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A+ for Boston snow removal?

The mayor, who apologized to locals a couple days ago about the pace of snow removal, went on national TV this morning and gave the city an A+ for snow removal.

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Comments

OK, this guy has to go. First he is disappointed by the response but now it's fine? I have zero doubt that currently Menino's primary daily concern is his perceived legacy as Boston mayor (which I'll give him a B for). Everytime there's a problem, he acts surprised and disappointed as if it isn't his leadership which has failed.

DPW can't clear the streets? Who's the boss of the DPW head?

BPS reform endless? Who does Carol Johson report to?

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Bull. Bull. Bull.

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Is John Connolly is a mirror image of this baboon and will get elected Mayor. This city needs a leader not some lifelong political hack whose been playing the game for over a decade.

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He must be grading on a curve of his own design. In Charlestown the streets are still a disaster and the only unshoveled sidewalks earlier this week were around city schools.

I'll spot the city a few days since it was a big storm. But they kicked the cars off the road a full week ago now.

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And yet the bus lanes on Washington Street between Mass Ave and Melnea Cass are still not plowed. And bus stops are full of snow. WTF?

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I have to say that I didn't seen nearly as many plows out this storm as I have in past big storms.

Not in Boston, not in the surrounding cities. It was kind of odd, actually. I've never seen so few plows - even for private lots.

Anybody know if there has been a drop in the number of people and trucks available to plow? Have they all moved to the further-out suburbs? I remember that I used to have neighbors and coworkers who would make quite a few extra bucks by investing in a plow, but I don't know anyone who does that now.

Was it gas prices? Are fewer people moonlighting these days? Have we gotten to the point where snow is so unpredictable that it isn't worth it? Has our population aged to the point where there are fewer people able to put in those kinds of hours?

I can't help but wonder if there was a lack of equipment and plow guys behind the region-wide problem.

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You might be on to something here. Friend of mine does landscaping in the summer and plows in the winter -- but there is just not enough regular work to pay for truck maintenance and gas. A big storm or two is just not enough. It needs to be a season-long, weekly layering of not snowpocalaypse proportions, but enough so that someone needs you to go out and scrape down their driveway or salt their parking lot. Otherwise the margins are blown and you might as well get a UPS job (helllll NO!).

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I'm not sure if this answers your question but my sister's ex BF's father runs a road work/paving company and also at one time did plowing during the winter. Besides the obvious costs of fitting the trucks with plows, gas, labor, etc, supposedly there is an extra registration fee associated with plows. During the 90s there was a period of about two or three years in a row where we had mild winters so he decided it wasn't worth the cost and stopped getting involved in plowing.

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...its' not just for colleges anymore.

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How crazy is this? On the day of the storm they called Elmo Balldassari the "Snow General" to introduce him to the press conference. Sunday into Monday the Mayor is getting KILLED for entire neighborhoods being unplowed since Friday. From Charlestown to Westie, Dot, Brighton and Roslindale. On Tuesday, Wed and Thursday the Commissioner of DPW gets destroyed in the press. Now its Friday and he gives an "A+". Only one who comes out clean in this is Elmo Balldassari...which makes sense if the rumors are true about his connection to the trash contracts and his "Friends" trash company. Can't let that get out.

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Hi everyone in Boston bitching about snow removal! Just a couple of quick things, then I'll move on.

First off, if you think Boston is bad, take a trip to Brookline or Newton. It's worse. Both of those cities are smaller than Boston, and you're not even allowed to park on the street overnight in Brookline, so they literally have no excuse.

Secondly, I see a whole lot of complaining by people who probably didn't even lift a shovel during this storm. You know, the renters who expect someone to dig them out, put their trash out for them etc. I have an enormous problem with the scale of people bitching in this city, and an even bigger problem with this "blame Menino for everything" bullshit.

Know why he keeps getting elected? Because the people who lived in this city remember what it was like before he was here. And until someone better comes along, or he decides he's going to quit, they'll likely keep voting for him because he (get ready for blasphemy on UHub) has done an outstanding job directing this city over the past two decades. If you think otherwise, you're simply wrong. Every major metric of lifestyle in this city is better now than it was 20 years ago. Period. There is no argument.

Does shit get screwed up sometimes? Sure. And I'm sure you're perfect, and could administrate a city of nearly a million people without screwing anything up, but you're special, so cut the rest of us imperfect individuals some slack.

In conclusion, if you don't like where a pile of snow is, call someone, or move it yourself. Don't come on to the internet and bitch. Don't like having to dig your car out? Sell your car. Can't sell your car? Move. Don't like the mayor? Vote for someone else. All of you poor poor people who haven't had to shovel ANYTHING for almost two years are just so victimized by big bad Menino and his cronies.

Save it.

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You 'see a lot of complaining by people who probably didn't lift a shovel' where? I live on a residential street and all of the home owners I talked to agree it was mystifying that our street was unpassable until Sunday night after the storm when even in the big storms of similar size in 2003 or 2005 the street was plowed within 24 hours of the end of the storm. And no, bucket loaders and dump trucks weren't required- the plow pushed the snow to the non-parking side of our one way street, same as always.

How do you square Menino stating the plowing was poorly done on Monday and now saying it was an A+ job?

You know why he keeps getting elected? Party machine politics. He was a good mayor but for the past term he's done jack-sh1t to improve the schools, crime rates or infrastructure.

As for Newton and Brookline, I don't live there and I didn't elect their town officials. I don't care about their services.

What department is your patronage job in anyways?

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I have been critical of Brookline DPW's performance in this recent storm, but the notion that the situation in Brookline was worse than in Boston is laughable.

Were there Brookline streets that were not down to pavement within 12 hrs of the end of the storm as they usually are? Yes. Were there commercial districts (e.g., center median Beacon St. parking areas) that were not cleared of all snowpiles within 48 hours of the end of the storm as usual? Yes. Were the sidewalks around the schools and in the commercial districts not cleared by the sidewalk plows as quickly as usual? Yes.

I did not, however, come across any impassable or nearly impassable streets on 36 hours after the storm in Brookline, whereas over the line in Brighton, almost every two way non-snow emergency street that was passable (some were not) had been reduced to one lane by default. (This, of course, is totally understandable though given the parked cars on both sides.)

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I pay a boatload, as a renter, and it's very clear in the lease (a binding legal contract) that my landlord has to clear the sidewalks.

Which they did.

So why are you trying to draw a line from the shitty job the city's done to renters?

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If this is an "A", I'd hate to see what would have to happen for the Mayor to find fault with snow removal. I happened to be on upper Newbury Street late yesterday afternoon - signs stuck in snowdrifts all along the street that parking was not allowed - because they STILL hadn't cleaned it up.

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Don't we know by now that when the Mayor states something, we are all supposed to believe it? That is his strategy, no matter how blatant a mistruth it is. Unwisely, he came out with a statemnt criticizing the plowers. Well, he should have criticized his own staff ( city DPW workers). Every plow is equipped with GPS and they are very closely monitored. The city shouldput GPS on the city workers BODY. Ask anyone who plows. The city workers walk away from their responsibilities and many are not knowledgeable or comopetent.

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