Re: The Stothert Administration
Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 4:16 pm
In other news, the shutdown of Dodge Street for some reason made the 'trending' list on Facebook. Yay, us.
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It was an inch of snow at morning rush. Pretreat the roads, get ahead of the game, and keep up with it. It's not rocket science.iamjacobm wrote:I get the frustration, but really this snow fell at the absolute worst time to get them clear. If this started at midnight instead of 6 AM the streets would have been a lot better b/c the crews could have been out on empty streets clearing. Trying to clear snow in rush hour has to be a pain. I guess I don't know what Stothert has shown to have a different snow policy than previous Mayors.
I will respond to this when you point out to me where I said anything about the afternoon drive. That combined with the time I posted the first comment makes your point worthlessmattl181 wrote:And what would you blame this afternoon's commute on? The roads are STILL terrible and they have, in fact, shut down Dodge street from 84th to 90th. Fact of the matter is the city has once again dropped the ball. Don't go around blaming it on the driver's. People who have to be out there going to work, work with what they've got, and what they were given was an icy pile of slush to drive on.nebugeater wrote:Can't say I could blame them for this Morning. When the snow starts falling as the traffic picks up it is not possible to be ahead of it and clear what is not there yet. The way it came retreating with anything would not have helped.
I chalk the AM drive up to drivers needing to plan ahead too and take some responsibility.
I think his point was that the roads never truly improved even well after rush hour. They didn't see real improvement until the snow finally stopped falling. I drive all over town for a living and I can tell you that I saw one plow on the road before noon. They should have been able to catch up after rush hour and people were still getting stuck on major roads at lunch time.nebugeater wrote:I will respond to this when you point out to me where I said anything about the afternoon drive. That combined with the time I posted the first comment makes your point worthlessmattl181 wrote:And what would you blame this afternoon's commute on? The roads are STILL terrible and they have, in fact, shut down Dodge street from 84th to 90th. Fact of the matter is the city has once again dropped the ball. Don't go around blaming it on the driver's. People who have to be out there going to work, work with what they've got, and what they were given was an icy pile of slush to drive on.nebugeater wrote:Can't say I could blame them for this Morning. When the snow starts falling as the traffic picks up it is not possible to be ahead of it and clear what is not there yet. The way it came retreating with anything would not have helped.
I chalk the AM drive up to drivers needing to plan ahead too and take some responsibility.
I drove down 120th to Millard and saw a plow on 120th and plows on I80. I saw a team of three city plows on L street on the way from Millard to UNMC. They were out.Louie wrote:I think his point was that the roads never truly improved even well after rush hour. They didn't see real improvement until the snow finally stopped falling. I drive all over town for a living and I can tell you that I saw one plow on the road before noon. They should have been able to catch up after rush hour and people were still getting stuck on major roads at lunch time.nebugeater wrote:I will respond to this when you point out to me where I said anything about the afternoon drive. That combined with the time I posted the first comment makes your point worthlessmattl181 wrote:And what would you blame this afternoon's commute on? The roads are STILL terrible and they have, in fact, shut down Dodge street from 84th to 90th. Fact of the matter is the city has once again dropped the ball. Don't go around blaming it on the driver's. People who have to be out there going to work, work with what they've got, and what they were given was an icy pile of slush to drive on.nebugeater wrote:Can't say I could blame them for this Morning. When the snow starts falling as the traffic picks up it is not possible to be ahead of it and clear what is not there yet. The way it came retreating with anything would not have helped.
I chalk the AM drive up to drivers needing to plan ahead too and take some responsibility.
