BALTIMORE — After nearly two months of discussions, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott's squeegee collaborative had its first community input meeting.
We sent a photographer there, but they weren't letting us or any other tv cameras inside the meeting.
Some members of the public shared our frustrations with the decision.
"Don't just invite me, bring them too because they're for the public. They're speaking out for the public but you all want to hide that from us," said one person.
"A lot of people want to be here tonight, but are not able to be here tonight but they're gonna turn their channel to the channel news at 10 and 11:00 expecting to see what's happening in there and can't get the information," said one person.
We're told Mayor Scott was not in the meeting either.
The mayor's team said he thought people would be comfortable and open without him there.
They gave a similar reason for not allowing media in.
"From the sessions that we've had, part of what the community is saying is let's do this. This isn't about a media show or frenzy for them, it is let's get to a solution and so sometimes not having cameras in the room allow people to authentically speak," said Shelonda Stokes, President Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.
The squeegee collaborative has been meeting weekly since mid-July.
Tonight, brought together businesses, community and government leaders, as well as squeegee workers themselves to talk about a collective solution.
