West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
Now the official city statements are flying in. We just added one from Council President Richard Conlin to our post from this morning, which followed our e-mail exchange with him about what the City Council plans to do to examine the snowstorm-response woes (read the new addition, with extra details on hearing/meeting plans, here). And moments later, in came this news release from the mayor’s office regarding post-snow pothole problems:
Mayor Greg Nickels today encouraged residents to call the city’s pothole repair hotline at 684-ROAD (684-7623) as the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) turns to clean-up operations after a series of winter storms.
When he began as Mayor, Nickels pledged the city would fill any pothole within 48-hours. That commitment remains today, as four crews of Pothole Rangers dedicated to pavement repair are currently dispatched across the city.
“Ice and snow are not kind to city streets, but we’re providing relief to smooth out the ride,” said Nickels. “We’re asking the public to tell us where to go first, and we’ll add additional Pothole Rangers if needed to get the job done.”
Asphalt is best poured in dry conditions. With intermittent rain forecast for Seattle, SDOT is filling most potholes with “cold mix” – asphalt and gravel. SDOT will return in warmer weather to pour a more permanent solution.
SDOT responds to residents’ calls first, and then will fix potholes spotted by city crews.
If you see a pothole crew in action in West Seattle, please send a photo – editor@westseattleblog.com – we’ll be on the lookout too.
We’ve told you about both of these before, but reminders are circulating today in non-Web ways, so we thought we’d point you to the basics again: 
First, our postal mail brought a reminder about the Delridge Skatepark public meeting January 14th (first mentioned here), 6 pm at Youngstown Arts Center – the city is proceeding with design though it doesn’t have construction money right now. Second, e-mail from the city just brought a reminder about the Elliott Bay Water Taxi/Seacrest dock improvements meeting January 15th (first mentioned here), 7 pm (with 7:30 pm presentation) at Alki Community Center.
(windblown, rain-pelted tree around 12:15 pm – before the sun came out again – fast-moving weather!)
The forecast said “breezy” but this deserves a stronger word. Amy just e-mailed about a power flicker on Gatewood Hill. The latest “hourly observations” posted by the National Weather Service include 39-mph wind at Alki Point (look for K91S on this list; KSEA is Sea-Tac, KBFI is Boeing Field, SP is the sustained wind-speed category while GS is wind gust). Checking for official forecast updates. Multiple reports of finally-emptied trash containers blowing into streets, needless to say. 12:28 PM UPDATE: Also received word of brief power loss in High Point. 1:09 PM UPDATE: The tree in our few seconds of video above also guest-stars toward the end of this clip by Frank. Desiree sent this alert via mobile:
Hi – I just drove down Fauntleroy from Morgan Junction to WS freeway and counted seven garbage cans on Fauntleroy. Most are blocking lanes. Lids are also careening around like stray hubcaps! Drive with extra caution around West Seattle today.
1:27 PM UPDATE: Also reports of power flickering in Hansen View (south of Providence Mount St. Vincent). National Weather Service has not changed the forecasts or posted a watch/warning for our area aside from a “gale warning” for Puget Sound waters that went up in late morning, in effect through 4 pm.
In the middle of Snowstorm ’08, we published an update on the school-closure process, which is proceeding AS SCHEDULED, the district reiterates, despite some changes and cancellations because of the weather. If you missed that update – read it here; it includes links to the official transcript from the 12/16 Genesee Hill school-closure hearing, and the rescheduled Lowell hearing date. And if you are opposed to school closures – specific or in general – you may want to know about a meeting tonight that just appeared on our radar (thanks to Nora!) – a citywide organizing meeting to oppose closures, by a group we hadn’t heard of before. Here are full details; it’s at 6 pm tonight, Garfield Community Center (map). Meantime, Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson is still scheduled 
to present her “final recommendations” for closures a week from tomorrow; the most recent recommendations still call for closing the old Genesee Hill Elementary building and making Cooper Elementary in Pigeon Point (left) the new home of Pathfinder K-8, dispersing the current Cooper students elsewhere. The “Cooper School Works” closure-fight site continues to add info, by the way; we just discovered this page with some of their main points.
