So, the snow is gone. Schools are back in session. People are back at work. But I'm not sure our town will ever be the same.
During the height of our winter storm state of emergency, many people in our area found it necessary to abandon their stranded vehicles and find alternate modes to carry them to shelter. Many of them walked.
Our governor went on tv to assure everyone that they should not worry about their stranded vehicles. Nobody's cars would be towed, he said--more than once.
But apparently the mayor of my town didn't get the message. Even while the governor's assurances were being televised, Leeds was in the process of towing and impounding stranded vehicles. Motorists were finding that the two private garages that had been hired to tow the cars were charging people exorbitant fees to retrieve their cars. Our mayor was claiming that the cars had to be moved in order to rescue people (maybe) and that they could only be moved to impounding lots (not true; they could have been moved to the side of the road, to one lane, to nearby parking lots).
Many people were outraged, including me and my family. As you've heard, my daughter was one of the motorists who had found it necessary to leave her car in the snow. And the place where cars were being towed just happened to be the area where Andy had to leave her car. She spent two days unable to reach her car because of the ice and not knowing whether or not it had been impounded or would be before she could reach it. Fortunately, she got to it just before the tow truck did.
After several tales of how this situation would be rectified (from "It's not the city's responsibility to pay these charges," to "It's illegal to use public funds to benefit private citizens," to "The governor's office has said the state will reimburse motorists for the charges,") our mayor has now stated that our city government will reimburse motorists for towing/impound fees. I hope this one is true for the sake of people who do not have the money to get their cars out of jail.
Many people are supporting our mayor for the way he handled the situation. Many more are not. And while I know his job can't be an easy one, I cannot agree with the way he handled our town's crisis. The man is a long-time friend of mine, since high school. But I fear I have lost a friend. I don't know if he handled everyone's complaints the way he handled mine, but to me he sent a scathing email, berating me for disagreeing with his decision.
This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.
On 02/01/2014, sophie said ...
It seems crisis situations really bring out the best and worst of people. Was it the politician or the friend, I wonder, that sent that scathing email to you? Maybe he vented at you BECAUSE you were a friend and he felt safe doing so, even though you certainly didn't deserve it. I hope he reaches out to you and makes amends. It's sad to lose old friends.
On 02/02/2014, Ellen in Oregon said ...
Sue-
It must have been very unsettling to receive such a nasty email from someone you considered a life long friend. It sounds as though the Mayor is continuing to demonstrate poor judgement & questionable leadership skills. He clearly is very defensive on the subject of the snow storm and the consequences. He might want to try and get some thick skin as the topic is unlikely to go away any time soon. I worked in State government for many years and usually when someone like a Mayor is brought to the Governors' attention for causing a public problem they are often given a reprimand. Basically they are put on notice to quit causing problems because the problems usually do nothing, but have the potential to damage the Governors' image. That is why I am very surprised that the Mayor would respond to your comments in such an nasty email. He is foolish to send anything to a concerned citizen (friend or not) that creates a paper trail back to him. Sorry I sound so paranoid, but that was my experience with State government. You never know when someone will stab you in the back to put themselves in a better position to climb the hierarchy.I don't think the Mayor is thinking clearly or he would not have responded at all rather than be so unpleasant to you. I don't think many people in politics remember what the title of Civil Servant means anymore. It is all about personal gain. Gaining power is everything to some and most have no interest in serving the public at all.
We had a bad snow storm here about 15 years ago and there were a lot of tow companies that were accused of price gouging. Someone from the city quickly announced that they had passed a new law restricting tow services from charging more than what was normally charged in the county and that there were now high fines and potential loss of their operating business license if found guilty of overcharging. In Portland, when we have snow once or twice a Winter (if at all), it widely publicized that anyone who abandons their car or if it becomes disabled it is quickly towed to an impound lot, usually out in the sticks somewhere. I do believe that a two driver who once came to tow my car told me that once they get an order from the police or private property owner and they don't know where to contact the owner, they are required to tow it to the impound yard to collect fees and to prevent any vandalism from being done to a car they towed since they can be sued. Maybe this is why the cars in your area could not be left in the parking lots. It may be a liability issue. Once the car is touched by the tow operator they are responsible for keeping the car in their possession until released. So there may be a bit of truth to that part. But it is very bad communication between the Governor's office & your Mayors'.
I think there will be more fall out from lack of preparation for the storm. There are bound to be law suits as people lose employment because they had no car for transportation, parents of children who had to sleep at school are likely to sue over all kinds of things around that one and not having access to ERs and medications if you were trapped in a car for without medications, food or water. The people in the hardest spot are those who missed a week of work and now can't afford to pay the impound fees that run several hundred dollars.
The Gov. of Georgia & Mayor of Atlanta are just lying that the weather forecast never predicted snow. Al Roker on MSNBC got so angry that he showed the forecasts they gave hour by hour. Georgia & Atlanta had a full days warning about getting snow as it went from an advisory to a warning, but the Mayor & Gov. continue to repeat their excuse and deny being "Asleep at the Wheel". To not close the schools was inexcusable to me. Endangering people's lives, esp. in such dangerously cold temps. was unforgivable. Insiders in Atlanta have been suggesting that the warning was ignored because the Mayor's office had not budgeted for severe weather and had not purchased deicer or sand. Their budget was in trouble & they gambled that they would not need it. I guess I will wait until the investigation is done to see.
I wish your friend had thought his response through before he decided to unload on you. If the relationship goes kaput he will be the loser in my opinion. How dumb to turn on a friend over a business issue. If he was smart he would have not said anything. As my Mom taught me - "If you can't say something good about someone, then don't say anything at all" Don't let him get to you. He's probably having a male mental pause moment. Make sure Andy never leaves home without her cell phone again, they can be such a life saver and you never know when you'll really need it.
We had out Arctic Vortex before Christmas. It is so dry here with the drought. It was 67 at the coast last week. It rarely gets that warm there even in July. Now we are about to get a week of below freezing and night in the low teens. Snow is now being predicted for next Saturday. As you have probably guessed, I will be leaving my home for anything as soon as I see the first flake. The electric, gas & heating oil companies must love all this cold weather.
Take care and don't let the all the local controversies get to you. This too shall pass.
On 02/02/2014, Barbara Anne said ...
Nope, your mayor has no grounds for sending that horrid email to you or any critic. Govenor's word trumps mayor, the end!! There should also be a penality for those tow truck companies robbing folks blind. No fair!!
I'm glad Andy was able to rescue her car before it became part of the messy contraversy.
Our 2nd snow is gone, too, and today's high is forecast to be 65*F, but then it will get colder again in the coming week.
Did I tell you that the heat in 2/3 of our home quit on the 22nd, we couldn't get the repair guy until the 29th and he couldn't fix it, so another guy came the 29th and a 3rd guy came on the 30th. It's still not fixed and an "expert" is coming on the 5th. Happily, the bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are warm but our downstairs 1/2 bath feels like an outhouse. We're dressed like Nanook of the North! Do pray!
Hugs!
On 02/04/2014, lapdogknits said ...
good luck of anyone ever seeing funds returned….excuses and talk…check off the Mayor…he was never a friend to begin with….
On 02/06/2014, Donna said ...
Of course I've seen this all over the news and think it was just crazy! When I finally left my daughter's house it was complete chaos merging around parked cars on Hwy 280. I'm sure you know what a mess it is daily much less a snowstorm. I am glad to hear that the money is being refunded for the towing!
Hugs,
Donna
-----
Posted with Blogsy
