Snow emergency

[easy-wind.livejournal.com]

If you are as outraged as me about the City of Somerville handing out $50 parking tickets for violating a snow emergency when... THERE WASN'T A FLAKE OF SNOW ON THE GROUND, I encourage you to write to Mayor Curtatone to express your views:

JCurtatone@ci.somerville.ma.us

Comments

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

Please remember that the weather forecast, at the time the snow emergency was declared, was for six inches to a foot of snow. Personally, I'm delighted that the weather changed and the snow got dumped on New York instead, and that Somerville is relatively clear of snow.

If, for some reason, you were physically unable to move your car when the emergency was declared, you have my full sympathy. If you weren't aware of the weather forecasts, or didn't know what to do in case of a snow emergency, or just didn't bother, you have my limited sympathy.

Fortunately, if you are in possession of weather forecast technology allowing the city at 10:00 PM on Tuesday to perfectly predict the amount of snowfall as of 10:00 AM on Wednesday, I'm certain you can sell it for a lot more than $50.

ok

[easy-wind.livejournal.com]

actually, my sources indicated that the weather forecast was consistently downgraded throughout the afternoon. the forecasts were that the storm was going to come later than previously forecat, and farther to the south.

but the real point is that someville should not be ticketing cars for a "snow emergency" when there isn't a flake of snow on the ground. that's really all that matters here.

and for the record, my car didn't get ticketed, i'm just a concerned citizen.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

If they were still ticketing at, say, 9 this morning, when it was pretty obvious that we weren't going to reach "emergency" levels, that's certainly worthy of a complaint.

Sorry, they knew last night it wasn't going to snow

[krist10.livejournal.com]

because at 11 PM, news stations were already saying snowfall would be limited with Somerville predicted to get only 2-4 inches. Somerville could have lifted the emergency then.

Cambridge didn't declare an emergency at all...neither did Boston. I spoke with people in their snow emergency departments today and they said they never declare an emergency before the snow starts falling.

Somerville ticketed between 2000 and 3000 cars, according to a parking official. That's more than $100,000 for the city. Some cars were towed. Somerville has never before declared an emergency prior to a snowfall. This is only about getting some money for the City.

Those of you who don't own cars or park in driveways should be concerned, too. It's a sign of what this mayor thinks he's going to be able to get away with.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

Sorry to quibble...Your headline is misleading. It did snow. But I know what you meant to say, "Sorry, they knew last night it wasn't going to snow enough to justify an emergency"

Some cars were towed.
This is true. Coming home at 11:00 PM last night, I saw so many police cars and tow trucks in front of Somerville hospital that I thought some major disaster had happened.

Somerville has never before declared an emergency prior to a snowfall.
This is factually inaccurate. They certainly have declared snow emergencies before the snow starts coming down. Just earlier this winter, the police cars were driving around with their squawking loudspeakers before snow actually hit.

Yes, this may have made a lot of money for the city. Maybe declaring an emergency so far in advance of a snowfall is just a money-making ploy. If so, it's no less annoying than Cambridge dispatching metermaids on New Year's day to ticket people for newly-expired resident stickers. But given that the forecast at the time they announced the emergency was for six to twelve inches of snow, I consider it a reasonable decision.

Re: Sorry, they knew last night it wasn't going to snow

[zarabanda.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if you could tell me how you got this information? I'm very curious to find out how to get it myself.