Just heard back from City Council President Richard Conlin (left), after e-mailing him to ask what kind of inquiries/hearings will ensue regarding Snowstorm ’08-related woes. We decided to ask him because he runs the Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities Committee, so trash — among other things — would be under his auspices. He says a “more formal response” is coming out later today, but since we asked. First, a “full council briefing” is planned a week from today, January 5th. Next day, Tuesday 1/6, a joint meeting of his committee and the Transportation Committee (chaired by Councilmember Jan Drago, overseeing roads and snowplows among other things), “at which point we will go over the situation in detail and also have a public comment opportunity,” Conlin says, adding, “After that, we will lay out a set of issues to review and work on, and determine how we will involve the public and carry out the review. Our last review (after the 2006 windstorm/flooding) involved a set of joint meetings between EEMU and the Energy Committee, including an evening public comment time, and resulted in a work plan for the Utilities that made an important difference in the performance of City Light in particular in this situation — outages were relatively few (thanks to some proactive tree trimming and other preparation), and were handled and reported back to the public promptly (thanks to some better preparation and organization).” So if you want to address the council personally at your first opportunity, sounds like 1/6 will be your first chance. To e-mail or otherwise contact them now, seattle.gov/council will point you in every possible direction; Conlin’s info is here; Drago’s info is here; EEMU Committee info here; Transportation Committee here. We’ll let you know when times and places are set for the aforementioned meetings/hearings (and any others), and they’ll be on the WSB Events calendar (where we list meetings large and small, outside WS too when it’s of WS relevance like this, as well as other types of events). 2:48 PM UPDATE: The detailed “formal response” promised by Councilmember Conlin has just arrived in our inbox and we suspect many others – read on for the full text, which includes some times (will add to our calendar shortly):Read More
The inquiry we sent to the UPS media team last week just got answered – so we’re asking them, for starters, 
if their company considers this area to be all caught up, but if you know of any specific cases where someone’s still waiting – in West Seattle – please leave a comment or e-mail us.
1:44 PM UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who has left comments and sent e-mail about missing packages. We talked by phone with Ronna Charles Branch in United Parcel Service media relations. “Looks like we’re doing a good job today of getting through the packages that have been held,” she said. “We had several trailer loads of packages at multiple locations throughout the Pacific Northwest because we couldnt get through what we HAD sorted. Today in one particular Seattle facility, they’ve gotten through half, meaning they unloaded half the trailers, sorted those (packages), and put them out for delivery.” She said they think they’ll have “everything delivered by the end of the week” – but here’s an important caveat: UPS is closed Wednesday and Thursday (New Year’s Eve-Day). So if you don’t get your package(s) by the end of tomorrow, you won’t be getting them before Friday. No plans to work extra time over the “holiday” to catch up, we asked? No, she said. Also: Air/Express packages are being delivered as priorities – “the ground ones will trickle in by the end of the week,” she said. If you have a question about something you’re awaiting, the hotline is 800-PICK-UPS. We asked the question that some WSB’ers have posed – why did USPS make it to some neighborhoods that UPS has not served? She didn’t have an explanation beyond accessibility and truck size/weight, “being able to get up the terrain.” We also asked about perishable deliveries, since at least one WSB’er brought that up — her advice was to talk with the vendor, rather than UPS, about how compensation/replacement would be handled.
5:37 PM UPDATE: Went out for a drive a little while ago. Just before 5, saw a UPS truck coming off a side street onto Delridge just north of Arco/Home Depot/etc. Thanks for all the comments and notes re: UPS status – we plan to check with UPS again tomorrow to see if there are any additional updates/status reports.
7:36 PM UPDATE: UPS truck sighting just down the block from us (within a block of California/Thistle; map). We saw them during the storm, too – including one week ago, just after sunset, same time Seattle Public Utilities reps stopped by for an in-person interview at WSB HQ.
10:14 PM UPDATE: Got a message via Facebook (where we are WS Blog) that someone in Arbor Heights received a package after 9:30 tonight.
