Snow is natural
I just had to respond to all the letters from people trying to blame someone, anyone, for the back-to-back blizzards that brought our state to a standstill. You can’t blame anyone — it’s an act of nature! Get over it!
There’s an old saying: If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
I have a new one: If you can’t handle the snow, get out of Colorado!
Sue Mercer, Denver
I dont think people are blaming the snow for the standstill, they are blaming our INEPT officials for being UNABLE to plan decent snow removal.
Posted by Frank on February 15, 2007 05:14 AMI am so sick of hearing excuses. Fine, if snow is so natural that it relieves the officials of the burden of clearing side streets, than I want the portion of my taxes that is budgeted for snow removal reduced by the amount set aside for residential areas, and they can keep just the amount for main areas for emergency personnel. Fair's only fair. If they can't do the job, for whatever reason, than don't take my money.
Posted by fiesty on February 15, 2007 06:23 AMAw, come ON. I'm *quite* sure they could do a lot better job of removing the snow if they had more trucks. But said trucks would cost a lot of tax money, and would only get used once every few years at most.
I, for one, would NOT be happy with our tax money spent that way.
This was a very unusual (for this area) set of storms. It's simply unrealistic to expect the government to deal with it as easily as they have in the past.
They just can't win - too much snow for the current system to remove? People freak.
They come up with a plan to spend a lot of money to rip up the ice? Other people freak.
If they try to spend tax money on new equipment? Still others (including me) will freak.
Relax. It'll melt soon.
Posted by Tim on February 15, 2007 09:19 AMI understand that these storms were unusual and created a hardship on our snow removal system. My frustration comes now that when we get an inch of snow I-25 becomes a parking lot. There is no excuse for the city being crippled by a few flakes.
Posted by Connie on February 15, 2007 09:46 AMLet's take a look at the other cities that got hit by snow. Chicago had to shut down O'Hare for a day. Back up and running at full capacity. Buffalo NY got socked with 10 FEET of snow last week. They are dug out and back to normal. We've had 10 WEEKS to dig out and Denver still is an F story. To smile and say enjoy it would be wonderful, if it wasn't damaging the roads, cars, sidewalks, and creating a hazard for emergency response personnel. And don't say "poor plow drivers, they are working so hard." That is their job. Sometimes work sucks, which is why it is called work and not fun. The fact we are STILL talking about this is insane. Get the streets cleared up, and stop with the excuses.
Posted by Dan on February 15, 2007 12:40 PMThe reason the streets were not cleared is because the government felt it was not important. Spending money on wishes and desires is much more fun than spending it on needs. As far as the government is concerned, if you don't like it here, just leave all your money and things of value, and get the heck out of the state. Unless of course you are an illegal alien. In that case, come on in, we have free schools, health care, welfare and on and on. "Forget plowing the snow, we've got illegal aliens to care for."
Posted by jay on February 15, 2007 12:47 PMTo those crying about your inconveniences with the snow..........
You seem to be willing to pay any amount for snow removal. I dont see anyone here putting up time, equipment or extra $$$ to solve the problem. (Yes you already pay taxes on that....but based upon history of snow, timing and annual costs. This is a relatively simple excercise in budgeting) Just whining. How much extra are you willing to pay to have equipment rotting for multiple yrs when not needed for these big storms, or pay a retainer for private companies to plow?
When is last time we had a storm of this size or length in the last 20 yrs in the middle of winter? Can count them one hand probably. Besides that........there is a Global warming going on right now......what are you worried about?
Comparing Denver snow removal procedures, policies and budgets to those of our northern neighbors? Isnt that comparing apples to oranges? Thinking they have a bit different micro-climate than us here in Denver. I sense a bit of snowplow envy????
Posted by bwr on February 15, 2007 01:09 PMOnce again, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper has proven himself to be an incompetent dope. What a dunce.
And his public works manager, Bill Vidal, is a moron.
The mayor is too stupid to do anything about rampant red light-running in town. Heck, he can't even keep the bikes off of sidewalks!
No problem, though. Here in Denver, we like incompetent mayors. Hickenlooper will be re-elected by a landslide.
Posted by Rude Gus on February 15, 2007 01:37 PMOnce again, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper has proven himself to be an incompetent dope. What a dunce.
And his public works manager, Bill Vidal, is a moron.
The mayor is too stupid to do anything about rampant red light-running in town. Heck, he can't even keep the bikes off of sidewalks!
No problem, though. Here in Denver, we like incompetent mayors. Hickenlooper will be re-elected by a landslide.
Posted by Rude Gus on February 15, 2007 01:37 PM