And now we know what the rest of the story is. (http://www.omaha.com/weather/public-cri ... mode=story)bigredmed wrote:I drove down 120th to Millard and saw a plow on 120th and plows on I80. I saw a team of three city plows on L street on the way from Millard to UNMC. They were out.Louie wrote:I think his point was that the roads never truly improved even well after rush hour. They didn't see real improvement until the snow finally stopped falling. I drive all over town for a living and I can tell you that I saw one plow on the road before noon. They should have been able to catch up after rush hour and people were still getting stuck on major roads at lunch time.nebugeater wrote:I will respond to this when you point out to me where I said anything about the afternoon drive. That combined with the time I posted the first comment makes your point worthlessmattl181 wrote:And what would you blame this afternoon's commute on? The roads are STILL terrible and they have, in fact, shut down Dodge street from 84th to 90th. Fact of the matter is the city has once again dropped the ball. Don't go around blaming it on the driver's. People who have to be out there going to work, work with what they've got, and what they were given was an icy pile of slush to drive on.nebugeater wrote:Can't say I could blame them for this Morning. When the snow starts falling as the traffic picks up it is not possible to be ahead of it and clear what is not there yet. The way it came retreating with anything would not have helped.
I chalk the AM drive up to drivers needing to plan ahead too and take some responsibility.
Center, 60th, L, and 120th were all very clean by the afternoon. In the UNMC area, Dodge and the other east-west streets were pretty clean. Not sure if we won't find a deeper reason for Dodge Street.
If it was July and that robber could have almost been in Sioux Falls by noon..... yesterday - he might have made it to 72nd and Dodge.ArchStanton13 wrote:The robbery occurred at 9:30 AM; the problems with the roads had materialized well before then (I was on the roads at 7 AM). The officer didn't block Dodge Street for the plows until after noon (story claims they had called for plows 2 1/2 hours before they actually arrived).
That is because she thought OPD's decision was wrong:ArchStanton13 wrote: Stothert didn't even use the robbery as an excuse for the problems, and she had as much reason as anyone
Officer's Response During Dangerous Road Conditions Criticized by Mayor Jean Stothert. "I can’t say the decision by that officer was something that was well thought out." Mayor Stothert
OPOA wrote:It's unfortunate that city officials feel the need to criticize the decision that was made for public safety as they sit in their warm offices.
She still can express her opinion about something. If she doesn't approve of an officer's actions, she can say so while still being respectful.Busguy2010 wrote:When an officer has the authority to close down a road for any fathomable reason, it must be respected. This is an officer, not a security guard. Shame on Mayor Stothert for covering her a s s after the fact.
That's the problem. None of her behavior aimed at the officer's protecting her streets or to her constituents has been respectful.RNcyanide wrote:She still can express her opinion about something. If she doesn't approve of an officer's actions, she can say so while still being respectful.Busguy2010 wrote:When an officer has the authority to close down a road for any fathomable reason, it must be respected. This is an officer, not a security guard. Shame on Mayor Stothert for covering her a s s after the fact.
Dan Golden and Bob Glissmann - World-Herald staff writers wrote:The initial question, she said, was not whether an OPD officer should have closed the street, rather "the question was whether the decision was communicated correctly. To provide an effective level of service for snow removal, everyone involved in the operation needs to be informed.
OmahaPOA wrote:Few things will stir the ire of a community more than the lack of timely and effective snow removal (whether real or perceived). Clearly, many locals felt the response by the City’s roads department was…well, lacking. And while the city’s efforts in clearing the streets yesterday is arguable, what’s inarguable and inexcusable is Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert’s public shaming of an officer who took part in making the decision to close the most heavily traveled intersection in the city during an obvious emergency situation. It’s one thing to deflect blame by making excuses. It’s quite another to lay it in the lap of a lone police officer who was out busting his butt in dangerous conditions during a snowstorm.
According to the National Weather Service, light snow began falling in the Omaha Metro around 1:35 am on Tuesday and ended between 3:35 and 3:55 pm. Reported total snowfall amounts in the area varied between 3.5 and 4.1 inches of snow. Assuming it snowed at the same rate for all 14 hours and 20 minutes (which we know did not happen because the National Weather Service shows the heaviest snowfall occurred between 9:15 and 10:35 am – well after rush hour) we know it snowed at just about a quarter of an inch per hour. Numerous reports from Omaha citizens, via social media and other outlets, contradict the city’s claim that snowplows were out in full force as early as 4:00 am. Those same reports stated that many primary thoroughfares in Omaha appeared to be untouched both prior to, and during the morning commute.
