Back in December, winter snows paralyzed Seattle, WA when the city, citing concerns with salt in roadway runoff into Puget Sound, failed to use salt to clear city streets. Facing angry citizen reaction, the city recanted and now uses road salt. The mayor, of course, conducted an evaluation; he issued a "B" grade for the city DOT's response actions.
The Seattle Times on March 19 published results of its own independent review "to provide a more complete explanation of why the city was paralyzed by snow and ice for two weeks, even on days when there was no new snowfall." Reporter Susan Kelleher's article "Seattle DOT botched snow response," concluded:
When winter storms rolled over Seattle in December, bringing snow and freezing temperatures to the city, the manager in control of the city's snowplows had no experience directing a major snow response and had put in place as his No. 2 an employee who knew even less on the subject.
Together, Paul Jackson Jr. and Robert Clarke, a former crew chief, orchestrated a disjointed response to the winter weather that left major streets unplowed while Jackson, the man calling the shots, worried aloud about clearing certain streets so the mayor could drive to work, according to interviews with plow drivers and street crews and thousands of department records analyzed by The Seattle Times.
Better training was clearly an issue, beyond salt usage. The article continued:
While the weather was undeniably cold and snowy, interviews and a review of about 2,000 records, including e-mails and detailed reports on how the city deployed equipment and crews, show that transportation managers Jackson and Clarke made questionable calls on staffing and deployment.
Transportation crews described confusion and delays in dispatching plows when the snow first began falling, making it harder to stay on top of the game. Meanwhile, the records show trucks hopscotching around the city, attending to special requests or remaining idle while the city announced it was plowing "aggressively" and clearing main routes that residents swore had yet to see a plow.
Reader comments accepted the analysis and suggest that outrage for bonuses for bailout executives have a West Coast echo.
Add comment