I started thinking what I would say if I were directed by the Salt Lake City administration to attend one of the "encounter groups" now being planned to bridge the religious chasm it believes exists between Mormons and non-Mormons.

Maybe something like: "Hi, I'm John and I am Catholic. I'm open to learning how to like non-Catholics." Or maybe, "Hi, I'm John and I'm sorry I am Catholic."

But then I got to thinking, what if I played hooky and didn't show up for my assigned meeting? Would I be assessed a heavy fine, like for parking tickets? Would the administration, which at times seems to take on the role of "minister of vice and virtue," send out a truant officer to bring me in?

Then I told myself not to worry, because this will all be forgotten tomorrow when a new cause du jour is offered.

What keeps us residents in a quandary are the lofty statements made about wanting to bring people together, accepting and respecting differences, allowing free expression, and freedom to exercise "free agency," and then putting us down for not being tolerant, for practicing our religion, or not being part of the "creative class" (whatever that means). It's like the parent who tells the child to "Come sit on my lap" and then stands up. How are we supposed to react?

Most of us have learned to accept these efforts as being much like those of a good parent who is trying to save us. The administration says people ought to have a voice in their government, and then, without consulting with anyone, comes up with ideas as to what is good for us. The administration is not wanting for creative ideas; however, what is lacking is follow through and the necessary public scrutiny of ideas, so necessary in order for them to become public policies all can support.

The top down approach has created an oppressive climate that prevails and discourages many of us as residents, as well as outsiders, from feeling free to enjoy our city, especially downtown. This tone was set from day one, with the call for banning grocery carts from streets, followed by the one to tear down fliers on street posts put up by struggling entrepreneurs.

Recently, the administration surfaced another idea, that of building housing for students on State Street across from the old Arcade building — the very building for which the administration rejected the City Council's contract with the University of Utah to lease for college classes downtown. Much like the idea of designing the west-side center without an exit strategy, the administration now is proposing to tear down the low-income apartments and displace the poor and disabled with student housing.

Another idea the city administration says it will soon present is an "action plan" to deal with the city's shrinking population. The plan, as described to the City Council in January, would attract 15,000 new residents. It seems the administration and the City Council would first want to know why the city's population is shrinking and take a close look at the demographics. The first responsibility our elected officials have is to maintain faith with the current residents who bear the tax burden, especially the elderly who contributed so much to make this a great city. While we talk diversity, the unintended consequence of wanting to bring in new residents and student housing is to ignore the needs of the elderly on fixed incomes and young families who cannot afford to live in the city and the reason for school closures.