Priority None: Mel Lastman's looking smarter every day

I was living in Toronto during the storm of 1999, and I remember it well - buses sliding backwards down hills, switches on the subway freezing, and the hoots and catcalls from the rest of the country after Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman called in the army to help with snow removal. As someone who grew up in Ottawa, it was a little hard to understand why Toronto was so ill-equipped to handle the snow, and word at the time was that Mel and the rest of Toronto City Council hadn't yet signed the contract for snow plowing and removal and that's why the city was brought to its knees by this early-season storm. Oops. Ottawa used to get at least two blizzards a year - nowhere near as many as Montreal. But I remember snow piles that were at least five feet high.

Little did I think, however, that I'd end up living in a place where it snows (a lot) and yet the city's snow removal strategy was 'wait till it melts.' [Update November 15, 2012: from the minutes of the Lethbridge City Council meeting held November 13, 2012. When the Deputy Mayor and another member of Council (who had read my blog post) raised the issue of snow removal and snow plowing at this meeting (thank you!), the City's Director of Infrastructure Services indicated 'Priority 4 roads. (local streets) are not plowed or sanded even in an extreme event.  Intersections may get sanded when icy conditions are identified as a hazard.' [emphasis added] So despite the fact Lethbridge's public transit system is inadequate and you may not be able to get to a bus, that's pretty much it - you're on your own.]

Welcome to Lethbridge, AB, and chinook country.


I'll be the first to admit I live in a 'remote' area of town, an area known as Hardieville. We don't have many sidewalks and we don't have many street lamps and we don't have pothole-free pavement. One member of City Council has told me my neighbourhood is considered one of three 'slums' within the municipal boundaries and therefore gets little in the way of road repairs or city services. Our bus service is sporadic (those dependent on public transit would probably describe it as erratic, as I have often given carless neighbours lifts when the bus schedule seemed to have changed without warning and they got tired of waiting more than an hour for a bus that comes every half hour). We do, however, still pay property taxes. As vice president of my condo association, I've raised the issue of snow removal every year for the last three years and voted twice to tender the contract to someone who will get the job done. Our condos are four four-plexes, and we actually do have a sidewalk in front of our buildings.

As a result of my vote, we're now using a lawn care and snow removal service that gets the job done, promptly and conscientiously. We're not going to be responsible for anyone breaking their necks on our little portion of sidewalk, and by noon on Tuesday, October 23 our sidewalks and walkways were cleared of the 10 inches of snow that fell the night of October 22. In other words, we're doing our bit to comply with the City's bylaws regarding snow removal and keep people safe. And yes, this was a freakish early storm and yes, an unusually large dump for this time of year. All the more reason, knowing it was the first storm of the year, that many people hadn't yet had their snow tires put on, to ensure the safety of residents.

The City of Lethbridge seems to have no such concern for its citizens, however. The temperature dropped after the snow fell and the roads turned to ice due to warmer temperatures during the day. I think there was at least four inches of ice on the road by the time I ventured out with the car on Wednesday of last week. I got stuck at the super mailbox, and only the fear of having to abandon the car while it blocked half the road lent me the determination to keep trying to get unstuck while the wheels spun on the ice (the great thing about living in a not-too-densely populated area of town is that there aren't too many other drivers going by to jeer, 'Drive that car, lady!'). By Thursday I wanted to know why our street hadn't been plowed yet - and whether it was ever going to be. It seems Lethbridge is divided into Priority 1, 2 and 3 routes. I knew from Twitter updates and City web site postings that Priority 1 and 2 routes had been plowed already. I was, however, astonished to discover that instead of then going on to plow Priority 3 routes, the City had, in its infinite wisdom, chosen to go back over the Priority 1 and 2 routes a second time. Despite the media release assuring people that residential (Priority 3) routes would, in fact, be plowed. I must live in a 'priority none' part of town. (As an aside, I just love the way municipalities put their employees on the firing line by listing them as the contact for releases, even though they have no media training and aren't able to make decisions that are defensible - Lee Perkins is a good guy and he actually understands snow removal in a way only people who've lived in places where it's done well do.)

I would happily have taken a bus to get where I needed to go if I thought I could safely get to a bus, three or four blocks from my house. But you know what? I haven't invested in ice cleats for my boots - and I don't intend to.

It took a phone call to the City to get the streets in my neighbourhood sanded Thursday night - 72 hours after the storm. By Friday I felt safe enough to venture out to get some groceries and - irony of ironies - pay a parking ticket at City Hall. I just can't wait for December, January and March, when average snowfalls will be similar to the storm we've just been through.

So, City of Lethbridge, unless you want to buy my condo from me (I'll take property assessed value at this point), you will start plowing my street within a reasonable time period when it snows or you'll be hearing from me. Again. And again. And again. I have a series of very fetching berets and a couple of friends with big enough trucks to ensure I can make it to City Hall. I also have a natural ability to project, access to media, and quite a bit of experience making snowballs (my aim's not bad - you know - for a girl). You have a responsibility to ensure the safety of your citizens and you're falling down on that job - big time.