Rosen: Let's be sensible on snow

Published January 5, 2007 at midnight

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Is this Miami Beach? You'd think Denverites had never seen snow before. So we had our once-in-a-decade big-time blizzard - and a double whammy, at that - and it took a few extra days to dig out. From the outcry and the outrage you'd think this was Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans. It isn't as if latter-day Alferd Packers, marooned in their homes, had to eat their dead. The vast majority of us got to stay home from work (with pay), watch movies or sports on cable TV, cuddle up with a book by the fireplace, do some odd jobs around the house and get ready to take a few more days off for Christmas.

The biggest inconvenience was for holiday travelers, especially fliers, and it was no fun getting stuck at the airport. Yeah, you might have had to dig out the car or the driveway (or pay someone else to do it), and the side streets took a little longer to become navigable. Compounding the inconvenience was the timing, just a few days before Christmas. Retailers were, understandably, in a panic. But they mitigated the damage by staying open Sunday, Christmas Eve Day, and consumers turned out to get most of their shopping done after all.

But this kind of thing happens every now and then. It goes with the territory. In other parts of the country they routinely deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, mudslides and earthquakes. So we have snow. And it even has offsetting benefits: It's good to ski on while Californians can't do anything fun with their mud. Maybe the problem's with the newcomers and their short-term memory. I've lived in Colorado for 35 years. I remember when we used to have a lot more snow. Perhaps recent winters have been too easy on us.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper - on whose desk the snow removal buck stops - has taken some heat. This is nothing new. The politics of snow removal cost Mayor Bill McNichols his job. Mayor Federico Peña got his share of criticism and even Mayor Wellington Webb - who saw relatively little snow on his 12-year shift - was hammered for failing to clear Peña (there's some irony) Boulevard during the October 1997 blizzard. I'd cut Hick some slack on this one. As mayor, he's been a pretty good manager. And when the heavens open up and the wind blows like this, there's only so much you can do with the equipment we have.

Yes, snow removal in Denver and at DIA is an important duty of city government. And if money were no object, it could do a better job of it. But money is always an object when prioritizing governmental functions within a finite budget (only the federal government has an infinite budget).

This isn't North Dakota where snow is a winter constant. The Colorado sun and our generally good weather take care of most of our snow removal most of the time. When we get a cold-weather storm like this, we have the added problem of carting the stuff away. If we made a multimillion-dollar capital investment in a fleet of equipment sufficient to deal with the once-a-decade blizzard, much of it would sit idle for nine years and 360 days. That's wasteful of taxpayer dollars. Are you going to buy a bigger or an extra snow thrower for your own home, now?

The mayor can prepare for predicted storms by mobilizing an army of city employees to stand by for the worst, but it seems the weatherman has forecast 25 of the last five major blizzards. Calling up that army of government reserves for the 20 blizzards that don't materialize costs a lot of money. That's also wasteful of taxpayer dollars.

Some have suggested that the city contract with private companies to handle overflow snow removal in an emergency. That's a good idea but it implies that private companies have a surplus of equipment and manpower sitting idle. They don't. It wouldn't be good business. In order to induce private contractors to make this kind of standby investment, the city would have to provide a retainer or commit to a certain guaranteed level of use. That would cost money, too.

Ski areas and retailers were angry about Denver's performance in removing snow from the roads and getting DIA operating, since they obviously benefit from easier access and mobility for their customers. But it doesn't cost anything to be angry. Are they willing to make special contributions to a "snowy-day" fund that would help Denver cover the investment in standby equipment?

I don't doubt that Denver can do better in responding to extraordinary snowstorms. The question is how much better and at what additional cost?

Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA. He can be reached by e-mail at mikerosen@850koa.com.

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