Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

Please reread my post before you jump all over me. I said "Focus your energy on changing the law and improving the enforcement". Those that clear their sidewalks are not the villan. Those that choose to not do so should suffer the pain of not doing so.

ijmorlan points out, many property owners who do clear their sidewalks (like myself) are in support of city clearing, we prefer it if you don't speak for us.

I've already focused my effort, and staff has focused their effort, on evaluating how to improve the situation, council has voted that down.  You still haven't explained how we are supposed to keep the sidewalks clear under the current bylaw...you suggest I should focus my effort there, why is that my job, YOU should be the one to provide a reasonable explanation of how to implement YOUR solution.  To do otherwise is to show that you don't care about the plight of those in our society who cannot get around in winter.

Also remember, this vote was not about sidewalk clearing, it was about evaluating how sidewalk clearing would work.  If enforcement really was the best policy, then that would be proven by this, but we aren't even going to try now.

At the end of the day, it is those who are least able in our society who suffer the most pain of uncleared sidewalks, and frankly, it is all of our community that suffers the pain of people like me who will now drive a car in the winter, or frankly, leave our community, because of this issue.

In fact, it is those who don't clear their sidewalks reliably who benefit the most from this policy--because they continue to be able to do very little work clearing their sidewalks, while paying none of the costs.