During full-blown rush hour traffic, it’s understandable that snowplows would have had a more difficult time getting around the city. That’s the nature of the morning commute, with or without snow. While it’s completely reasonable to think the main streets would become sloppier and harder to navigate during rush hour, it’s also reasonable to assume primary streets (like Dodge) would have received an initial pass prior to rush hour, and an additional pass after the morning commute. But then, to be fair, it frankly doesn’t matter how much snow had accumulated at the intersection of 90th and Dodge by 10:30 am. But if the streets were already cleared once (or twice), it’s hard to believe the havoc experienced at that intersection would have taken place.
By 10:30 am, when Omaha Police first observed the situation in the area of 90th and Dodge, an unplowed (or not cleared since prior to the morning commute) Dodge, especially on the westbound approach to 90th Street, would have been an absolute mess. Photographs of the scene in the World-Herald and on other local news websites, show officers pushing stuck vehicles and directing traffic in a slushy mess of snow with depths much closer to three or four inches, rather than the inch or two that might be expected had Dodge been cleared of snow once, if not twice, between 4:00 and 10:30 am. But again, does it really actually matter how much snow lined the intersection of 90th and Dodge? Cars were stuck. Traffic was backed up a half-mile or more. The situation was unsafe and needed to be addressed immediately.
At first glance, it seems very clear that the prudent decision for everyone’s safety was to clear the area of snow and stranded cars and make the intersection safe and passable for not only the remainder of the afternoon, but the pending evening commute as well. In order to accomplish this objective, officers decided to temporarily close the intersection in order to solve the hours-long problem that had caused a traffic nightmare. To be clear, they didn’t cause the problem – they fixed it.
However, rather than crediting responding officers for their decision, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert instead said this in the Omaha World-Herald: “I can’t say the decision by that officer was something that was well thought out.” Stothert claimed that a single officer, without command approval, or consultation of public works, made the decision.
Quite simply, regardless of whether the officer made a lone-wolf decision, this comment is incredible. It's the equivalent of criticizing a first-and-only-on-scene firefighter showing up at M's Pub by saying after the fact, "Sure, it makes sense to try and put the fire out right away, but it'd be a shame to have portions of the Old Market closed down, so I think it would have made more sense to contact me and my office while people fended for themselves in spite of the fire raging out of control."
Even more head shaking, it turns out the Mayor’s comment about a single officer making the decision without consulting or notifying anyone may not be true.
The direct supervisor of the singled-out officer said, “As a matter of fact, the officer in question…arrived at the scene…and did, in fact, immediately call for snowplows. While he waited for those snowplows to arrive he helped push numerous cars that were stuck in the snow. He spent so much time out of his car going above and beyond that I was actually concerned for his safety and called him to tell him to have his head on a swivel and watch out for out-of-control cars (driving through) the snow and ice.
“…when the snowplows arrived almost two full hours later, he and two traffic cars (officers who are in fact EXPERTS at dealing with these types of issues) made the decision to shut down Dodge Street in order to get it plowed and alleviate the problem. Not doing so would have resulted in further traffic backups and delays that would have stretched into much heavier traffic times.
“My officer did a great job of being practical. He went above and beyond what would be expected of him by pushing numerous vehicles out of harm’s way and getting them unstuck (a decision that put him in harm's way with the weather as bad as it was). He did not act rashly or unreasonably and to claim he did is simply unbecoming a person of good and clear conscience.”
In the meantime, I guess we can ignore the thought of an apology. On Wednesday, during an interview with KMTV, Mayor Stothert continued to criticize the response, saying over and over that a single officer made a “unilateral decision without any authorization” to close Dodge. (On her Facebook page the previous evening, Stothert tells commenters that it was a Sergeant who made the fateful decision.) She repeatedly harps on the idea that rush hour made snow removal difficult and that the idea of closing Dodge St was misguided. Yet this incident and the heaviest snowfall occurred well after the morning commute ended. She repeatedly claims that no one was contacted, yet the officer’s immediate supervisor (and 911 dispatch audio) verifies that the officer called for city snowplows to help with the intersection nearly two hours before Dodge was temporarily closed (and waited for more than two hours for the plows to arrive). Additionally, the officer is heard at 1151 hours (in the above link at meanstreetsoma.com) saying that he has been holding off on closing the street for fear that vehicles would take to the side streets and become stuck there. Not until a snowplow could arrive on scene would he, or anyone else, close the street in order to allow plows to safely clear the street of snow without the interference of cars passing through the intersection at the same time.
