Baltimore City failed to clear sidewalks on both sides of Mount Washington’s Kelly Avenue Bridge — shown here looking east toward its intersection with Falls Rd. — until the ninth day following the snowstorm. (VoB Staff Photo)
…before threatening to fine residents
for not clearing the snow from theirs
MTA DOES ITS USUAL LACKLUSTER JOB,
FAILING TO MEET WEATHER CHALLENGE
AND PROVIDE NEEDED PUBLIC SERVICE
Light Rail and subway systems miss opportunity
to display strong, positive impact at a time
when cars needed to be kept off roads
TWO NEW BOOKS OFFER INSIGHT
INTO FINDING COMMON GROUND
TO GET THINGS DONE IN D.C.
By David Maril
While wondering how Baltimore elected officials can even consider fining private citizens for not shoveling off snow-covered sidewalks, it is interesting to note the following:
Talk about living in glass houses and throwing stones! Certain city administrative people need some Windex and take a few moments to look out at their own sidewalks and walkways.
Before they start threatening to enforce the law on residents and businesses — issuing fines if sidewalks in front of individual properties are not cleared of snow — they should make certain Baltimore City cleans up its own act.
While over two feet of snow blanketed the city, the focus has been on clearing roadways — often one lane at a time — leaving many city sidewalks and walkways ignored.
One prime example, on the Kelly Avenue Bridge in Mount Washington, involves the two sidewalks connecting with the bridge’s intersection at Falls Road.
The walkways on both sides are safety hazards for anyone trying to get below the bridge to the U.S. Post Office, or to attempt to reach Falls Road or nearby stores.
Pedestrians would have to navigate through 24 inches of packed snow and ice. The only way to avoid slipping and breaking your neck would be to walk out on the road surface of the bridge, which is narrower than usual because of snow plowed up on the sides.
There are plenty of other examples around the city.
But this isn’t meant to be a criticism of the walkways’ not being cleared in a timely fashion. With a record-breaking snowstorm, a measure of patience and understanding is merited.
This storm has required a major cleanup effort, and that needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating the city’s performance.
More than a week after the record-breaking January 2016 blizzard dumped nearly 30 inches of snow on Baltimore, including Mount Washington, the Kelly Avenue Bridge sidewalks had not been cleared by the city. (VoB Staff Photo)
That said, however, the same patience and tolerance needs to be extended to residential property owners and businesses.
The snow cleanup takes time, and common sense needs to prevail in the practice of handing out fines to enforce rules that ought to be suspended because of special conditions.
If the city is going to be unreason- able and demand immediate clean- up action from residents and businesses, then it must expect to be judged and evaluated by the same harsh and unreasonable standard.
This — no pun intended — is a two-way street.
One cleanup area the city and, primarily, the state, deserve criticism for is once again traditionally failing to recognize the importance and potential of public transportation systems.
When it is important, from a cleanup, safety, traffic and parking sense, for cars to be kept off the road, the Light Rail and subway should be promoted as viable options to get downtown.
Horrendous road conditions are the perfect time for people who don’t normally think of utilizing rail service, to be introduced to it and get a better idea of what the possibilities are.
Unfortunately, instead of rising to the challenge when people started going back to work after the storm, the Light Rail and subway systems only provided limited service for several days.
The Light Rail, into the middle of the week, was only running from Hunt Valley to North Avenue. There was no service deeper into the city or to the airport.
The subway was limited to the underground section of its route.
THIS FEEBLE RAIL reaction to a storm that had been predicted for nearly a week is pathetic and inexcusable for an urban metro area.
But this is nothing new.
The Baltimore public transportation system is so inadequate, the city recently was working on a plan to lend Amazon $100,000 for the company using its own shuttle service to transport employees to its warehouse.
And, in contrast to other cities, the fact MTA service updates are not always mentioned on most Baltimore radio and television traffic reports, is another indication of the lack of respect our government has for using public transportation.
Thanks to shortsighted city and state politicians who lack vision, backbone and commitment to the future, Maryland public transportation does not get the financial support or management that ensures mobility and economic growth.
On the plus side, at least the Inner Harbor is no longer the first choice for dumping the chemical and sand-treated snow that accumulates after plowing city streets.
