first time, I remember standing there seething at the uniformed officers.  They were just doing their jobs, but, in my opinion, they had no legitimate right to do this particular job.

I was reminded of my reaction Thursday when I entered the Bronx County Building. It is a majestic building, one with impressive statuary on all sides, sitting on the borough's Grand Concourse.  But step inside, and the first impression is jarring.  Metal street barricades force visitors to snake through a line that eventually lands them at the front of a security machine.  There, I was asked to empty my purse of all "devices" (a procedure never required in the airports I travel through daily).  I was then required to give up my Flip camera,…

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