High Noon At City Hall



Gary Cooper walks the street alone; via The Sheila Variations,
a grand compendium of cinematic criticism, lore and appreciation.



"Go ahead and arrest me." -- Carol Wolf, Richmond School Board member, staring down the mayor's gendarmes at City Hall, Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, after the group was barricaded in City Hall for an hour then not permitted to have a public meeting.


“Who’s going to uphold the constitution and the rule of law in this city?” -- Sababu Sanyika, a Richmond citizen, asking a very good question, after police refused him entry into City Hall.

I don't know what the remainder of the year holds for the people and the people's government of the City of Richmond, but these two quotes, as reported by Style Weekly's Chris Dovi, puts most other public utterances to shame.

Wolf's actions in the face of potential arrest makes Style's May 30, 2007 cover article about her seem prescient. The Scott Elmquist photo of her wrapped in a flag drew the expected to-an-fro in the letters column. But if our own community's leaders won't stand up to authoritarian practices and policies, how can such honorable behavior be expected further up the political ladder?

Further, I'm going out on a limb, but I'm guessing Mr. Sanyika is an immigrant, or the son of recent immigrants, who may have come to this country to avoid such scenes as were enacted in City Hall on Friday.

In the old days, the wire machines rang bells to announce important news, these days, its instant update blogging that provides a bridge between the dead tree fiber media, and the other one that uses the DTFM as a way to provide "reporting" (with some exceptions).

Billion-eyed audience, there are other blogs giving diligence to this story; I hope it just doesn't get shrugs and chuckles from Mr. and Mrs. Murgatroyd. State and federal laws have been broken, and these are not small things.

Read more at Buttermilk & Molasses, where there are four, count'em, entries under September 23; also for Sept. 23, in the Near West End News; and the stalwart Save Richmond.

Sad thing is, Richmond indeed needs saving.

From itself.