America is currently lousy with tents in public, from city sidewalks to college campus quads, sheltering the dispossessed and the dissidents and everyone in between. For many officials, this is starting to make for a tense situation.

Both major political parties routinely describe themselves as big tents, though the current occupant of the White House may be wishing for less of those these days. City mayors certainly are, and they’re making efforts to show voters that they are doing something.