In northern towns where 6 inches of snow falling overnight is a regular occurrence, the spring thaw of icy rivers and crusted drifts is called “the break-up.” It is mostly celebrated by people who live in these places — the end of freezing cold, the start of warmer days. There is also an unease about it. Near rivers, giant ice drifts cause blockages and flooding. The retreat of the icy snow drifts reveals lost items, piles of trash and, worse, evidence of crimes and various misdeeds against nature and humanity.
Seattle, it seems, is going through a similar thaw. Where the snow was good fun and an unusual opportunity to play, it also overwhelmed many services — and our streets and sidewalks. Today, we are left looking at the lost items, the trash and, worse, evidence of crimes and various misdeeds against nature and humanity.
There are many categories to discuss:
- The roads and sidewalks
- Snowplows, salt, sand
- Buses
- Services
- The mayor, the county exec, the governor, etc.
- Citizens
- Businesses
- Communication
Is it possible to make digging through the break-up’s detritus a productive conversation? There will likely be “town halls” scheduled soon in neighborhoods around Seattle. It is worth doing even if you don’t give a crap about the snow. The best element of the “town halls” can be the opportunity for citizens to have their stories recorded — think of it as evidence in understanding how the Hill survived a gnarled transportation and limited government services. The worst element can be the representatives from government and services dominating the microphone. A lot of great comments are scattered across CHS — and, no, not all of it is bitching. Should we push for a Capitol Hill forum? Or just collect the stories here?
I think the opinions of those of us who live in this neighborhood and rely on public services like Metro to a larger extent than outlying communitities, would be a good thing. When you see the various opinion forums at the local newspapers or media sites, invariably you see the conversation descend into the type of mindless anti-government invective typical of talk radio. I think people who read and contribute to this site would be well suited to provide a thoughtful counterpose to the “Off with their Heads!” postings that have become commonplace elsewhere. I think it would also be good to have this conversation over a period of time, so that people can form and discuss final conclusions when the rawer feelings engendered by “Snowpocalypse” have subsided.
As a non-car-owning resident of this hood, I’ve thought about these issues quite a bit, and am still formulating what I think should happen to make sure the city and region can respond better to the next snow storm. But I have to be candid and admit that I started my analyis by jumping ahead to my ultimate conclusion: would my disapproval of the handling of this snow storm affect my vote next November? The answer I arrived at is probably not.
I’m usually not a single-issue voter, especially not for a poor response to a relatively rare weather event. In the bigger picture, I generally like the direction the City of Seattle is taking. For the record, I think the City did a poor job clearing roads, but I’m not going to vote against Nickels just because of that one shortcoming. I agree with him on a host of other issues: viaduct replacement with a surface option, densification of existing neighborhoods, and expansion of the streetcar network, to name a few. I’m not thrilled with Nickels’s vacillating leadership style, but he deserves an enormous amount of credit for changing the trajectory of this city. He and his staff have taken to heart the lessons of Vancouver and Portland, and I’m not going to vote against that just because of a botched snow response. What’s more, I don’t know whose candidacy would provide me with an acceptable alternative. I’ll never, ever vote for anyone who supports an elevated viaduct rebuild, so that rules out Nick Licata, should he decide to run, nor would I support any of the other council members over Nickels this year. I’m not aware of anyone listed as a possible challenger to Nickels that I’d consider as a slam-dunk for my vote.
Regarding the County, I do not plan to support Sims for another term, but I’d reached that conclusion well before all of the issues over Metro’s snow operations. There are several areas of disagreement I have with him (not the least of which has been his opposition to expansion of Link Light rail), but my decision was also made easier by the likelihood of an acceptable alternative (Larry Phillips) making a run for County Executive.
The bottom line is that I don’t see the level of (dis)satisfaction rising to the point where politicians lose their jobs solely because of the snow response. While I’m frustrated with what I perceive to be Metro’s terrible performance, I don’t know what leverage we have to change it. I’m skeptical that a city or county representative listening to us would do much good to improve the reliability of Metro, for example, or to cause the city to more aggressively deal with snow removal. Maybe a savvy challenger will take on the mantle of changing Metro’s culture (improving the public’s access to accurate information would be a good start; buying buses that can accept chains would be another good step–apparently some of them can’t). Similarly, maybe someone will challenge Nickels on the City’s snow response by promising to salt the roads and buy more snow plows (or at least buy steel blades for the ones we already have). A pro-snow removing Nickels would likely get my vote. Maybe a groundswell will develop. I doubt that will happen, but anything’s possible. In any event, as things stand now I can’t see my frustration over the snow response translating to how I vote next year, and that realization frustrates me more than any shortcomings the City’s and County’s snow response.
If you want to record this as interesting event for an archive, I think it would be a good idea. If you want the forum to be about how Capitol Hill was not served by government and compare it to what other cities that get regular snowfall do, I think it would be a waste of time.
This snowfall was not a normal event. Let’s not lose that perspective. People did and generally do the best they can given the circumstances.
Sounds like a good idea. One of my favorite quotes:
“Complain or do nothing. Never do both.”
the only thing about the poor response to the snow that alarms me about our local government is that you can think of this as a dress rehearsal for a major disaster or terrorist attack. if we have an earthquake and our ability to move through the city was hampered, what our leaders have shown us is that they become paralyzed and are unable to adapt to the situation. i think comparisons to Katrina are dangerous, but there is a similarity in the response, if not the scale. Basically, Seattle was on its own and had to deal with the dangerous environment on an individual level.
So while I agree that I wouldn’t change my vote just because of some snow, the issue is bigger than snow. I want a leader who can control the situation rather than become prisoner to it, and this crowd showed little imagination or gumption when faced with a complex problem that didn’t present an easy solution.
@some dude: I think it’s an incorrect argument to compare the response to snow to a potential response to an earthquake. They are two completely separate situations.
Bonus points if you have a shot of the 7-11, 12/20/08 or later. Thanks.