(Map updated as of 4:02 pm with areas where WSB’ers have reported trash and/or recycling pickup)
As we reported last night, Seattle Public Utilities says it’s going to try to reach Monday-pickup homes today — for trash/recycling, NOT yard waste — and that would mean the first pickup in three weeks for West Seattle’s Monday neighborhoods. We’re opening this post for any updates on the trash situation during the day – both your sightings of trash trucks (leave a comment, or e-mail us) and also any new information we get.
9:40 AM UPDATE: Thanks for the updates! MargL sent the first “photographic proof” from Arbor Heights, when recycling pickup showed up first:
We’ve also received e-mail about sightings at 47th/Erskine and 64th/Hinds. Crunching a quick Google Map just to note where they’ve been so far. 10:36 AM NOTE: It’s REALLY windy out there right now … hope the accumulated, not-yet-picked-up trash/recycling is well-battened-down.
11:22 AM UPDATE: This note from Cass in Gatewood:
I just spoke with my recycling guy, who did pick up *all* my recycle. I asked him if he got paid for the 2 weeks he had to take off because the city wouldn’t plow the streets. NO PAY. He said he was new, so he didn’t have any accrued vacation time. It’s not HIS fault that he couldn’t work, so I don’t think he should’ve had to take vacation pay anyway. I told him they should sue the city for lost wages, and he looked at me like I was nuts. How many people lost wages because of this fiasco????? And the retailers who went broke?
11:39 AM UPDATE: Noted this in the comment section, but we’ve had a sighting in our neighborhood (this was on Sullivan near California):
Keep the sightings coming, and we’ll keep updating the Google Map that’s now atop this post. 2:14 PM UPDATE: Another truck has just passed through our neighborhood. By the way, a few scattered people around WS have reported yard-waste pickup too, though city reps had told us that was going to wait till after they caught up with trash and recycling. 2:33 PM UPDATE: Scott C sends word of a truck sighting along Alki Ave’s condo row – and a photo:
5:23 PM UPDATE: We just came back from a drive around some of West Seattle’s main streets. Saw a truck heading southbound on the south stretch of Beach Drive. Meantime, the latest official news release from Seattle Public Utilities came in while we were out – read on (note the update on yard waste):Read More
First, that reminder: Long before Snowstorm ’08, as we were reminded last week, Metro had been planning to run a “partial holiday schedule” for most of the time between Christmas and New Year’s. That includes today through Wednesday, plus Friday; here’s the list of routes that are affected. (Thursday, New Year’s Day, will be on a Sunday schedule.) (Note added: This morning Metro published a specific page to address this week – check that here.)
Now, the “questions answered” part – over the weekend, we received some additional information from Metro’s Linda Thielke, after she read the “editorial-esque aside” we included in this post – it’s about why bus-tracking didn’t work so well, and why it should in the not-too-distant future – for that and more, read on:Read More
While walking to The Junction this afternoon, we noticed this juxtaposition – a festive snowman and snowdrift on a business window along California SW, seen across the top of the road-median “snirt” pile. Snow, of course, always looks especially lovely from a distance:
JayDee sent that photo from 56th/Spokane (map), as well as this photo of 56th looking blissfully ice-free in today’s sunshine:
Thanks yet again to everyone who has sent photos during and after Snowstorm/Snowmare/Snow-however-you-prefer-to-remember-it ’08 … we appreciate and publish photos all the time, from breaking news to community events to timely beauty shots, so please keep our address (editor@westseattleblog.com) handy (if you can spare a moment, program it into your cameraphone too)!
As mentioned at the bottom of the previous post, after our conversation with Seattle Public Utilities, they were working on an official update to put the new information into news-release format — so here it is, in its entirety, just out of the WSB inbox, cut-and-paste of the Word doc they sent (we’ll add the link when it appears on the city website, which SPU’s Andy Ryan says will be late tonight or early tomorrow):
Seattle Garbage Collections Back on Near-normal Schedule
Missed Garbage, Recycling to Be Picked This Week; Yard Waste Will Be Delayed
SEATTLE — Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) garbage and recycling contractors resumed full garbage collections today, along with extra recycling service. Weather permitting, SPU hopes to be caught up with garbage service by this Saturday, Jan. 3.Yard waste service — including Christmas tree pickup — will be resumed next week on a near-normal schedule for residential customers. Check your schedule for your next yard waste pickup date.
