Normally I'm not in favor of straight news articles being headed by questions. If an answer is unknown then you simply state the facts. I’ve made up a few examples:
- Committee members weigh choices in upcoming equipment purchase
- Outcome of design contest questioned by community group
- Ongoing disagreement at city hall delays construction project
When I see a straight news article titled with a question I am inclined to think I am reading a gossip column or an opinion piece. I suspect that, if the reporter had done more research, they might have come up with the answer to the question.
For heaven’s sake don’t ask me. I’m here to find out. A question feels more like clickbait.
In commentary, a question-title works. I use them on the blog from time to time.
To be clear, there’s no law that says you can’t use a question. It’s a time-honored journalistic convention, not a crime.
However…in the case of this piece in the Banner by Jess Nocera, I’ll make an exception.
“What the heck is going on with the Wilde Lake Village Board?” Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner
I’ve been following the goings-on over in Wilde Lake from afar and they are extremely concerning. Having served on my own Village Board in Oakland Mills I have a pretty good idea of how it’s all supposed to work.
This ain’t it.
I honestly thought that by the 2020’s we would have stopped seeing small cliques of control-oriented people taking over their village boards. I watched it happen in my village and it was horrible. One similarity between what we experienced and what is going on in Wilde Lake is people using their village board member positions to make the life of the professional Village Manager a living hell.
It is not okay to do this. I don’t care how justified you think you are. Village Managers work incredibly hard in so many areas that support community life. In my opinion there should be some kind of legally enforceable guard rails to protect the professional staff from unprofessional treatment by village board members.
The fact that this is not the first time I’ve seen this tactic suggests to me that there aren’t.
I cannot pretend to know what Jim Rouse thought or felt about anything but I have to wonder if he ever foresaw this kind of petty, mean-spirited leadership style in his “garden for the growing of people.”
One of the things that has encouraged me about my own Village Board in recent years is their all-out support of our community’s schools. They are active partners and advocates. Compare this to the current Wilde Lake Village Board, where those advocating for schools are no longer welcomed. Their issues are no longer deemed to be relevant to the interests of leadership.
Not only is this a blow to their area schools right now, it is also a terrible long term strategy if you want a healthy community in the future. And that’s bad news if you care about Columbia continuing as a “garden for the growing of people.”
So I’d say Nocera’s question is a valid one under the circumstances. How can the New American City, whose founder said “Cities can be fun!” be the same place where village board meetings feel more like a foretaste of eternal damnation?
I’d add another question to Nocera’s - - John Adams’ plaintive lament in the musical “1776”:
Is anybody there? Does anybody care?
Read the article. Is this what community leadership is supposed to look like?
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