Snow, Ice and "Discretionary" Enforcement(LONG!)

[G M <herecomestheflood@yahoo.com>]

--- John Danahy <JDANAHY@turbonet.com> wrote:(snip)
>  I do know city
> code requires property
> owners to clear snow and ice, but most property
> owners in this community
> seem to not care.
************************************

Well, since John Danahy raised this subject, I'd like
to relate an experience I had this week.  Sorry it's
so long...delete now if not interested.

I live near the Junior High on property adjacent to
"D" Street.  As I have every winter I've lived at this
location, I always attempt to keep the "D" Street
sidewalk clear of snow and ice, safe for the kids who
walk by each day (even though these same kids often
throw litter on my property and, in the spring, pick
flowers from the flower garden along that sidewalk).

This past Tuesday morning as I was exiting my home to
go and shovel that very sidewalk, following an
evening/early morning snowfall, I found a "Warning"
hanging on my front door, issued by the Moscow Police
Department.  The warning accused me of a "violation",
namely "Failure to Remove Snow or Ice From Sidewalk".

There was no address filled in on the warning (had
someone taken it off their door and hung it on
mine?!), no time filled in for when the "violation"
occurred and at the bottom it read "IMMEDIATE ACTION
IS REQUIRED TO AVOID CITATION".  The officer who
issued the warning only left his/her code - no name.

Not good.

I wondered if everyone else on "D" Street had been
issued warnings, especially those on my block who,
unlike myself, hadn't cleared their sidewalks for
several snowfalls!  And had warnings been issued all
over the city in a sort of snow removal warning blitz?

I walked up my block and noticed the same sidewalks
that hadn't been cleared for quite a while were still
not cleared, and others simply, understandably, hadn't
been shoveled yet because the snowfall had been so
recent. Most sidewalks for the two blocks I checked
were not cleared.

Since the warning included an ordinance # on it I
called City Hall to check on what the ordinance
actually said and what was meant by "IMMEDIATE
ACTION".

Here's where the fun begins.

I was told I would need to speak with the City
Attorney or the City Clerk.  However the Attorney was
gone and the Clerk wouldn't be back for 20 minutes. 
Fine.  I went and worked on my sidewalk, returning in
20 minutes and calling back.  Got ahold of the Clerk,
read her the Ordinance # on my warning and she went to
look it up.  I was put on hold.  She came back in a
bit and said she was having trouble finding it, that
it was "not an ordinance".  Could I hold some more? 
She came back again and said "the (ordinance) number
doesn't sound right or I'm looking in the wrong
place...could you hold again?"

Okay folks.  I'm thinking this is a little weird.

Back she comes one more time and says "I'm having
trouble...can I call you back?  Or maybe you should
just call the police."

The Clerk can't find the Code/Ordinance?

I call the police, explain to the person answering the
phone what had happened and the nature of my inquiry. 
I was put on hold and told that the information would
be looked up.  Sat on hold for awhile longer (probably
was a total of 10-11 minutes between City Hall and
MPD) then was re-connected and told "I'm going to let
you talk to an officer".  On hold again.  Finally a
woman comes on the line, tells me her name and starts
reading sections of the Moscow City Code in question. 
She was very articulate and to-the-point.  I
understood what she was reading but questioned why I
was given a warning on this particular day,
immediately following a snowfall, when I had been
following the law and keeping my walk cleared all
winter.  Had warnings been issued all over town that
day?  She said she "wasn't sure why" Officer 216 ACO
"had issued the warning, or why he was in the
area...maybe someone complained or slipped...or maybe
he was called out on a barking dog complaint and
noticed the sidewalk."  She added that they would
"love to be able to issue warnings to everyone with
uncleared sidewalks but...".

She went on to explain that issuing warnings such as
this was left up to the "discretion of the officer".

Hmmm.

So...I asked what "IMMEDIATE ACTION" meant, if there
was some MPD policy that gave property owners 12 hours
or 24 or 36 to take care of the "violation".  She said
that was also "discretionary".

I asked her why the City Clerk couldn't find the Code.
She said something to the effect that "we have cheat
sheets out in the field...maybe the Clerk doesn't have
them."  What?  So I then asked if the person I was
speaking to was an officer.  She said yes...and went
on to say that she could have the officer who issued
the ticket call me but that he was the Animal Control
Officer(!) and only worked a few hours 3 days a week.

Animal Control Officer?  Issuing the first "Snow
Removal Warning" I've received in 15 years of
shovelling my Moscow sidewalks?!

I said yes I would love to speak with him.

Still waiting to hear back.

Meanwhile, I keep noticing how the City of Moscow
apparently isn't required by law to keep our streets
clear of ice and snow.  However the rest of us had
better not exercise that same sort of discretion.

Greg Meyer






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