I seldom object to the behavior of public officials, but the appearance of councilwoman Cindy Bass at a community meeting in Germantown was a disgrace to our neighborhood and our city. 

On Tuesday evening, December 7, in a rant reminiscent of Donald Trump, Councilwoman Cindy Bass dropped the race card bomb on an audience gathered to discuss the future of the YWCA building in Germantown.  The meeting at the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown was shouted to a halt by a group of Councilwoman Bass’s supporters who marched around the hall screaming their grievances after Bass vented her own grievances and accusations of racism.  The one person in the room who could have intervened to stop the demonstration was the councilwoman, yet she sat and watched as her supporters trashed a public meeting organized by a diverse group of Germantown residents who are working to improve the neighborhood for all its residents.  The meeting was streamed on the Facebook page of the Chestnut Hill Local, where it still is posted and you can go to see for yourself how the meeting was hijacked.

Germantown is a marvelously diverse community and a wonderful place to live.  It is undergoing a surge of reconstruction and new building which offers both the promise of a growth that keeps its inclusive nature and the danger of development pushing long-time residents and people of modest means out of their homes.  It will take neighbors of good will and leaders with skill and wisdom to manage a balanced way forward for development in the community.  Councilwoman Bass’s grievance-laden attitude and the strong-arm tactics of her stormtroopers have no place in our community’s conversations.  She should be called out and reprimanded for this disgraceful performance.

Tim Adams
Germantown