The idea that the officer’s actions in this incident deserve criticism is beyond comprehension. The shameful comment is a response indicative of a person who will pass along blame and fail to take responsibility for one’s own decisions, rather than express appreciation to someone who goes above and beyond on behalf of her and the citizens she serves. True leadership sometimes requires those in charge to absorb criticism, whether warranted or not. At no time is it ever appropriate for a leader to seek absolution by blaming others. For the Mayor, who never misses a public opportunity to wear a #supportblue or kerrieon T-shirt, to publicly pass the buck on to this hard-working officer is embarrassing. We all deserve better.
It was kind of the cops fault, she just didn't explain it right. If the cops were not eating up so much of our budget with their super inflated retirement benefits then maybe we could afford to have enough snow removal equipment and manpower to at least keep the main streets in town plowed during snow storms.RNcyanide wrote:Well it took her nearly 2 years before she had her first public flub, so I guess in the grand scheme of things that's not a bad score.
Yeah except that whole restaurant tax hissy fit she had.RNcyanide wrote:Well it took her nearly 2 years before she had her first public flub, so I guess in the grand scheme of things that's not a bad score.
I certainly don't hate her, I want only the best as her doing poorly doesn't help anyone. But she hasn't handled this situation well and I have heard some whispers from behind the scenes that she is difficult to deal with, for what that is worth. I heard the same about Daub, and of course that was true, but overall, I liked him as a mayor. Sometimes I think you have to be that way to get anything done. And it is likely true that a man can get away with that more than a woman can. It's not right, but probably true. Men are "go-getters," woman are, well, there's plenty of adjectives out there for it.jessep28 wrote:I just don't understand the complete disdain people have for Stothert. Is it because she's a female Republican leading a city with a sizable Democratic population? Yeah, she doesn't candy coat things, but she has been very level headed. I wish that people would put the best construction on things sometimes.
As long as it's done with finesse, being 'difficult' usually translates to getting things done. I hope she continues to get things shook up.ArchStanton13 wrote:I certainly don't hate her, I want only the best as her doing poorly doesn't help anyone. But she hasn't handled this situation well and I have heard some whispers from behind the scenes that she is difficult to deal with, for what that is worth. I heard the same about Daub, and of course that was true, but overall, I liked him as a mayor. Sometimes I think you have to be that way to get anything done. And it is likely true that a man can get away with that more than a woman can. It's not right, but probably true. Men are "go-getters," woman are, well, there's plenty of adjectives out there for it.jessep28 wrote:I just don't understand the complete disdain people have for Stothert. Is it because she's a female Republican leading a city with a sizable Democratic population? Yeah, she doesn't candy coat things, but she has been very level headed. I wish that people would put the best construction on things sometimes.
Also, she has tried to stand up to some power brokers, and that has rubbed some big movers and shakers wrong--for example, the whole MECA thing. I was told she was pretty much put back into "her place" on that one. I tend to think there were was some validity to her complaints, but apparently there is nothing that can be done about it, as the monied interests are on board with the way they run things.
I'm all over the place on this post; my apologies! In short, I don't hate her, but this was not her finest hour.
Regarding the Snow issue, there were communication failures that were the result of a breakdown in Incident Command Communication procedures.ArchStanton13 wrote:I'm all over the place on this post; my apologies! In short, I don't hate her, but this was not her finest hour.jessep28 wrote:I just don't understand the complete disdain people have for Stothert. Is it because she's a female Republican leading a city with a sizable Democratic population? Yeah, she doesn't candy coat things, but she has been very level headed. I wish that people would put the best construction on things sometimes.