This week, garbage and recycling will be collected from all Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday customers on their regular day. Contractors will also send out additional crews on Thursday, New Year’s Day, to collect any missed locations. Customers missed this Monday through Wednesday should leave their waste out through Thursday, January 1.
Collections regularly scheduled for Thursday and Friday (Jan. 1 and 2) of this week will be delayed by one day due to the New Year’s holiday.
Garbage and recycling that has not been collected by Saturday, Jan. 3, should be reported to Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), at 206-684-3000.
“Volumes will be big, but contractors are planning to collect all of Seattle’s garbage this week without substantial misses,” said Hans Van Dusen, solid waste contracts manager for the city. “But even though contractors will be bringing on special crews, they can’t physically handle all uncollected garbage and recycling without making temporary adjustments in the yard waste schedule.”
All commercial routes serving businesses and apartments are being operated today [Monday], collecting missed and scheduled accounts. Contractors are using extra staff to access and move blocked containers.
Customers whose collections have been delayed may set out their extra garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.
Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge through December 31st. The stations will be closed on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1.
We’ll put up an “open thread”-type post in the morning for discussion of trash-truck sightings and any other info that comes in during the day, if you’re interested in checking in on the progress. 10:30 PM ADDENDUM: Via Facebook (where we are WS Blog), Krystal said there was some recycling pickup today “on the west side of Fauntleroy.”
Since “when is my trash going to get picked up?” seems to be the #1 lingering question for so many of us here in West Seattle – particularly those of us who missed the past two Mondays — we wanted to get the very latest from Seattle Public Utilities, rather than awaiting the next official citywide news release. Just talked by phone with SPU’s Andy Ryan, and got some important updates you need to know:
#1 – They are going to have trucks running this Thursday, New Year’s Day, to try to catch up on more of the missed collections. New Year’s usually OTHERWISE is one of only three non-collection holidays each year.
#2 – If you put your trash out this weekend because of the announcement that some Thurs/Fri pickups might still be made over the weekend – but they haven’t gotten to you yet – BRING IT IN TILL NEXT THURSDAY, and they’ll try to get to you then … or by Saturday … because the original schedule was, for both holiday weeks, for Thurs-Fri pickups to be delayed a day. (Confusing, we know.)
#3 – If you are normally Monday-Wednesday collection, they are going to try to get back on normal schedule the next three days, but they admit that this is an unprecedented situation and they’re not sure how successful they are going to be – so there is a chance (we appreciate their honesty on this) some Monday customers STILL might not get picked up tomorrow, in which case they will try to catch up during those special Thursday runs.
#4 – DON’T BOTHER WITH YARD WASTE for a week or so – they are trying to catch up with recycling and trash first.
#5 – SPU **hopes** to be caught up by next Saturday night. In another day or two, Andy tells WSB, they will announce a special number you can use to start reporting missed collections, but so far they know there are more people who were missed than not and they want to get through a day or two of trying to get back on schedule, before they start taking those calls.’
#6 – Andy wanted us to convey to everyone: “We very much appreciate your patience. This is the worst experience in anyone’s recent memory at Seattle Public Utilities – nobody remembers a storm that kept us out of service this long, and we appreciate people being patient while we take the time to pick stuff up safely.”
We’ll check in with SPU again around midday tomorrow to see how it’s going. Hope the above isn’t too confusing; we wanted to write it up fast after that phone conversation. And if you see a trash truck in your neighborhood tomorrow – let us know! since, something like all the recent story-sharing about buses and snowplows and mail-delivery trucks, it may generate a bit of hope.
UPDATE 7:53pm: Just got word that SPU will issue a statement about tomorrow’s pickup in the next couple of hours. We’ll publish it as soon as we get it.
Wanted to let you know that while holiday fun went on the back burner during Snowmare ’08, a list of West Seattle New Year’s Eve happenings is well under way on the WSB Holidays page, from church services to restaurant/bar parties – even a walk! (If you know of one [or more] WS NYE events we’re missing, please e-mail us a few details, editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!)
