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Snowplow complaints? Tell it to City Hall
By MARV CERMAK
First published in print: Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Chances are, if you live on a Schenectady speedway street — one without a traffic control for several blocks — you've had to dig out your sidewalk a couple times after each snowstorm.
     
Our neighborhood includes a nine-block straightaway where folks had to work overtime after digging out the first Mother Nature bombardment. Then, thanks to high-flying city snowplows, they got to do encores with shovels or snowblowers.

A couple of storms ago, at about 2 a.m., I watched a snowplow speeding down our racetrack. The driver swerved to avoid hitting two pedestrians forced to walk in the street because previous plow runs made sidewalks impassable.

I gave the driver a hand signal to slow down. He returned a look as if to say, "How dare this woodchuck question my driving." He proved who was boss on the return run when he roared past pushing my snowbanks back to a fence six-feet from the road.

My neighbors complain to each other about lousy plowing and other various city problems instead of aiming their ire at City Hall. They're entitled to decent service because they are paying the highest combined property tax in the Capital Region.

Vince Riggi, Schenectady's longtime unofficial ombudsman — unpaid and unwanted by city officials — is a lightning rod for complaints. During a recent City Council meeting, he said residents were calling him about speeding snowplows.

"These plow drivers must slow down. Residents paying very high taxes shouldn't be forced to clean the mess created by city workers,'' Riggi said.
http://timesunion.com/AspStori.....p;newsdate=1/13/2009