Completely different situation from last week. Temperatures were near 30. Salt brine actually works and helps keep snow and ice melted at those temps.Busguy2010 wrote:Saw a bunch of pre-treatment on the roads tonight. Good, but a lot lately it seems like snow removal is more of a political move than a genuine operation.
But when stuff happened last week that was beyond control, we see the mayor and the roads people (and sometimes the cops) taking |expletive| for stuff that was simply beyond their control. We used to have decorum in our society. The worst thing was to lose face. Today, we just see people go off on who ever is there in office and they suffer no consequence for their premature complaints. You might have been unhappy with the snow, but reality was that they couldn't put brine down as it was way past too cold for it to be helpful. The cops can't control when someone tries to rob Walgreens, they just have to respond. The cops in central command or the EMA can't control when some field officer doesn't report back about actions taken till after the mess has happened. They can train, but even with highly trained people, errors happen.Busguy2010 wrote:I understand the science behind it, I'm just saying. Having a bad snow storm can make or break Omaha's mayor (no matter whom) and sometimes its so obvious its funny.
I didn't blame the cops, it appears that the communication was delayed.HR Paperstacks wrote:The problem was the plow trucks were nowhere to be found. They waited for over two hours before they showed up. A street like Dodge should not be left like that for so long. This seems to be the result of the mayor's tax cuts which most likely resulted in less trucks being out on the road. So it does fall to her in the end in like it would to any other mayor cutting services for a little bit of a tax break.
Don't blame the cops when they were only doing what they had to in a bad situation.
https://www.dot.nd.gov/dotnet2/faq/faq.aspx?cat=MWSINDDOT is applying liquid ice melting material. The liquid melts snow and ice in temperatures well below zero degrees Fahrenheit and is generally a blend of water, salt, and a product that comes from sugar beets. Applying the liquids early helps melt snow and ice as they form and helps prevent snow or ice from bonding to the road. This method called anti-icing, or pre-treating, is a proactive approach to fighting snow and ice buildup. Effective anti-icing can reduce costs, reduce environmental impacts, improve service to the motorists, and enhance safety.
So she cut the budget, then put it back so she can claim that she's putting more money in the budget for snow removal...except that we're still budgeting the same amount Jim Suttle did.Stothert bristles at criticism on Facebook and elsewhere suggesting that budget cuts have made Omaha’s snow removal worse. She told The World-Herald and others that she increased the snow removal budget two years in a row.
“Each year since I’ve been mayor we’ve added almost a million dollars to the snow and ice removal budget,” she told KMTV last week, for example. “Every year. So we’re adding more. We’re not cutting back.”
In fact, the city’s annual snow removal budget has remained steady at $6.7 million to $6.8 million in four of the past five years, including under Stothert’s predecessor, Jim Suttle. The one exception was the 2015 budget, when Stothert proposed — and the City Council approved — a nearly $1 million reduction.
Suttle wasn't my guy as I was very against some of the stupid things he did. I'll complain about whoever is making the mistakes. People like you need to get away for this them-vs-us mentality with the whole "your guy, my person" |expletive|.bigredmed wrote:When your guy lost, and my person won, you went into complaint mode.
skinzfan23 wrote:Just saw an interesting stat in the World Herald:
Omaha has added 450 lane miles to the city since 2005 bringing the current total to approx 4,700 lane miles in the city.
For comparison Washington DC has about 4,400 lane miles and New York has approx 19,000 lane miles. With Omaha being so spread out, that is one reason why snow removal takes so long.
Sobering stat, thank you for sharing. This is good evidence to show that urban sprawl is cost prohibitive.skinzfan23 wrote:Just saw an interesting stat in the World Herald:
Omaha has added 450 lane miles to the city since 2005 bringing the current total to approx 4,700 lane miles in the city.
For comparison Washington DC has about 4,400 lane miles and New York has approx 19,000 lane miles. With Omaha being so spread out, that is one reason why snow removal takes so long.