We’re relatively certain that when our hard-working council members are out amongst the rabble, they often go unrecognized. Theirs is not, after all, the sort of high-profile position that is often featured on the evening news (so long as they steer clear of the FBI, at least). But in the familiar confines of City Hall, everybody pretty much knows everybody else.

That’s why events at today’s Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee meeting was so surprising. Nobody seemed to recognize Council Member Diane Hofstede. First it was committee chair Don Samuels calling her “Council Member Hodges” during a presentation by a Mr. Andrews of the National League of Cities. (“It’s Hofstede, but that’s all right,” the smiling Third Ward council member said when she had the floor.)

Then, a short time later, it was a Mr. Buzz Anderson of the Minnesota Retailers Association who addressed CM Hofstede as “Council Member Johnson”--not once, but twice!

By that point, the misidentified council member could only smirk at the comic turn the afternoon had taken. She was, however, rescued by CM Samuels, who corrected the confused Mr. Anderson, noting that CM Hofstede may not “take much more of this.”

Apologies followed, but we couldn’t help but wonder whether CM Hofstede might return to chambers with a large name tag pinned to her suit.