Boston residents might be willing to comply with Mayor Marty Walsh’s request to remain patient as the city cleans up the snow, but don’t expect them to lift a finger.
Recently in my neighborhood, the president of the Union Park Neighborhood Association got substantial pushback when he tried to organize a Saturday shovel day.
Jamie Fox sent an email to South End residents from a city liaison: “The idea is that folks can come to (the restaurant) Stella, get some shovels and other tools and schedule a time with me and DPW for the front end loader to come to their block. The front end loader is basically a giant dumpster for snow, and it can be placed in a designated spot for neighbors to come dump their snow and help make their block a little more walkable.”
Sounded like a good idea to me. The city hasn’t been able to properly clear the snow, so it’s spilling over into our sidewalks, forcing us to walk in the middle of the street with our children.
This shovel day could have alleviated some of this problem.
But asking residents to volunteer their sore backs and limited time to help the city didn’t go over well.
Not to mention, most residents just had to write a larger check for their property tax bill after many homeowners saw substantial increases in their property assessments. After the city hit them in their wallets, it appears South Enders laughed at the idea of helping the Department of Public Works.
One day later, the plan was scrapped.
Fox wrote, “Recently, I forwarded to you (without comment) an email regarding a tentative plan by the city to coordinate a weekend snow removal initiative in the South End that depended on residents to do the heavy lifting. As you might expect, there was considerable push back from the Forum on this ill-conceived idea.”
Oops!
In general, residents are willing to do their civic duty to help beautify our parks and playgrounds during weekend cleanups. But after weeks of relentless snowstorms, the exhausted public is looking to the city to do the heavy lifting.
Unfortunately, those DPW workers are as winter-weary as the mayor.
Jaclyn Cashman co-hosts “Morning Meeting” from 9 to noon on Boston Herald Radio. Follow her on Twitter at @JaclynCashman
Copyright © 2024 Jaclyn Cashman.
