February 13, 2008
Hey, D.C.: It's Called 'Salt'
UPDATED.
District residents dread winter more than most Northeasterners -- not because it's particularly cold here, but because this city is comically helpless when confronted with flurries and ice. Now that the Beltway's inability to cope with treacherous winter weather has nearly felled America's secretary of defense, will the D.C. government get on this problem already?
That's right: The latest victim of D.C.'s saltless and unshoveled streets is former CIA Director and current SecDef Robert Gates, who slipped on an icy surface and fractured his shoulder last night. As many Beltway residents know, freezing rain quickly coated the region's streets and sidewalks yesterday evening, making walking and driving in this city more treacherous than usual. Maryland extended its polling hours in yesterday's Potomac Drainage Basin Primary because so many voters were taking their sweet time on the deadly roads.
This Gater witnessed several Washingtonians eat it on the glassy streets last night, and it turns out Secretary Gates was also not immune to the laws of physics. He slipped on an ice-slicked step in front of his Washington home and was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center this morning. His injury won't require surgery, a Pentagon spokesman said, but it did force Gates to cancel his testimony on the FY 2009 Defense budget today.
"Secretary Gates has been examined by a physician and is receiving treatment for this injury. He continues to perform all other duties and responsibilities of his position," DOD said.
Earlier this month, the administration of Mayor Adrian Fenty announced a "180 degree" update to how the city deals with winter weather. The solution: clear residential streets AND major arteries of snow at the same time!
A management professor "who has researched snow removal" told the Washington Post, "I wish the mayor luck. Citizens may be happier with cleaner streets, but somebody's got to pay the extra budget expense."
Washingtonians have yet to see the mayor's radical new plan at work, but most pedestrians would say the problem is much bigger than the number of snow plows deployed. As most District residents know, many of their neighbors and area businesses take days to get around to clear their sidewalks, making the frigid days following a snowfall a dangerous time for strolling about. The Post's Raw Fisher blog looked into this a year ago and found that property owners are indeed required to shovel their walks right after it snows. But, "the city is utterly toothless about enforcing this law."
(That certainly explains why a much more crowded and sprawling metropolis, New York City, is a veritable model of efficiency in times of inclement weather.)
According to D.C. solid waste inspector Thomas Day, D.C.'s Department of Public Works "does not have the authority to issue tickets for failure to remove snow from sidewalks." While the District can sue for costs if forced to remove snow from private property, "no regulations have been promulgated to implement these provisions."
Anecdotally, it seems clear from all the frozen and bumpy winter sidewalks here that the District's right to sue isn't exercised too often. Day continued: "This problem has been brought to the attention of the deputy mayor for operations, and his office is actively seeking a resolution to this issue."
Asked for a status update, Department of Public Works spokeswoman Linda Grant said the operations office had been dissolved under Fenty's direction. Regarding those in charge of enforcement, Grant said, "They are the ones who are driving the trucks to spread salt or to plow snow."
You mean, the officials tasked with enforcing the clean-up rules are the ones driving the snow plows?
"Yes," she responded. Grant said that the city had been trying to persuade property owners to obey the rules through outreach and "community-based listservs," the purpose of which are "to organize groups within communities so sidewalks can be cleared."
The District hasn't seen a lot of the white stuff this winter. Fenty's new policy on snow removal is clearly a product of several incidents last winter that left residents and commuters filled with rage. We're not sure how angry Secretary Gates is feeling right now, but we're guessing his fall last night wasn't a fun one.
Nothing against Mayor Fenty, who is still just a little more than a year on the job, but we hear former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has some free time these days. Just saying.
Posted at 12:34 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Robert Gates, Rudy Giuliani
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