A warning about the major road on West Seattle’s eastern border, sent by Laura in Highland Park (we also got a short Facebook note that mentioned West Marginal Way hazards, so perhaps the same stretch):
Want to alert drivers to a hazardous road condition. I was just out doing errands–happily driving on bare, wet streets. As I was going northbound in the right lane on West Marginal Way at normal speed (40 mph) I came around a curve and hit major slush/ice. I lost control of my car–as did the car in front of me. Luckily we managed to come out of it unscathed, but it was scary for a moment, and could have resulted in an accident. I kept going (in the left lane–and much slower this time) and saw that the right lane continued to have many slushy/icy spots AND a few large fallen branches from the greenbelt. So…two warnings: 1) Specifically, be careful on W Marginal and 2) In general, continue to be extra careful driving–though many streets are bare and wet, you never know when you might come upon a spot that hasn’t melted yet.
And now, of course, the rain is back, which may make it worse before major melt makes it better.
Now that weather woes have mostly passed (for now, at least), we’re going back through the WSB inbox to be sure we didn’t miss anything to share with you. Here are two alerts from WSB’ers who wanted to get out the word about scary incidents that happened to them – read on for the details:Read More
The best way to get events on a West Seattle-wide radar is to send info about them as soon as you finalize the plan (editor@westseattleblog.com) – we are happy to add your event weeks, even MONTHS in advance, to the WSB Events calendar (which is almost caught up from weather-related delay). This one didn’t make the calendar because it just came in – hosts Tas and Sarah Philp have posted it to the WSB Forum but the topic’s so important, we want to note it here too:
We are hosting a community meeting today to discuss health care reform. This is one of a number of such meetings being held all over the country at the request of the Obama transition team.
The meeting is being held Sunday (12/28) from 3:00 – 5:00 pm at our home at 3024 38th Ave SW (98126). Please RSVP to tasandsarah@gmail.com if you plan to attend. All are welcome (no small kids please).
During our recent waves of snowfall, many turned to meteorologist Cliff Mass, well-known for his KUOW appearances and now for his website. He has layered this with a host of caveats, but — given our particular vulnerability in hilly, treed, water-surrounded West Seattle — you should know he says there’s the CHANCE of serious wind toward the end of the coming week. Read his post here. (What about the National Weather Service, you ask? The latest “forecast discussion” mentions only a “strong … system.”)
(added later, 12/28/08 WS Farmers’ Market photo, courtesy JayDee)
Two things that were supposed to happen in West Seattle last Sunday but didn’t, because of the snow, ARE happening today:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET – Back after an extremely rare cancellation. 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska. Here’s the link to the latest Ripe ‘n’ Ready Fresh Sheet.
ADMIRAL SINGS CHRISTMAS – Feel like you missed out on the usual dose of Christmas music because of being snowbound? This West Seattle holiday-singalong tradition was postponed a week – and you’re welcome to join in at 4 pm today at Admiral Congregational Church, California/Hill (here’s a map). Read more about it here.
The Oregonian in Portland published this story online last night, but we just caught the link through a Twitter mention — the aftermath of their city’s even-more-epic snow. Notable revelations: Portland plows NO secondary streets, but does have 50 snowplows (almost double the Seattle number). However – this earlier article suggests they had some plow trouble and bus trouble too.
That’s Zack the formerly stray cat. At least, that’s what Jane, who took him in, is calling him. She sent us the photo along with a request for help – he needs it, and she can’t entirely provide it. Read on:
Three weeks ago a stray cat I call Zack came in my yard scared and hungry. After a week Zack let me pet him and I took him in because of the cold weather. I noticed his left back leg was injured and due to the snow I was unable to take him to the vet until yesterday.
I feel so bad and can’t stop crying. The vet told me Zack was probably hit by a car (and) needs to have his leg amputated. I am disabled and do not have much money. I had to take my grocery money to pay for his treatment. The thought of having Zack’s leg removed is killing me and I asked the vet if there was any way to save his leg by re-breaking it and having pins put in and he said the cost would be in the thousands and no way I could afford it. The cost to have Zack’s leg removed would be around $1,500.
