An Afternoon at City Hall

Orlando's City Hall is a sleepy little affair, nestled in the north-east quadrant of the I-4 and 408 interchange, at the corner of W. South Street and S. Orange Avenue. It usually sees more activity when there's a protest rally going on than it does the city's business is supposed to be conducted. I decided to make a quick stop on the way home because I wanted to see if anyone from Occupy Orlando was there. They'd long ago left their original starting place on S. Ivanhoe next to the Chamber of Commerce. A mix of self-inflicted factors combined with being hassled steadily by the police convinced them to withdraw and re-group at City Hall.

ChargePoint charging station

When I arrived at City Hall I parked in the first empty spot I could find. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked to my right and saw an electric vehicle charging station by ChargePoint. I'd been told that a few had started to appear around Orlando, but I hadn't seen one yet. This one was unique because it was the only one on the street, there was no "EV Parking Only" sign near it, and you have to pay to use it. I have no idea how much it costs, even though I looked around for some explanation as to cost.

The small area in front of City Hall was quite empty. It made it easy to find the few folks that were at City Hall. I did indeed find two who were representing Occupy Orlando, and was told that the majority were meeting up in Tallahassee this week to chart policy with regards to Occupy in Florida for the coming year. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

While I was there I spotted this small interview taking place between one of our elected (appointed) city officials and the local ABC affiliate, WFTV-9.

Right before I left to head on home I came across a street musician at City Hall. After dropping in a tip I was allowed to take a few photos while he performed. He was a pretty good player and singer, or at least he sounded good to me, which is all that matters.