What is the purpose?

Minor irritations can make a person grumpy. Especially when they seem like a waste of taxpayers’ money, not serving any real purpose. I’m talking about the “security gates” installed inside the SW 4th Avenue entrance to City Hall, the only doors now open to citizens. In the Good Old Days, anyone was allowed to use the 5th Avenue entrance, too, if that happened to be more convenient. Then someone decided only the 4th Avenue entrance could be made secure, and posted a greeter – possibly the dullest job in the city, since even Fred Meyer greeters get to watch out for shoplifters. And then someone decided the greeter was not sufficient, and installed barricades, with a fancy remote control to open the tiny swing doors, and pretty lights showing red and green in case people don’t know how to go through barriers (hint: stop when closed, go when open).

Here’s the thing: Every time I enter those 4th Avenue doors with my laptop and/or backpack, I’m asked, “Where are you headed?”. And when I say, “City Council” or “Mayor Potter’s office” or whatever it may be, I’m just waved through. Nobody asks if I have weapons, explosives, or other mean stuff in my bags. The fancy gates aren’t metal detectors. There seems to be absolutely no purpose to stationing the guards or installing the silly little barricades. The only people they would keep out are mentally ill people too out of touch with reality to say “City Council” when asked where they’re going. The whole set-up is ridiculous.

How much did these fancy-looking, remote-control mini gates cost, and what was the problem they aimed to solve? Assuming the guards aren’t using demographic profiling to wave through middle-aged women with white-streaked hair, who are they intended to keep out, and how?