Snow clearing in minority areas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain to me why the county will be clearing snow from low income and minority areas? Why this group and the other group? They cite high traffic and accidents but it feels more like they don’t think we are capable of understanding or following laws so they’re just going to lower the bar for us (I’m Latina).

This bothers me because special exemption bills and laws like this end up creating resentment towards all of our groups.

Racial equity is about providing access. There are already multiple barriers than impede wealth creation and challenging commutes is one of them. It's not about individual people of color, but the fact that when looked at by group demographic data, AA and Latino/a residents have worse outcomes in every measure -- wealth, income, education, health care, housing, etc.

I've always been white but I have lived in very low income areas and now in upper middle class areas. The ability to access EVERYTHING is so much easier now. They are like two different worlds. MoCo is already much better at providing access to many services, including public transportation. This would make it a little easier. The cost benefit analysis is up for debate, for sure. But this is one of their equity approaches that I actually agree with in theory.

I’m op . I appreciate your thoughtful response. I didn’t think I had to disclose this in my question but I am a Hispanic/Latina woman. My family lives in the county and does your landscaping, carpentry work, painting and childcare. I am not a troll and unlike the other person, I don’t want more pedestrian fatalities. But I do not like that the county thinks that low income/minority people aren’t capable of following the same rules. This might sound strange to some of you but I actually find it offensive that the bar is lowered. What I see happening is this will create resentment for us. Because if it’s a question about ability, there are many people in the entire county who are unable to shovel their own sidewalks so why don’t they get the benefit? Somebody upthread said they were single mother or elderly.

There are many great programs that do help with equity, this one just has me scratching my head a little bit.

He wasn't wrong when he said it folks: this is the soft bigotry of low expecations. You're not wrong to feel this way OP.

My phone had an old cached page but it looks like someone else agreed with my assessment...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they based it on geographical data on winter slip and fall injury risk.

I'm a liberal but I'm also wondering about when the bleeding heart progs will catch on to the fact that this in itself is a manifestation of the soft racism of low expectations: that minorities aren't capable of taking care of their own sidewalks. Please do some mental calculus on that and figure out how to fix it.

The county currently clears sidewalks in downtown Bethesda. Does it follow that they think people in Bethesda aren't capable of maintaining their sidewalks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Somerset and the town clears our sidewalks for us. Many of the low income areas are in unincorporated sections of Montgomery County where there is no smaller local government like a town or a village. Are you sure that it isn’t the usual practice for the county to do this in pedestrian-heavy parts of the unincorporated areas of the county?

Thank you for pointing this out. I live in Friendship Heights Village, which is a special tax district. Some of our taxes go to the Village to be used for community services including clearing snow. I think it’s great, and, I doubt that anyone thinks less of me for using services that my/our tax dollars support.

You're telling me that the town clears your sidewalks? Through taxes? I assume these are special, additional taxes levied by your "village." If these are MoCo taxes paying to clear your sidewalks, that just makes me mad.

No special taxes. Each incorporated area of Montgomery County gets a certain amount of tax revenue for each resident and they can choose to spend it however they want. For example, Chevy Chase Village has a police force, while Somerset has a pool. There are county services, such as trash and recycling, are not covered and the town has to cover those out of their town budgets. Because there is more local control over the budget, they can choose to cover something like sidewalk plowing or extra leaf pickups.

[Anonymous]

Wow! A self-described Latina has managed to twist the unanimous decision to clear sidewalks NEAR TRANSIT during the handful of times it snows into a racial issue.

I wonder if anyone bothered to get a clear understanding of just why this decision by the Council was unanimous? I also wonder why people are so quick to agree to buy into the OP’s headline about “minority areas” instead of recognizing the intersections between living near public transit, income, and race in Montgomery County.
I bet the OP is just tickled pink at the divisiveness sown by just a few minutes playing on the internet, reveling in anonymity.

[Anonymous]

Given the amount of snow around here, this seems like the least thing that could possibly be done for minorities. Why not provide better access to healthcare all year round instead of shoveling sidewalks twice a year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Somerset and the town clears our sidewalks for us. Many of the low income areas are in unincorporated sections of Montgomery County where there is no smaller local government like a town or a village. Are you sure that it isn’t the usual practice for the county to do this in pedestrian-heavy parts of the unincorporated areas of the county?

Thank you for pointing this out. I live in Friendship Heights Village, which is a special tax district. Some of our taxes go to the Village to be used for community services including clearing snow. I think it’s great, and, I doubt that anyone thinks less of me for using services that my/our tax dollars support.

