A few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I tried to enter City Hall on a weekday and we were denied entrance by the security guard. She said that there was a hearing going on and no one was allowed in. Since when does the city hold secret hearings in City Hall chambers?
I suspect that the guard thought we were tourists, because just before we entered one of the big double decker red buses drove by and she might have assumed that we were lost tourists, with nothing else better to do than enter City Hall, although we knew the drill and started putting our metal possessions in the little plastic box so we could go through the metal detector without incident, so she should have assumed we were locals.But even if we were tourists, since when are people denied entry into City Hall? Aren't there Sunshine laws about this? And what if we were there to do business at one of the offices? She didn't even give us a chance to explain what we wanted.
We just left without incident, but I'm wondering how many people are turned away daily because they are being profiled as tourists. On the same day, the Burn Notice crew sent us packing too, even though they were right there blocking the sidewalk on S. Bayshore Drive. They said they had permission to block the sidewalk and to chase people away. Since when?
This City is getting quite unfriendly these days.
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