One thing we all learned about this week’s monster snowstorm is that the city doesn’t have a plan on how to deal with snow emergencies.
Emergency Manager Cathy Square is correct in pointing out that Hamtramck’s lack of an emergency plan underscores a void in leadership. Practically every city has a snow emergency plan, which usually entails forcing residents to keep off the side streets until their street is cleared.
Yes, we know, this would cause a massive upheaval in Hamtramck because there is a shortage of parking and most houses do not have driveways.
However, this is where creativity and inspiration comes into play. There could be any number of hybrid plans, including evacuating cars from one side of the street at a time.
The point is, there is a solution. While it certainly means there will be an inconvenience, at least we can get our streets cleared instead of having to shovel out spaces and then fight over who gets to park there.
This snowstorm raised another question: What else has Hamtramck’s leaders failed to plan for?