Yet Another Snow Day

On Monday, I thanked professionals and neighbors alike for their hard work during this storm.

But not everything was hunky-dory in Pittsburgh during this storm.

Businesses are suffering because people can't drive or ride to them. Schools are going to be extending their school year and/or eliminating holidays after 3 days of cancellations. Those who showed up at their office jobs spent hours in the car or on a bus to get there. My neighbors shoveled out 2/3rds of my street realizing that a plow would never appear, and there are countless other stories like this.

Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak of the South Hills (the hardest hit and probably least-plowed area) will be heading up a task force on the handling of this storm.

What will she discover?

That even when this storm showed itself to be the big ugly monster it is, our esteemed officials continued to treat it like an average storm. They did not pull out all the stops until well into Monday, and by then it was too late. Saturday morning, the state of Pennsylvania declared a state of emergency, but the city of Pittsburgh didn't declare an official state of emergency until more than 48 hours later. Pittsburgh's utter lack of strong leadership made itself apparent this weekend. We will survive this storm, but its poor handling is making it all that much harder for our businesses to stay in business, for our students to learn, and for our workers to work.