Annapolis Capital Punishment

Wow--finally, the much touted and long-awaited Transportation Vision and Master Plan is released. Despite my repeated request to various city officials for a year, all of whom ignored or stonewalled me, this thing is finally done. One can get a copy at www.annapolis.gov.
This report was supposed to really enhance city, county and state cooperation on regional roads, transit and other transportation concerns and help guide intergovernmental projects for years to come, but it has been beset with difficulties. I remember when County planners told me “If only we could get this study, it would really allow us to move forward regionally.” Well, we got the study and it’s, well, what is it? Hopefully I’ll soon find out and report here.
I was present at the “grip and grin” where Janet Owens, Ellen Moyer and John Porcari signed the agreement to do the study. I had to provide the same information over and over again at the request of the city’s P and Z folks. I had to sit in meetings where they then asked the same questions I just answered, and this went on…and finally the P and Z folks fired the first team from mega-consulting firms Parsons Brinckerhoff. As many readers know, such a study is expectedly beyond the scope and capabilities of our P and Z Dep’t, but so is just about everything else it seems. So, here it is years later and behind schedule and voila! We shall see, but now that it is so much older, is it outdated?
And now that the city’s mandated five-year Comprehensive Plan is underway, what does it all mean anyhow? I can just imagine--more delay, more hand wringing, more cars, more traffic…meanwhile our own transportation department, the singled-out subject of a stinging review when incoming Mayor Dean Johnson entered office in January, 1998 (when this writer took up residence as marketing specialist in that department) and was told to get an “overhaul” has never been overhauled or anything of the sort. In fact, all that has changed is that long-time number two transpocrat, has now become the long-time number one transpocrat at transportation, and this writer, who served for 7.5 years, was replaced by the daughter of the former long-time number one transpocrat (i.e. her father used to be boss over the person who now is boss) who was ousted by Johnson.