Last year, there was a lot of hoohaa here in Rochester about snow removal, and how failure to do so impacts particularly, people with disabilities. I wrote a short piece thanking two kind strangers who helped me get through the snow. The Mayor got himself into a wheelchair so that he could experience what it was like to try and traverse impassable sidewalks. There were several news stories, including and editorial featuring me and the Mayor wheeling in the snow. The Mayor even allocated more money in the budget for snow removal!
Mayor Duffy with me in the snow last year
With all that, you think that there’d be some change. Well, you’d be wrong!
A year on, things have not changed at all. I am still struggling, wheeling in the middle of the street to get to work because someone decided that it is the city’s responsibility, not theirs, to clear the sidewalk in front of their property. The City Code says that the city will clear sidewalks when there is 3 inches of snow (down from 4 inches because of the Mayor’s wheel in the snow), but that property owners are rsponsible for snow removal on their property, yet, they won’t enforce this unless someone complains! Wow, this sounds like the Unfunded Mandate known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)! People with disabilities have to be the watchdogs and complain, else the ADA won’t be enforced. The code enforcement situation is shameful because there ARE funds allocated to snow removal, and perhaps, if people started getting citations, they’d get better at shoveling the snow in front of their property. Other cities do it. The problem here in Rochester is that the worse offender is THE CITY, and the city doesn’t want to cite itself, so they don’t bother citing others. It’s a catch-22, isn’t it?
Me in the street due to impassable sidewalks
My thought is this: People are using the city’s double standard as an excuse not to do their civic, lawful, and neighborly duty, so the city needs to step up and do what they’re asking others to do, so that they take away the excuses of lazy and apathetic folks. Proper snow removal benefits EVERYONE, and if the city, property owners, business owners, and neighbors worked together on this, instead of pointing fingers and blaming, Rochester would be a better place to live in the winter.
Chris and the Mayor co-authored a piece in yesterday’s Democrat and Chronicle. Here is the link along with all of the comments. I also commented on this issue.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080213/OPINION02/802130325
There was also a piece yesterday about this issue on Channel 10 here in Rochester. I was interviewed for this story.
http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S345879.shtml?cat=566