THE INNER HARBOR, which is a key to the long-term revitalization of Baltimore, already takes a beating from the city’s ineptitude and shortsightedness in putting a halt to the pollution that drains into the water.
Stop the presses!
The Baltimore Sun, which has been tenaciously providing excellent coverage, on a local level, of significant issues and the political scene, must have been suffering from snow-coverage burnout the past week with the headline: “10 mayoral candidates agree city needs change.”
That would be on par with running a “Hurricane to deliver rain” headline on a weather story.
One joke among left-wing Bush Family bashers, growing in popularity that keeps making the rounds is, “I thought Jeb was supposed to be the smart brother.”
The best chance — and the window of opportunity is growing very short — for the GOP party-establishment to keep Donald Trump from getting the Republican nomination is for Bush to quit the race.
Two former Senate Majority Leaders offer insights on how party leaders from opposite sides of the aisle can get along and find common ground in order to get things done in Washington.
If he pulls the plug on his big money, but faltering campaign organization, mainstream party support mighty unite behind Govs. Chris Christie or John Kasich.
Bush doesn’t have a chance of winning and he is tying up establishment support the longer he continues his somber and unconvincing campaign.
Speaking of Kasich, it defies logic and common sense that his presidential campaign, which emphasizes bringing people together, has gained so little traction.
So much for the importance of being an effective governor and having served impressively as a Washington legislator.
Two interesting books about today’s need for finding common ground in politics to get anything accomplished, are coming out.
A self-centered egomaniac like Ted Cruz, seeking the presidency, could learn a lot about humility, civility, protocol, respect and getting things done, if he took time from his campaign to read these books.
One, written by, respectively, former long-term Senate Republican and Democratic leaders Trent Lott (Majority Leader: 1996-2001) and Tom Daschle (Majority Leader: 2001-2003), is entitled Crisis Point: Why We must — and How We Can — Overcome Our Broken Politics in Washington and Across America.
The two former rivals describe how they were able to work together for the good of the country, and focus on the importance of compromise, leadership, vision and chemistry.
Their emphasis is that democracy requires communication and tolerance, severely lacking in today’s partisanship and small-minded extremism in both parties.
The other book, by Nick Littlefield and David Nexon, is Lion of the Senate: When Ted Kennedy Rallied the Democrats in a GOP Congress.
Whether or not you agreed with Kennedy’s liberal views, the book is a perceptive examination of how he was able to work with conservative senators on the other side of the aisle, in a civilized fashion, to find common ground and get things done.
When Megyn Kelly negotiates a new contract, with Fox News or another network next year, she should give Donald Trump a talent-fee cut for helping promote her career.
The blustering business mogul, who may be the greatest media manipulator of all time, has raised her profile more successfully than any talent agent ever could.
Fox News pundit/political commentator Megyn Kelly should pay Donald Trump a talent fee for promoting her career.
It would not be surprising at all if Trump actually remains a friend of Kelly’s and this feud is nothing more than a good publicity stunt to benefit both their careers.
Trump may have stolen a page from comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen — radio rivals who knocked each other publicly on their programs, but were actually friends.
Fox can blame itself for losing out in the court of public opinion despite taking the right position, refusing to give in to a politician’s demand for a moderator-host change.
If it had been any other network and any other politician, other than Trump, bowing out of a debate, public sentiment would have probably had a negative influence on the candidate’s campaign.
The network was hurt by the reality it is perceived to be way too chummy with the Republican Party and serves as a cheerleading organization to help select the strongest presidential candidate to defeat the Democrats.
If this had been CNN, or even one of the much-maligned “too liberal mainstream media networks,” there would have been a stronger public reaction against Trump’s attempt to dictate the terms.
For better or worse, Fox is uncomfortable with unpredictable Trump as the GOP frontrunner because it can not control him.
At some point, friction was bound to erupt over some kind of an issue. Trump was not about to be herded along by Fox with the other GOP candidates.
With a lead in Iowa and little to gain in the debate, he boldly decided to put Fox in its place and make his own headlines, letting the rest of the pack attack Cruz, his closest rival.
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
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