Henrietta Davis is a social worker by profession. She promotes walking and making Cambridge a walkable city. The needs of persons with disabilities or the needs of ordinary citizens did not permeate her mind during her tenure on the School Committee or the City Council.

At the August 1 City Council meeting, Councilor Davis introduced an order encouraging Harvard to make all of their new sidewalks of red brick. For persons who use wheelchairs to navigate the City sidewalks, for persons who use guide dogs and for persons who use canes to assist their navigation, this is an unfriendly proposal, almost an insult. It certainly shows lack of concern for such persons.

Young women often walk in the street pushing strollers with their infant children, because the sidewalks are uneven and difficult to navigate. One City Traffic Enforcement officer explained to me how the brick sidewalks make his job more difficult. "I almost broke my ankle walking on those bricks," he told me.

This is a problem for ordinary persons who walk in Cambridge. Missing bricks can cause broken bones from falls. The uneven sidewalks are more pronounced where bricks are used. Lose bricks are obstacles for walking.

This social worker-politician also recommends that the City install a free citywide Wi-Fi internet access system for all. Cambridge has about 6.43 square miles of land. The Philadelphia City Executive Committee on Wireless estimated the cost of wireless in Philadelphia at about $60,000 per square mile. The cost for Wi-Fi in Cambridge would be about $385,000 for a type of wire mesh network. It is not clear how much that would translate into annually.

But aside from the cost, why is the focus of this social work professional on the needs of the upper and middle classes of Cambridge? Is that what the government should focus its resources on?

In New Orleans, and Mississippi, all of the city, state and federal government bloviators were unable to provide water and food to their neediest citizens in the aftermath of the hurricane.

This is social work at its best. Rising to the occasion, Councilor Davis serves not the weak and the voiceless, but the wealthy and politically connected. That’s what limousine liberals are like. They speak on one side and serve the other. What a crew.