Having a bad day at work? Just be glad you’re not Al Chwalek.
This afternoon, the city’s DPW head is being called on the carpet by the City Council’s planning and economic development and maintenance committees over the department’s performance plowing out the city after last week’s snow storm. Council Vice President Bud Williams, who chairs the economic development committee, has been especially critical of the job done by the plowing job, telling the Republican over the weekend that he was “outraged” by its slow pace and that he’d received “dozens” of call from similarly outraged residents.
Now, I admit that I tend to view Williams’ periodic outbursts of public outrage with a good deal of skepticism; the veteran councilor is a pro at generating press coverage by expressing righteous indignation, particularly over non-controversial matters on which no one, really, disagrees—like the importance of plowing streets after a storm, say, or stopping dumping on vacant lots.
Nonetheless, I’ll concede that Williams is hardly alone in his frustration. Here, the Republican’s Patrick Johnson reports on other complaints about the city’s plowing job. Councilor Tim Rooke has asked DPW to provide specific information about its snow removal plan, including a list of contractors and their assigned areas and details about shift scheduling, Johnson notes.
Today’s meeting takes place at 4 p.m. in Room 200 in City Hall.