You're telling me that the town clears your sidewalks? Through taxes? I assume these are special, additional taxes levied by your "village." If these are MoCo taxes paying to clear your sidewalks, that just makes me mad.

No special taxes. Each incorporated area of Montgomery County gets a certain amount of tax revenue for each resident and they can choose to spend it however they want. For example, Chevy Chase Village has a police force, while Somerset has a pool. There are county services, such as trash and recycling, are not covered and the town has to cover those out of their town budgets. Because there is more local control over the budget, they can choose to cover something like sidewalk plowing or extra leaf pickups.

To add on to this, there is usually a price jump to live in the incorporated areas, so the extra property tax that those homeowners pay each year is essentially a special tax that covers a few extra services. The same house in an unincorporated area would be a little bit cheaper.

[Anonymous]

If someone is willing to walk through the Sonoran desert in the middle of summer, dodging drug cartels, risking getting whipped by border patrol racists on horses, and come to a strange place where a large portion the population are trumper racists who hate them, then the least we can do is shovel the sidewalks for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If someone is willing to walk through the Sonoran desert in the middle of summer, dodging drug cartels, risking getting whipped by border patrol racists on horses, and come to a strange place where a large portion the population are trumper racists who hate them, then the least we can do is shovel the sidewalks for them.

Why did you assume all Hispanic people were non-Trump supporters, immigrants, and undocumented? Why did you assume all immigrants from Latin American countries left because of drugs? Why did you assume all Hispanic people don't have the time or money to clear their sidewalks? I have time to clear my sidewalk, as do my neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they based it on geographical data on winter slip and fall injury risk.

I'm a liberal but I'm also wondering about when the bleeding heart progs will catch on to the fact that this in itself is a manifestation of the soft racism of low expectations: that minorities aren't capable of taking care of their own sidewalks. Please do some mental calculus on that and figure out how to fix it.

The county currently clears sidewalks in downtown Bethesda. Does it follow that they think people in Bethesda aren't capable of maintaining their sidewalks?

The county does not clear sidewalks in downtown Bethesda. That is the responsibility of the property owners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can somebody explain to me why the county will be clearing snow from low income and minority areas? Why this group and the other group? They cite high traffic and accidents but it feels more like they don’t think we are capable of understanding or following laws so they’re just going to lower the bar for us (I’m Latina).

This bothers me because special exemption bills and laws like this end up creating resentment towards all of our groups.

Drive through Potomac and see how the county cares for their streets and look at the public parks and then think 🤔 to yourself, all I got was my snow removal… maybe 5x a year .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they based it on geographical data on winter slip and fall injury risk.

I'm a liberal but I'm also wondering about when the bleeding heart progs will catch on to the fact that this in itself is a manifestation of the soft racism of low expectations: that minorities aren't capable of taking care of their own sidewalks. Please do some mental calculus on that and figure out how to fix it.

The county currently clears sidewalks in downtown Bethesda. Does it follow that they think people in Bethesda aren't capable of maintaining their sidewalks?

The county does not clear sidewalks in downtown Bethesda. That is the responsibility of the property owners.

It depends

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/snow/snow-other.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ah, one of the deluded people who think low-income people live a life of ease and can just do what everyone else is doing.

I'm sure some of them can, of course. But plenty cannot, because they often work multiple jobs and cannot always be there to shovel, or do whatever it is you're complaining about.

It makes perfect sense from a government's point of view to help out the most vulnerable communities among us. A culture of punishment, however ethical that is, only goes so far in practice.

Ah, one of the deluded people who romanticizes poverty and patronizes people. Some low income people are busy working multiple jobs, many others are smoking weed or committing crimes. How about you give everyone the dignity of having control over their own decisions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What a weird troll OP is. They actually want more pedestrian fatalities. Wow.

How many of the pedestrian fatalities are tied to snow? I drive through low income neighborhoods and see people dressed in dark clothing running across major roads like Georgia Ave. Somehow I think it is community norms that are tied to pedestrian deaths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Ah, one of the deluded people who think low-income people live a life of ease and can just do what everyone else is doing.

I'm sure some of them can, of course. But plenty cannot, because they often work multiple jobs and cannot always be there to shovel, or do whatever it is you're complaining about.

It makes perfect sense from a government's point of view to help out the most vulnerable communities among us. A culture of punishment, however ethical that is, only goes so far in practice.

Ah, one of the deluded people who romanticizes poverty and patronizes people. Some low income people are busy working multiple jobs, many others are smoking weed or committing crimes. How about you give everyone the dignity of having control over their own decisions?

People who live along these routes are free to shovel snow if they'd like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now snow is racist too apparently. I mean, after all it is white.

Karen Snow you mean.