Not a surprise. "Leadership" like this happens when popularity contests are how you select executives.

Baltimore's mayor is apparently convinced that statues cause crime.

How outrageous! How about a law stating that she has to work an overnight in each business that removes the plexiglass? That would have an equivalent overreach.

Sooo, no more bank branches?

I used to work in a convenience store, without plexiglass. It's a scary feeling, knowing that the next guy through the door might kill you for less than $100. Was that all my life was worth?

Want to know what vulnerable feels like? Fly solo in a convenience store after dark.

"She says she wants to put some controls on these small stores that, from her point of view, sell booze, very little food and are a source of trouble for her district."

She wants to regulate the scourge of convenience stores by turning the minimum wage clerks into sitting ducks? That'll teach those owners, those mostly Asian-American immigrant owners.

"We want to make sure that there isn't this sort of indignity, in my opinion, to serving food through a Plexiglas only in certain neighborhoods.”

There we are. It's not Plexiglass she's opposed to, it's that it is only put up in "certain neighborhoods. And which neighborhoods would those be? Hmmm? High crime neighborhoods, perhaps?

Those bullet-resistant barriers ain't cheap and they're not put up as decoration. They're put up so the owner doesn't get sued by the family of a minimum wage clerk who got shot, stabbed, or beaten to death in a robbery.

There's a reason the stores in that nice neighborhood down the street doesn't have plexiglass barriers, bars on the windows, alarm signs on every window, the police on speed dial, and armed people cowering behind all that. And that reason ain't the color of their skin.

"That'll teach those owners, those mostly Asian-American immigrant owners."

Did a bit of reading last week after I saw this in Reason. There's a "community group" pushing for it. From what I've read, it's pretty clear that what is going on is racism towards the Korean business owners. And not all of them are liquor stops. If the city wants to regulate liquor sales, then it needs to regulate liquor sales, and stop playing with stupid laws.

Conan:

"[quoting article] We want to make sure that there isn't this sort of indignity, in my opinion, to serving food through a Plexiglas only in certain neighborhoods.”

There we are. It's not Plexiglass she's opposed to, it's that it is only put up in "certain neighborhoods. And which neighborhoods would those be? Hmmm? High crime neighborhoods, perhaps?

Wait. Am I getting this right? Her objection to Plexiglas is because those people who live in certain neighborhoods might have their feelings hurt? "Oh, boo-hoo-hoo. No one trusts me. They're serving my food through Plexiglas!"

So, I should be outraged the next time I go through a drive-thru at McDonald's? I'm pretty sure those windows where they take my money and serve me food are made of Plexiglas.

Although that's not actually the way it's phrased. She said, "indignity...to serving food through a Plexiglas... [added emphasis]" not "being served food through a Plexiglas."

So, her concern is for the indignity experienced by the cashier who is "serving food through a Plexiglas"? "Oh, boo-hoo-hoo! I have to serve my customers through this Plexiglas. It's such an indignity."

Somehow, I'm not getting the impression that the third-shift cashier is rolling his eyes at the indignity every time he waits upon a customer. More likely, he's thanking whatever he regards as holy that the Plexiglas is there.

Fuck the "indignity" she cares so much about, regardless of whom she thinks is experiencing it. Let's keep these night cashiers alive.

From Amy's second link (the "meddling'y" one):

Councilwoman Bass: "On any given day, you can find people in front of these businesses selling ‘loosies,’ or loose cigarettes, and engaging in other nuisance behaviors like loitering, public drunkenness, possible drug sales, and even public urination.” [emphasis mine]

So, selling "loosies" is a public nuisance? Wait, when Eric Garner did it in New York, he was "working" and "providing for his family." When the police tried to stop him, they were "hassling" him and "profiling" him, not eliminating a public nuisance.

So, which is it, public nuisance or legitimate work?

Also: "Bass dismisses [concerns about clerk safety], pointing as evidence to the large number of bars and other after-hours businesses that operate in rough neighborhoods without a protective barrier."

And in how many of those establishments is the point person (waiter, clerk, bartender, etc.) flying solo? Most of those establishment she cites have multiple employees on duty during business hours. In how many of those other after-hours businesses is the cash register located near the exit, making a getaway convenient? Most of those establishments close by 2am. Many c-stores stay open all night.

Convenience stores are inviting targets for robbery for several reasons [Wikipedia]:

• the small number of employees per store makes it difficult to stop or deter criminals
  
• the extended hours of many convenience stores present more opportunities when few customers and/or witnesses are present
  
• the smaller size of the stores makes it easy for criminals to quickly navigate the floor plan and enter and exit close to the cash registers
  
• the majority of purchases are in cash as opposed to electronic transactions, leading to a relatively large amount of cash (often minimally secured) at any point

I also see the socialism of liberals in this. Let's make everybody equally vulnerable to assault and murder. Can't have some privileged people being safe when others aren't.

Sixclaws brought this up in today's linkies, with the implication that this benefits the corporate entities like 7/11 and adds a barrier to entry or complicate their ability to remain in the market.

I think that is spot on. A close look at the "community group" involved and their finances might be useful. As well as the financing of the sponsor's campaigns.

Also, much legislation is written by writers who are paid to create model examples that can be cut & pasted and customized for the location.

Sixclaws brought this up in today's linkies, with the implication that this benefits the corporate entities like 7/11 and adds a barrier to entry or complicate their ability to remain in the market. ~ I R A Darth Aggie at December 7, 2017 8:55 AM

Except that 7-11 refuses to open stores in those neighborhoods. As do Kroger, Harris Teeter, Safeway, and other grocers. Too much risk of theft and violence.

That's why the Korean grocers opened stores there in the first place; it was an unserved market.

This is less about creating barriers to entry than it is about prejudice, prejudice against Korean grocers.

Remember the Rodney King riots in LA? Inner city African-Americans attacked the neighborhood Korean grocery stores with particular savagery, accusing the owners of price gouging and taking out a decade's worth of frustration and anger on the stores.

Well, yes, but remember Latasha Harlins?

This is less about creating barriers to entry than it is about prejudice, prejudice against Korean grocers.

Obviously, the next bit of legislation will mandate that 7/11 open shops in these areas or else, because if they don't they're obviously raaaaaaaaaacccccccccisssssssttttt!

Or they'll spend city money to entice such a retailer to open in one of those communities. As I recall the Freddie Grey riots in Baltimore, one of the first victims was a Wal-greens. I assume they were similarly enticed to that location.

I remember the riots in LA. I remember more than few Korean shop owners broke out the long guns and pistols and stood watch, and they were mostly unmolested.

Well, yes, but remember Latasha Harlins? ~ Crid at December 7, 2017 9:28 AM

Lot of un-necessary ill-feeling between the two communities there.

BULLETPROOF GLASS IS RACIST!!!

(Black Criminals' Lives Matter!)

I also think Amy would look quite fetching restocking shelves in a tutu. But only Gregg will know that one for sure!

The major grocer in a bad area of chicago that I stopped at has 2 big cops 24/7. I can't even see how they can make a profit with that cost, and they are a big store. A corner store having a full-time security guard, as the legislator suggested? Not only expensive but also "insulting" if one is prone to being insulted.

Seems like a simple solution, have the bill altered to make Mrs Legislator personally liable for all wrongful death suits after this law passes