ScareCenter 7 shuts our city down (again)

On Valentine’s day in 2007 I wrote a post that said:

we do a lousy job of clearing the streets in Dayton and there should be no excuse.

via The economic impact of snow days.

Of course there was more in that post, including the question of why every truck in the city wasn’t turned into a plow and every employee learning how to plow, so that we keep the economic engine running… but that’s too much like solving a problem for Dayton. We prefer to bury our heads in the snow.

On my way to hockey on Sunday night, I had to drive out the ice-covered streets in South Park to get to the main roads. In Kettering, miraculously, it was as if I’m on another planet, the side streets are clear. Hello?

Cold isn’t a reason to close school systems, unless your furnace doesn’t work. Minot ND doesn’t shut down at -10 degrees and neither should we. The economic impact of parents having to stay home to watch kids is devastating. The loss of business to every business that depends on consumers leaving their homes is also painful. The idea of “snow emergencies” where you are supposed to stay off the roads, is pure idiocy with less than a foot of snow, and even then- that’s why man invented snow plows.

I’ve got to admit, that since I wrote the post I mentioned at the beginning of this one, I’ve bought an all-wheel drive car. It does very well in this weather- but the reality is that we have no excuse for the ice rink on Bonner Street other than the misguided leadership that gave a tax break to GE but can’t plow the streets.

How are those engineers supposed to get to work to invent the transporter from Star Trek, Madame Mayor?

What people don’t realize is that having the list of closings on Cox’s websites sure does give them a lot of page views on a slow news day. It’s time to stop letting ScareCenter 7 ruin our economy. It’s time for Dayton to fire its economic development department and a few assistant city managers and hire people who can do the job the city is supposed to do- clear our streets. And, last but not least, it’s time to stop listening to “ScareCenter 7”- just because the Cox puzzle palace feeds on fear, our city shouldn’t stop doing what it’s doing.

Put layers on people, drive a little slower, and get back to work.

 

 

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