Sunday, December 13, 2009

Cieslewicz Apologizes

If you were a victim of this, I wonder if your insurance company can send the bill to the city with this attached. 

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz apologized Friday for decisions he made this week during a massive snowstorm that led major city streets to resemble icy washboards and prompted numerous complaints from drivers.

“Please have a little patience,” Cieslewicz said in an interview Friday. “I understand it’s been difficult. I apologize for that. I take responsibility for it, personally.”

Slick streets and rutted roads this week have led to accidents, slide offs and traffic delays as the city digs out from the sixth largest two-day snowfall in 60 years.

As of late Friday, no traffic incidents in the city had resulted in a serious injury, Madison police said. But police logged 263 accident calls from noon Tuesday until noon Friday, more than two times as many as police received in the three days prior to the storm.

(10) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2229 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. If I left my sidewalk in the same condition the City left the streets, the City would fine me $114.  So, the next time I decide not to clear my walk, I hope the City will accept my “apology”.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 13, 2009 at 2247 hrs


  2. Was out in Madistan yesterday.  Main roads are OK.  Side streets are just awful.

    Posted by dad29 on December 14, 2009 at 0812 hrs


  3. I was in Madison for the weekend, Fri. night main traveled roads (not the belt line or interstate) were awful.  Saturday evening, with the thawing and more salting, most roads were in “good” condition.  Side roads/streets were good too.  I came home late yesterday and all roads (Madison to GB) were excellent.
    I think the mayor made the decision to plow all the side streets because last year they didn’t and it was awful all winter.  At least this year they’ve been plowed and it should be much easier with the next snow.  This is my 3rd winder driving to Madison and I hate the roads there.  My son lived there 2 years ago and winter roads was the first thing he complained about and the fact they don’t salt.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 14, 2009 at 0954 hrs


  4. I think an insurance company would simply send you a denial because the city works for you and you should collect from them.

    Please do not give insurance companies anymore ideas for denials.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 14, 2009 at 1249 hrs


  5. They need to save money so the gov can go to Coppenhaggen and tell the world how Wi built some windmills.
    ” Tax to the Max”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 14, 2009 at 1251 hrs


  6. He ought to apologize. As of Friday when I left this craphole of a town to head home to Milwaukee, the streets were still rutted, full of ice potholes and covered with sheets of ice. Observed three different accidents in a two mile stretch on a city street.

    Of course, as soon as I left Dane county, the roads were clear, ice free and had been properly prepped for travel. They don’t like salt over here - too many old hippies and tree huggers who’d rather you bend your car up than salt a road. I actually saw some dumb bastage riding his bicycle here Wednesday morning during the blizzard. Another Darwin Award candidate.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 14, 2009 at 1541 hrs


  7. The People’s Republic of Madistan….  76 square miles surrounded by reality.

    quote unattributable, but it fits

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 14, 2009 at 1810 hrs


  8. I live in Madison and *every year* it’s the same BS.
    Last year, they didn’t plow the side streets unless it was 3 inches or more of snowfall (in one storm).  So, we had 6 inches of snow on the roads because we’d get one or two inches at a time.
    The city refuses to use salt, and even worse, uses maybe about 1/4 the amount of sand needed to break up ice sheets on roads when the temperature is too low.
    Every year the city complains “we’re over budget for plowing, we have no money left for it”.  We live in WISCONSIN for crying out loud.  We are not a part of the tropics.  We get snow *every* year.  Budget for it, use salt and sand and the streets would be fine.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 15, 2009 at 0737 hrs


  9. I think that even a lot of hard-boiled Madisonians (and even more of us who drive into and around town every day) were appalled by road conditions in Madison after this storm. 

    Everyone understands that city streets will not be back up to snuff the morning after a major storm.  But as late as Saturday afternoon—fully four days after the snow ended—most of the city streets were only marginally passable—even the major thoroughfares, like East Washington.  The ice sheet was treacherous, and the “ice potholes” were bone-jarring.  I’ve been working in Madison for 15 years now, and it was without question the worst I’ve ever seen it after a major storm.

    I hail from Waukesha County, and they knew how to clean roads out there.  Hell, the roads are better-maintained in the state’s northern reaches, where the whole annual budget of some of these townships is less than what Madison spends on a single storm event.

    Of course, Fudd is right.  Mayor Dave “Bikepath” Cieslewicz in Madison was the former head of of the Wisconsin Environmental Decade.  The guy just hates road salt.  And George Dreckman, who runs the streets and sanitation department in Madison, cares about recycling to the exclusion of just about everything else—including keeping the streets open for travel and commerce.  The old left in Madison just can’t bring itself to properly clean the city streets, because a tree might get stressed out.  It is so much better for the environment when tens of thousands of people are idled for hours in their cars, and the paint booths in area body shops are running 24 hours a day repairing unnecessary collision damage. 

    And hearing the Mayor whine about how the city is almost out of money for snow cleanup is laughable.  This is like someone being surprised by their regularly-recurring house payment!  The city’s leadership should be recalled on that basis alone!

    But that’s the way Madison is.  The folks who live there have gotten the government they deserve, unfortunately.  It would be nice if the road conditions of the last few winters would open the eyes of some folks to the need for some new leadership there.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on December 15, 2009 at 0830 hrs


  10. The roads are still awful on Madison’s near west side, where I live except past the expensive homes near me on Lake Mendota.  I drove to Washington County Sunday and it was like Fantasyland.

    If Mayor Dave fails again, he deserves to be Jane Byrne.

    Posted by mgm on December 15, 2009 at 1108 hrs


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.