Zack is around 2 yrs old and he has not been neutered. He is as sweet as can be. I am going to keep him and am writing to see if anyone could help by donating some money to the West Seattle Animal Clinic on 42nd on Zack’s behalf. I would deeply appreciated it. I tried looking for Zack’s owner without success.
Jane says she has let the clinic (West Seattle Animal Hospital) know she is trying to find people to help with the surgery costs, and says you can leave a note there that you’re donating for Zack’s surgery costs. Clinic contact info is here. Or if you want to contact Jane with some other idea of how to help Zack, you can e-mail WSB at editor@westseattleblog.comand we’ll forward your note.
Out of the WSB inbox from Ann; she sent it this morning, but now that night has fallen, it remains relevant for some slushy-sidewalk spots around town:
Folks are exercising (running) in the streets around Admiral – which is fine, we understand that the sidewalks are still dicey – but folks really need to wear light colored clothing. A runner (wearing dark clothing also wearing earphones) just slipped on ice in CA Ave in front of my car, she corrected herself in time and luckily I was going slowly so I didn’t come near her. I’m not sure if there is way to remind people to be safe during the thaw as there is still ice in the streets, even major ones.
#1 – If you still suspect snow is swamping a storm drain near you, Seattle Public Utilities‘ Andy Ryan offers one more tidbit for finding it:
In general, most drains are located at natural low points along roadways or at the curb around intersections. Also, if someone is walking along a road, they might be able to get a sense of where the lowest area might be (at the bottom of a hill, at a dip in the road, next to a curb in a parking lot that collects water.
#2 – Yes, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market will resume tomorrow (after missing last week), 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska. WSFM management notes it was the first time in FIFTEEN YEARS they decided to cancel a market for “scary weather.” (If you are a WSB newcomer, note that we always publish the link to the latest “Ripe and Ready” Farmers’ Market list early Sunday morning, for WSFM shoppers’ convenience.)
#3 – Guess what – Tamsen in Morgan Junction sent this follow-up on the garden gnome (here’s yesterday’s look): “My garden gnome is telling me it’s safe to go out ‘there’ now. I’m off to deliver some cookie and fudge trays, two days late and shop for some deals”:
We’re leaving WSB Cave (er, HQ) for a while ourselves.
(SW Sullivan looking east from California SW [map], one of many slushy side streets)
The temperature’s in the 40s, rain is falling, snow is receding. And yet, normalcy does not instantly return, as noted via Facebook by Talani from Stor-More Self-Storage (WSB sponsor) on steep SW Yancy east of Avalon (map):
I think it’s important for our neighbors to know that everything is NOT back to normal…I know people are driving again on the main streets, and that we are seeing more blacktop than we have in 2 weeks, but we still have dangerous conditions on side streets, in parking lots and on the Stor-More property. The places a lot of residents, seniors, handicapped and others want to go, they still cannot get to. We are still snowed in on Yancy, because while we can get out of our driveway and up a street, we cannot go to places we want to go to, and park in their lot. Armed with only one shovel, it’s impossible for us and others to get every last place that has snow and ice, when we have 3 huge buildings…the result is that tenants are arriving very confident because our driveway is blacktop between 2 mountains of snow, but they are getting stuck on the property and we are having to push their vehicles with our hands to keep them from crashing into other vehicles on property. Still snow!!!
Talani also notes that while the U.S. Postal Service has braved conditions every day to get mail to Stor-More, which has public mailboxes (including the WSB business box), UPS and FedEx haven’t made it there in a week, even though some of their customers have been told the packages were delivered.
