For a town that gets a good amount of snow on a pretty predictable basis, Bend is singularly inept at dealing with the stuff. If you live on a side street, in most winters you stand a better chance of seeing a polar bear going past your house than a plow.
This year, though, the city’s plow performance has been even more dismal than usual. While the storm that hit on the first Monday and Tuesday of the new year dumped a respectable amount of snow – about two to six inches, depending on location – it was by no means a Chicago or Buffalo-style blizzard. Still, it left parts of the city virtually paralyzed for 24 hours or more.
Kids got a day off from school, grownups cursed as they slithered and slid on their way to work, and one pizza place actually was unable to make deliveries, inflicting god knows what terrible hardships on its customers. But the snow meant more than inconvenience – it was a public safety hazard, as police put out the word that emergency vehicles would have a hard time reaching the most severely snowed-in areas, notably on the Westside.
And just think: Winter has barely begun.
The snow screw-up is one more instance of what happens when growth races ahead with no regard for how to pay for the public services growth requires. All those new subdivisions mean more streets to plow – but did anybody think about who would pay to plow them?
That’s short-sightedness in the long-term sense. In an example of the short-term variety, the City of Bend decided last year to slash its budget for private snow-clearing services almost in half, from $280,000 to $152,000. Since the private contractors cost approximately $50,000 a day, that means the city has enough money for three – count ’em, three – days of plowing.
The city made the decision to cut the snow removal budget because Bend had a very light snow year in 2006-’07 – the private contractors didn’t have to get called in once. On that basis, city officials assumed 2007-’08 would be another light snow year, thus providing an excellent demonstration of the axiom that past events are not always reliable predictors of future ones.
We don’t know how long the people who made that decision have lived in Bend, but any old-timer could have told them that you can never predict with any degree of accuracy how much snow Bend will get in any given year, so it’s common sense to prepare for the worst. And if you get a break – for instance, if you’ve budgeted $250,000 for snow removal one year and don’t spend any of it – it also seems like common sense to put all or part of the money into a rainy day (or, more accurately, snowy day) fund.
In the hope of knocking some common sense into City Hall’s snow decision-makers, here’s THE BOOT.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.
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My but aren’t we all going to feel small,
If this turns out to be the season’s only snowfall.
Ten Bears: Oh, I don’t think so. Even if the city turns out to be lucky it won’t mean they acted prudently.
Ah, today we see yet more snow. I do wonder if we have Californians running Bend now.
“Virtually paralyzed” – seriously!? Oh the drama! I personally don’t know anyone who suffered any inconvenience other than having to drive more cautiously. If people had driven more cautiosly the westside wouldn’t have been “virtually paralized”. I’m not saying there aren’t budget issues, but road conditions weren’t all that bad.
Well it sounds like what happened to CLackamas Co some years back. they went thru a spell of little snow an the equipment was just sitting there so hey heres a great idea lets sell it cuz we havent used it in a couple years. That next year it dumped a fair amount an for the valley “Oh god the worlds coming to an end”They had to go out pay for snow removal an then buy all new equipment .Bend did a pretty shawdy job on the streets so far this year.One bonus with the snow an ice atleast it’ll fill some of the Pot holes atleast temperarely
“I do wonder if we have Californians running Bend now.”
Running FROM Bend, more likely.
Well, here we are again. I have a hunch this is going to be another big snow year like 1992. They don’t come along too often but you never know when one will come along, so it makes sense to be ready for it. Bend never seems to be.
Whine all we want, it all comes down to a willingness to pay…all those wanting to pay increased taxes to cover/staff for the peak year honestly should contact the Council with their proposal and demand increased taxes to obtain the level of service deemed appropriate. Most NW communities appear to be in the same boat this year. We should put our money where our mouths are; or otherwise close them so as to stop adding to the piles to plow….
Yeah, and an old-timer from Bend probably wouldn’t whine like you guys when the snow falls. So your street doesn’t get plowed twice a day…..deal. Even if you are the first person on the street after a fall of 6 inches you can still drive on it. Just go slow and be careful. Once a few people have driven your road it will be come very driveable as long as you aren’t in a huge hurry to get your non-corporate coffee joint to have your 14 word concoction. And, lord knows, once a few of the monster trucks in this town drives your street, you are set. Just go slow. Seriously, do any of you guys at TS know how to drive in the snow? Jeez.