🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BxMM5J.n17@mach1.wlu.ca> brea9430@mach1.wlu.ca (breadner kenneth cecil joseph u) writes:
|Let me explain. It took up to TWO WEEKS for all the roads to be cleared.

Well, I would rather pay taxes to support snow-clearing ability for
normal snow falls, and not have to pay extra for the extra capacity
needed to handle the occasional unusually large snow fall.

|I called the city, as I say, and all they would tell me is that it is the
|landowner's responsibility to clear the sidewalks in front of his/her
|home. I'm sure the elderly appreciate the city foisting this on them. For
|that matter, I'm sure EVERYONE appreciates this back-breaking labour,
|especially when the city DOES have sidewalk plows.

Well, I'd rather shovel my sidewalks myself, rather than pay the city
through higher taxes to do it for me.   And if I prefer to pay someone
else to do it, I can, and probably cheaper than paying the city to
pay someone for me.

I'm pretty sure that the city will shovel the sidewalks of those who
can't do it themselves (the elderly and physcially handicapped).
And I'm pretty sure it's a free service.  (See - the city does care.)

|(I am about to venture out into the pouring rain. The roads are flooded to
|a depth of almost a foot in places, because the city hasn't bothered to
|clear the leaves off the roads. Of course, the leaves shouldn't be
|blocking the drains in the first place, but people were told to rake them
|out on to the road for pick-up. More fuel for the fire.)

The City of Waterloo sends out big vacuum cleaners to suck up the leaves.
They come around on the same day as garbage pickup.  I've seen them for
at least the last three weeks.


It sounds as if you would prefer to pay higher taxes and receive more
services.  Some others would rather do a little more work themselves
and save $$.   There are benefits to both approaches.

In article <BxoB4L.457@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca> jmsellen@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca writes:
>In article <BxMM5J.n17@mach1.wlu.ca> brea9430@mach1.wlu.ca (breadner kenneth cecil joseph u) writes:
>|Let me explain. It took up to TWO WEEKS for all the roads to be cleared.
>
>Well, I would rather pay taxes to support snow-clearing ability for
>normal snow falls, and not have to pay extra for the extra capacity
>needed to handle the occasional unusually large snow fall.

I have to agree with Mr Breadner on this one.  It is VERY important to be able
to handle large snow falls, or ice storms in a timely manner.  This is NOT 
something that the average citizen can do for themselves and I whole heartedly
agree that last year at least, Waterloo did a far worse job than the other 
centers I've lived in around the area.  Snow and ice on the roads is something
you have to expect, but to leave it around any longer than is absolutely
necessary is promoting a risk of accidents and human lives!  This is not 
something that can be compromised in efforts to save a few dollars.

......
>
>It sounds as if you would prefer to pay higher taxes and receive more
>services.  Some others would rather do a little more work themselves
>and save $$.   There are benefits to both approaches.


-- John Postma
(Opinions are mine own)

-- 
    /||  // // ,'/""\'   John Postma	         john@mks.com  (519)884-2251
   / ||/// //\' `\\\     Database Administrator,   Mortice Kern Systems Inc.
  /  |/ /_//  \\___/     35 King St. N., Waterloo, Ont., Can. N2J 2W9
o/   "Things are only impossible until they're not!" -- Capt Jean Luc Picard

Hello, Ken!

brea9430@mach1.wlu.ca (breadner kenneth cecil joseph u) writes:

> Let me explain. It took up to TWO WEEKS for all the roads to be cleared.
> Even more damning, I never saw a single sidewalk plow. Not one. In fact, I
> never saw one for the entire duration of the winter.

   Sounds kinda like Buffalo... they don't get significantly worse weather 
than Toronto, they just deal with it poorly.

> I called the city, as I say, and all they would tell me is that it is the
> landowner's responsibility to clear the sidewalks in front of his/her
> home.

   This is true everywhere; remember the "be nice - clear your ice" ad 
campaign starring cartoonist Ben Wicks?

> Last I checked, taxes are paid in this city. But even paying taxes doesn't
> mean the city will take any interest at all in the well-being of its
> inhabitants!

   While I can't disagree with the desirability of cleared sidewalks, I 
suspect that you're losing sight of the fact that we expect the city to pay 
for many things, and we complain about how much we have to pay them to do it 
(and to administrate it).  Everyone's needs are different; perhaps we could 
put this discussion to constructive use by encouraging Waterloo ratepayers to 
write/call/FAX city hall with requests that the city clear the sidewalks 
promptly, and allocate whatever funds are approriate for the job.

   Remember: you can't fault politicians for not looking after your needs if 
you don't emphasize those needs to them.  Democracy can only have a fair shot 
at working if the people participate.

  Geoffrey Welsh, 7 Strath Humber Court, Islington, Ontario, M9A 4C8 Canada
geoff@zswamp.uucp, [xenitec.on.ca|m2xenix.psg.com]!zswamp!geoff (416)258-8467
       You're still young if your wallet is exhausted before you are.