(WSB editorial-esque aside ensues:) This is what we are seeing as the central problem for how multiple large businesses and government agencies served citizens during Snowmare ’08 — not so much which actions they did or didn’t execute, in terms of delivering, plowing, etc., as the failure to communicate clearly, quickly, reliably, SPECIFICALLY< about what is or is not being done, when it will be done, and WHERE it will be done. Sadly, this was the same problem during the last weather-related crisis in our area -- the power outages following the December 2006 windstorm. We were without power for almost 4 days; some in West Seattle were power-less for a week. People managed to cope -- but were desperate for information on "when are the crews coming to my neighborhood?" The uncertainty often seemed to take a heavier toll than the outage's actual side effects. As much as knowledge is power, a knowledge deficit is not only powerlessness, but also brings stress. Of course we must say, yet again, that we are WELL aware many good people in these large businesses and government agencies worked themselves to a frazzle to do the best they could. Snowplow drivers, mail carriers, city and county media-relations people trying to gather and share the latest general information, and answer questions from all us media types, small and large, police officers and firefighters slogging their way to incidents big and small. The point isn't that nobody tried. The point is that at a different level, beyond the people-power on the street, technology exists now to get SPECIFIC, REAL-TIME information to people - so that the uncertainty can be lessened. This was NOT a crisis that destroyed infrastructure; the power stayed on, the servers ran, the computers worked, the cell towers stayed up, the phones worked. But they did not deliver SPECIFIC, REAL-TIME information, reliably, to the people desperate for it. We hope that the IT people and the customer-service people will have serious post-mortems that result in real action plans. Why weren't the "bus trackers" accurate? What do you need to put on a bus to figure out where it is, and how can you crunch code to translate that information into something customer-accessible showing just how far behind schedule Route X is running and how far off its route it really is? For snowplows and power crews -- certainly they are dispatched from somewhere, by somebody keeping track of where they are now, and where they are going next. Can that information be multipurposed so that customers - who the city claims it puts first - will have a better idea of how soon, if at all, they will get help getting out of their streets? This will require true brainstorming sessions, the "no bad ideas" kind. We fear the discussion could get bogged down in concern over whether certain corporate/government computer systems will work well with each other. Don't get caught up in that. Similar problems have hampered old-media organizations (including at least two megacorporations where we worked) in their efforts to leap into the new-media world. Use the same out-of-the-box tools us civilians use. State/county/local government did use Twitter, for example, to some degree, during Snowmare ’08 — unfortunately not with many specifics — mostly to send out the news-release links, or generalized lines (the experimental Twitter account “sdotsnow” was last heard from on Christmas Eve, with “Primary roads are wet with some slush. Secondary arterials the focus through the night. Temps helping with work”). Seattle Police are using WordPress (same open-source content-management system that is the underpinning of WSB and millions of other blog-format websites) to power the almost-blog-like SPDBlotter site.
We don’t have the solutions but we did want to point out that from our standpoint, watching WSB’ers use the comments sections of our snow-coverage posts to share specifics about bus-route realities and UPS-truck sightings (among many other things), the communication methodology and comprehensiveness are what require the real work after everyone has recovered from this — much more so than “salt vs. sand” or “articulated buses vs. standard.”
The announcement’s in from Seattle Public Utilities:
Seattle’s garbage and recycling contractors today resumed collections for some residential customers, mostly in Northeast Seattle, whose normal pickup day is Friday.
Today’s collection work is focusing primarily on garbage and recycling (and not yard waste) on streets that provide safe access. Some neighborhoods still cannot be serviced safely; these areas will be collected next week.
For next week, Monday through Wednesday customers are now scheduled to be collected on their regular pickup days. If your pickup is missed, please continue to leave your garbage out and we will attempt to collect it New Year’s Day (Thursday, Jan. 1) or the following Friday or Saturday (Jan. 2 and 3).
Most commercial routes serving businesses and apartments are being operated today, collecting missed accounts as access allows. Contractors are using extra staff to access and move snow-blocked containers.
Customers whose collections have been delayed may set out their extra garbage at no additional charge. When setting out extra waste, customers are encouraged to place perishable food items in their collection containers and set bagged non-perishable items next to the containers.
Customers who have had their collections missed can also take their waste to Seattle’s Recycling and Disposal stations, where it will be accepted at no charge. The stations will be open today through Wednesday, including Sunday, but closed on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1.
Still have questions? We’ve covered the trash situation in so many posts over the past 12 days, they probably need a coverage category of their own – but if you have a question that hasn’t been answered, post it and we’ll either dig up the info or see what we can find out from SPU. Some West Seattle neighborhoods, as you are likely well aware, haven’t been picked up for THREE weeks, since our area got hit so hard by the 12/13-12/14 snow that West Seattle was skipped on the 12/15 Monday runs as well as 12/22.
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