Washington and Baltimore are, as you know, two large cities. Like fraternal twins, they are very close yet also very different. Baltimore’s nickname is Charm City. D.C. isn’t known for that.

Each city has a Beltway. And a major league baseball team. One has a major league football team (joke, get it?). Both have very large federal work forces and tens of thousands of private contractors who service the government.

The Social Security Administration’s Fort Knox-like headquarters operation is based in the Woodlawn section of Charm City. It is high security because, like the IRS, it has all your personal information.

Both are government towns, and yet …

When it comes to handling foul weather and disasters, Baltimore and Washington sometimes go their own way. They can and sometimes do use very different, tailor-made protocols.

In the D.C. metro area, most federal agencies follow the lead of the Office of Personnel Management when it comes to delays, closures or staggered work hours.

In Baltimore, the local Federal Executive Board advises agencies during emergencies, but it can and often does leave it to individual agencies to make their weather calls.

This week, for instance, federal executive branch agencies in the metro D.C. area told employees they could come in two hours later than their normal time because of snow. In Baltimore, everybody was told to be at work no later than 10 a.m. Both OK’d use of unscheduled leave and unscheduled telework.

This week’s blizzard-in-some places shows how Uncle Sam tailors emergency plans.

The end-of-days event pushed by some local TV operations didn’t happen in the D.C.-Baltimore area. Up the road, Philadelphia got more than we did but less than they were led to believe. It got much, much rougher from New Jersey up the coast. Boston was hammered and Worcester got it even worse.

Because of local weather differences, local Federal Executive Board’s made different plans.

The Boston FEB, for example, sees its job as providing “up-to-date, accurate and consistent information from subject-matter experts so that informed decisions relating to agency operations can be made.” At times, it will also issue a “non-binding advisory” to agencies regarding operations for non-emergency workers.

FEBs operate in a number of other cities. They often reflect regional, as well as climate differences. In Chicago, for example, they handle cold, snowy weather with more experience — and lots more snow plows. The Chicago FEB also gives tornadoes a high priority in its emergency preparedness.

In the huge area covered by the Honolulu-Pacific FEB snow is not an issue. But they do have tsunami plans. And so it goes. One government, but lots of variety — especially when the chips are down.

Survival Tips: Earlier this week, we noted Washington’s strange winter survival kit — white bread, milk and toilet paper — and asked readers how they cope in their home towns. We’ve gotten some, uh, interesting responses. Keep them coming to me at: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Michael O’Connell

The “Charm City” nickname came out of an 1975 request by then Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer, who asked four local advertising executives to come up with a way to promote the city. It was Bill Evans of W. B. Donor who wrote the line that sparked the nickname: “Baltimore has more history and unspoiled charm tucked away in quiet corners than most American cities out in the spotlight.”

Source: The Baltimore Sun

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