Mel’s Musings – Do you have a window and any sense of responsibility?

My wife had to go to the emergency room while I was at work. Like a true native South Dakotan, she drove herself to the hospital and then called me. I left work and spent the day with her in the ER. Once she was released, she didn’t feel like driving herself home, so I took her in my car and then walked back to the hospital to pick up her vehicle.

My walk was about a mile and a half through Mitchell. There were homeowners who did a marvelous job of shoveling their sidewalk. Their walkways were clear of snow and the entire sidewalk was shoveled. Other citizens had done literally nothing and so I slogged through the snow like a sherpa scaling Mount Everest.

The City does an abysmal job of policing sidewalks in the winter. Sidewalks are to be kept clear so that pedestrians need not walk in the street, especially this time of year when it is so dark in the morning and because the sun sets so early in the late afternoon. That makes walking in the street, which is dangerous all the time, particularly perilous in the winter. Some homeowners do a great job, others clear a goat track so that a person must walk as if traversing a tightrope and still other property owners do nothing at all. It is a shame and a crime that the lazy, irresponsible and arrogantly rude are allowed to get away with this anti-social behavior.

When I was on the City Council (2009-2018) I dreaded the sidewalk resolution every year. Angry citizens would parade in front of the Council lamenting the expense, the loss of landscaping and whining that they were being unfairly targeted for sidewalks. The American With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), signed into law by President George Herbert Walker Bush (#41) requires several things as it pertains to sidewalks. The Act requires that sidewalks to public buildings and facilities be the first priority for municipalities (i.e., City Hall and the Rec Center). The second priority is to provide sidewalks to public services (i.e., Cadwell ball fields, professional offices and retail stores). The third priority is to have all residential areas accessible via sidewalks.

The federal government in a rare display of common sense recognizes that older municipalities without a citywide system of sidewalks will not have the resources to convert their entire city to sidewalks overnight. Instead, the feds require evidence of progress towards the goal of universal access throughout a city via sidewalks. The wide, sloped corners for handicapped accessibility are one of the features of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If a municipality chooses to ignore the ADA, then the federal government could require immediate compliance, fine the city, withhold federal funds, make the municipality ineligible for federal grants, loans or other assistance etc. Hence, the annual sidewalk resolution of the City Council and the yearly installation of sidewalks where none existed before or the repair of existing walkways.

None of the angst, expense and fuss is worth it though if people don’t clear the sidewalks in front of their homes. It would incense me, when I was on the Council, when some citizen would suggest that I had no idea of the cost of installing sidewalks or the work involved to maintain and clear them. I live on a corner. I have twice as much sidewalk and more than most people who live in Mitchell. My sidewalk had to be replaced on both sides of my house in the 1990’s. When it snows, I have a job and a half to remove the snow, so it bothers me when people who have a fraction of the square footage of sidewalk to clear compared to the acres of cement that I have, refuse to lift a finger to shovel their snow – and the City of Mitchell lets them get away with it.

As a society we either believe that handicapped people should have equal access as abled people, or we don’t. If we do, then shovel your walk and do it completely rather than just a strip in the middle of an otherwise snowy walkway. We either believe it is safer for all concerned if pedestrians are on the sidewalks and vehicles are in the streets, or we don’t. If we do, shovel your damn sidewalk and clear more than a deer trail. If you own property there are certain responsibilities that go along with that property, shoveling your walk in the winter is one of them. It used to be that Americans took pride in their property, took their responsibilities seriously and discharged them without fuss or complaint. I miss those days.

If I could wave my wand, I would make homeowners who don’t shovel their sidewalk civilly and criminally liable for any accident involving a pedestrian in front of their home. Likewise, if a pedestrian slogging through an area of unshoveled sidewalk suffers a medical emergency of some sort (i.e., a heart attack) I’d make that homeowner liable for that as well. The logic being that if the walk were shoveled the pedestrian would not be in the street or experiencing distress trying to slog through of a mountain of snow on the sidewalk. In addition, it bothers me (I see this often in the summer) when pedestrians walk in the city streets where there is perfectly good, clear sidewalk to walk on. I’d make that a ticketed offense as well.

I get not shoveling until the snow has stopped falling. That only makes sense, but when it does stop that’s the time for you to get started clearing the snow. Be responsible, be considerate, obey city ordinances and clear your sidewalk of all snow.