Sunday, January 06, 2008

Snow and Garbage

hmmm

To all those long-suffering Milwaukee residents who may still be watching trash pile up weeks after Christmas, Mayor Tom Barrett has a message: “Hold tight,” Barrett said Saturday, vowing that the sanitation trucks are coming.

Trash collection was stepped up Saturday as the Department of Public Works dispatched crews to help clear a backlog of garbage. Crews were on the streets from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“It’s the never ending battle among man, garbage, snow and the holidays,” Barrett said as he explained the reasons for the trash pile up.

December snow storms forced sanitation trucks to double as snow plows. There were also four holiday dates in the Christmas-New Year’s period when trash wasn’t collected.

“In December you had the second highest snow total in the history of the city,” Barrett said. “Unlike the snow in 2000, this snow came in a large number of snow falls. It just kept coming and coming and coming which meant we had to keep coming and coming with crews devoted to snow removal.”

Barrett said he didn’t get his first post-Christmas trash pickup until Friday.

What a pack of excuses.  This is Wisconsin.  Snow removal and garbage collection are two of the most basic responsibilities of government.  If Barrett can’t get that done, then what good is he?

On another note, aren’t you Milwaukee folks glad that he’s running unopposed?

(11) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1637 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. I read this article too and have to say that the G-men came through my neighborhood (southwest Milwaukee) and took care of business quite well.  They’ve done a very good job with snow removal too, however I don’t doubt the problems reported in other areas of the City.  Efficient snow removal has a lot to do with a truck’s ability to maneuver through the streets which is often hampered or made impossible by residents parking on both sides of the street.  Then there are those residents too irresponsible or just plain too lazy to make their garbage and recycling carts accessible to the G-men.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 06, 2008 at 1735 hrs


  2. Who else wants to be Milwaukee’s whipping boy?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 06, 2008 at 1749 hrs


  3. Owen

    Are you saying the city should buy more trucks and hire more folks just in case of Record Events??

    Extra Ordinary events may cause extra ordinary delays!!

    To spend money and have folks and equipment sitting around for a once in a lifetime event is pure launacy!!

    are you in favor of rebuilding all the new orleans levies to 10 times what they were….JUST IN CASE!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 06, 2008 at 1917 hrs


  4. It’s been… what?  Over a week since our last significant snowfall?  What’s the excuse?

    Posted by Owen on January 06, 2008 at 1920 hrs


  5. And we certainly can’t ask Milwaukee to, privatize trash collection can we?

    Something I can see 2 advantages in doing:

    1. Sell the garbage trucks and

    2. The Sanitation guys will now longer be doubling as snowplow drivers.

    And Owen I for one am happy to say Barrett running unopposed, it means at least 4 more years of groundhog jokes! (I got a chuckle out of it) grin

    Posted by Michael J. Cheaney on January 06, 2008 at 1954 hrs


  6. Same thing happened during the winters of ‘77/‘78 and ‘80/‘81, IIRC.

    At that time, the Mayor was different but the snowfall was just as difficult.  In fact, in the 77/78 winter, the City had to load snowbanks into dumptrucks and move the snow to the KK river, it was so damn deep.

    That was the winter that Harnischfeger put its factory-labor force to work shoveling snow from the RR tracks next to the plant so they could ship mining machinery.

    Stuff happens.

    Posted by dad29 on January 06, 2008 at 2116 hrs


  7. Well since they were behind because of the holidays and then the snowplowing I would suppose it takes awhile to catch up. It’s not like the residents stop generating garbage so they have to pick up more each stop. Then there is the recycling and don’t forget there probably was a lot more garbage from all the holiday parties, gifts etc. If you want to hire more people and buy more trucks, well then I would think I would read an article about how high the taxes were and there wasn’t any snow, holidays etc and it’s a waste. You could contract with private haulers but I bet they were or still are in the same predictament as the city with double pick-ups, inaccessible cans. Sometimes private companies aren’t any better than public.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 06, 2008 at 2127 hrs


  8. The problem is that the snowplow drivers and the garbage collectors are the same people, as well as in some cases the same vehicles.  It just takes a while to catch up.  A lot of Milwaukee residences have alley pickup with is just horrible with snow.  I have had my trash picked up twice since Christmas, both times on Saturdays, but I have a driveway not an alley.

    As a side note, I have not had my recycling picked up since early December, and I think those are private contractors.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2008 at 1056 hrs


  9. I’m so glad I’m paying a higher level of taxes for this higher level of service….  wink

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 07, 2008 at 1217 hrs


  10. I’d been kinda wondering why my trash hadn’t been picked up lately…

    Hey wait! If the trash trucks double as snow plows, why the hell don’t they plow my alley where they pick up the freaking trash?

    Posted by Matt on January 07, 2008 at 1226 hrs


  11. Matt, if you really are a Milwaukeean, you’re just having fun jumping on Owen’s bandwagon here, right?

    ‘Cause if that’s not what you’re doing, and you are a Milwaukeean—let us explain to you that the plows are put on the trucks when it snows.  Think it through: You really don’t want those plows scraping the streets when it’s not snowing (read: more street repair). 

    As for your concern, Owen, thanks—but as you can see, we’re really used to life in the big city . . . and yes, we’re fine with our mayor.  Sorry that you’re so unhappy, all the time here, with West Bend.  It’s a nice little town, and maybe it will get better for you there.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on January 10, 2008 at 1845 hrs


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